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Author Topic: Me My bees and how I got started.  (Read 2097 times)

Offline Bobbee

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Me My bees and how I got started.
« on: July 09, 2020, 08:11:19 pm »
I hope I am posting in the right location for this.  :smile:
I was surfing through YouTube channels one cold wet September day when I came across a video about CCD (Colony collapse disorder). It was an interesting video. The video led me to other videos on bee pests and diseases and eventually beekeeping. Once I was at that point and had started thinking about keeping bees myself well, the writing was on the wall. Being September it was no time to be starting a hive but thinking of starting one? What I wondered would be involved? I began watching more and more videos and started drawing up lists of things I would need. At this point, I have to say the lists that I drew up then had very little resemblance to what I ended up with. The technique I would use to draw up those lists was to go on to a bee supply website and fill the cart up with my list of supplies and see what the cost was. Then I realized I did not know why I should or should not buy this item or that item. Back to youtube and more videos. It was at this point I started researching specific methods of beekeeping and doing more research on the types of hives trying to figure out what would be the best combination for beekeeping here in the Pacific Northwest (Zone 8a).
 My final decision was to go with the 5 frame nuc two frames of drawn comb to give the queen some space to lay as the nuc would be close to full of food and brood. I was going to put in drone foundation for the last two frames but what if they only needed 1 or a half, none?. I settled on two wired frames with a starter strip to get them lined up with the other frames figuring the bees would know what they needed to build.
One final word and the only advice I feel qualified to give to new beekeepers, buy your supplies early as you will need to put them together paint them cure the paint and if you leave it till spring you may find the supplier is out of stock or that when you get your bees the hive still stinks of fresh paint.

Offline Acebird

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Re: Me My bees and how I got started.
« Reply #1 on: July 10, 2020, 09:07:50 am »
You will also need a heck of a lot more equipment then a 5 frame nuc.  I would advise not even going that route.  Even though I use all medium frames now my advice is to buy a starter kit that will have a deep and a medium and of course some items you may not use.  I think it is the least costs to get started to see if you really want bees.  From there you end it or grow into the hobby.  There are far to many options for a newbie to make without having any experience such that you will pick the right choice for what you want to do.
Brian Cardinal
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Offline Bobbee

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Re: Me My bees and how I got started.
« Reply #2 on: July 10, 2020, 11:34:39 am »
You are the first person I have come across in the 8 months I studied beekeeping before making a purchase that has said a 5 frame nuc of local bees is not a good idea.

Offline cao

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Re: Me My bees and how I got started.
« Reply #3 on: July 11, 2020, 12:13:47 am »
Ace is not saying that a 5 frame nuc is a bad idea.  He is just saying that you will need more equipment than that.  The way you wrote your description leads a person to think that you are going to raise you bees in a single 5 frame nuc only.  They will need more space than that.  I have hives that are 6 medium 10 frame boxes tall right now that are full of bees.

Offline BeeMaster2

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Re: Me My bees and how I got started.
« Reply #4 on: July 11, 2020, 10:20:42 am »
Bobbee,
Welcome to Beemaster.
If you are still in the process of buying bee equipment and don?t know what to buy, just ask that question under Equipment Usage...
Jim Altmiller
Democracy is 2 wolves and a lamb voting on what to have for lunch. Liberty is a well armed lamb contesting the vote.
Ben Franklin

Offline Bobbee

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Re: Me My bees and how I got started.
« Reply #5 on: July 11, 2020, 02:00:45 pm »
 :embarassed: AAh now I understand. I was trying to tell how I ended up where I was but did not make clear where that was. My mistake. Is there a better place to do this than in greetings ?

Offline BeeMaster2

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Re: Me My bees and how I got started.
« Reply #6 on: July 11, 2020, 02:54:24 pm »
Bobbee,
This was the right section to put your introduction.
Sounds like you wanted to ask a question about buying equipment. That was what I was referring to.
Jim Altmiller
Democracy is 2 wolves and a lamb voting on what to have for lunch. Liberty is a well armed lamb contesting the vote.
Ben Franklin