Howdy!
Who: My name is Ken.
Where: I'm a hillbilly (West Virginia) by birth, and live in North Carolina now, at the edge of the high country on the eastern slope of the Blue Ridge mountains.
Profession: Occupational Safety & Health
Hobbies: I hunt, fish, hike, and paddle my kayak as much as possible. I also do a lot of outdoor/wildlife photography - usually while hunting, fishing, hiking or paddling. Some people call it being an 'outdoorsman'. I just call it sanity maintenance. 8-)
Why I'm Here: I'm a first-year beekeeper with two healthy hives full of happy girls - so far. I'm also scared to death I'm going to screw something up, which I guess is the real reason why I'm here. This seems like a great place full of friendly people with good information, and I'm excited about participating and (maybe someday) contributing in some way to the beekeeping community.
What Got Me Into Beekeeping: My grandfather was a beekeeper, and I guess I've just always been fascinated with them. I remember sitting on my grandparent's back porch on summer evenings when my grandfather had harvested honey. All the other kids would be eating the comb, and I'd be sitting there studying it and asking my grandfather about how the bees made it. Unfortunately, it wasn't until the last year or so that I've had the room and the environment to be able to get into beekeeping myself.
How I Chose My Member Name: Years ago I worked as a whitewater raft guide on the New and Gauley Rivers up in WV. All guides have nicknames, and through a story much too long to tell, I ended up being called "Wildcard". Over the years it got shortened to 'Card, and that's what I tend to use online to this day.
Linkage: I'm an active Wikipedian, and if you're interested you can check out some of the photographic work I've contributed to the project by looking at my profile and following the website link.
Thanks!