Hello from WV!

[Beekissed]

Living here in the beautiful mountains of the WV Eastern Panhandle.  Expect to start beekeeping this spring if possible, so I am real new at this.  My folks had a hive when I was growing up but that is all the personal experience I have with beekeeping so far.  I have an apple orchard and will be gardening up a storm this year. 

I like the idea of keeping bees.  The idea that people have been keeping bees since the beginning of time here on Earth...well, it seems very spiritual and soul-satisfying to me.  That perfect cycle, age-old and timeless, the golden, sweet reward at the harvest.  Also, being a woman, I identify strongly with the bees!  :-D

Now, to find someone with a nuc and some old bee supplies they want to sell...... ;)

[Cindi]

Beekissed, what a pretty name for your avitar.  I like that.  So you want to keep bees, well it will come you way, you know that.  And you just wait until you become under the spell of the honeybee, then you can really say that you have been bee-kissed.  Welcome to our forum, we have many new female members coming on here, that is very neat, our numbers are gaining strength.  This is the place that will be your leaning post for learning of the bees how to be helped with any issues you may have to get answers for really quickly. There is always someone here, ready to give that helping hand of advice, you need only ask for it. 

Tell us a little more of yourself, we are a caring bunch and love to learn about each other, what we are up to, our experiences with the bees, everything and anything.  Welcome and have a beautiful and wonderful day, lovin' our life we live.  Cindi

[reinbeau]

Beekissed, welcome!  :)  Beekissed is another chicken owner who wandered over here from BYC.  It's funny how many gardener/chicken people types seem to want to keep bees, too!  The whole backyard farm can fit into quite a small yard with gardens, chickens and bees.

[Beekissed]

Thank you so much for your kind welcome!  I will definitely pick your brains as often as I may need to do so....which will probably "bee" pretty often! :lol:  When I get the little sweeties, I'll let you know and tell you all how it went.  I saw the first honeybee of my year on Monday!  Jules

[indypartridge]

Welcome!
This is a great forum for learning about bees & beekeeping. I'm impatient and use the 'search' function often since many of my questions have already been discussed at one time or another.

I'd like to encourage you to get involved with a local beekeeping group. Nothing beats knowing some local beeks and having a mentor or two. You can only learn so much online. West Virginia has some really good clubs, I met a number of WV beekeepers last summer. Your State association has a lot of good info:
http://www.wvbeekeepers.org/
And there are many local groups:
http://www.wvbeekeepers.org/Associations.html

Plus, the Heartland Apicultural Society meeting is in WV this summer at Marshall Univ. This is an awesome meeting!
http://www.heartlandbees.com/
http://www.wvbeekeepers.org/HASLETTERTOHANDOUTATMEETINGS2008INFRO.doc