Hello from Ohio!

[MJHellmann]

Soon to be new beekeeper here.  I have most of the equipment I need and a good mentor (that mentioned this forum), so I think I'm ahead of the curve.  Bees arrive in just under a month.  The kiddos and grandmas have painted the hives, neighbors are aware and at least haven't protested.  I just found out I need to elevate my hives to avoid skunks/possums, so that's next on the list.  I found the beginner beekeeping book I got 2 years ago (when I first tried to talk my family into letting me get hives.)  I'm sure I'll make plenty of mistakes, but I'm very excited to get started!!

It seems there are a lot of different opinions and ways to go about everything in the hobby.  I'm a little nervous about getting lost between all of the conflicting strong opinions.  My main goal is to have fun, teach my kids about raising animals and try to get them to have fun with it (one is excited, one is nervous), and get to try out some home raised honey and beeswax.

I went to work on a hive for the first time with my mentor recently.  I was most taken aback by how sticky everything is and how calm the bees were.  I hear they're particularly calm as spring starts kicking in.

Any areas of the forum I should check out?  Any websites or youtube channels you find particularly educational for beginners or particularly entertaining?  Looking forward to the forum!

[Ben Framed]

Welcome MJHellmann! We are glad to have you join us! I did exactly the same thing. I joined beemaster before I obtained my first bee 🐝. And like your circumstances, Beemaster was recommended to me as well.

As you say, there are a lot of different opinions and ways to go about everything in the hobby. what one person may prefer as a means in obtaining a goal, another may have a different way of obtaining that same goal. As you progress, you might wish to try different methods just to see for yourself, what method may work better for you in your location. One thing you will find here at Beemaster, even with different methods, we have good intentioned members here who are eager to help!

You are very fortunate to have a hands on mentor. I did not have this luxury when I started, so I adopted the members here at beemaster as my mentors! This was a good decision!

Also, you will find most valuable information here in the Beemaster Archives! If your questions are not answered to your satisfaction, simply use that search tool and help yourself to a vault of almost limitless, locked in real time, discussion packed with valuable information!
Thanks for climbing aboard the Beemaster Bee site, and never hesitate to ask any questions you may have! We love to help!

Sincerely,
Phillip

[Terri Yaki]

Welcome from PA, MJH. I was born in the Buckeye and moved to SE PA before I knew it. In my OTR trucking days, I drove all over that state and really enjoyed the many small hometowns that you have there. Well...they were there forty years ago anyway. I am in the same boat as you, anticipating my first colony which will arrive when my seller reports that they are ready. I enrolled in and have begun an intro class for beekeepers at a local club. My course included a hands on mentor so I'm confident I can win this. If you have a local club, you might benefit from joining one, most beekeepers seem to enjoy helping others keep theirs alive and well.

[The15thMember]

Again, welcome!    The conflicting opinions can be overwhelming at times for a beginner.  The best advice I got for navigating that was to learn about bees, not just about beekeeping.  When you understand about bees' biology and social life and how they communicate and operate, it makes all your questions and finding the answer that works for YOU a lot easier to figure out.  The person who gave me that advice was Rusty Burlew, and she has a phenomenal website for all things all bees (not just honey bees).  https://www.honeybeesuite.com/

Just to reiterate, please feel free to ask any and all questions you may have, even if someone has asked them before, and even if you think they sound dumb.  We love to talk bees, and the only dumb question is one that remains unasked.

[animal]

Hi and welcome !

My suggestions are ...
1. ignore my posts about bees because I'm just learning. (unless it's to see how the pros answer stupid questions)
2. Ask stupid questions to you're hearts content ... The pros will answer them politely and tell you they weren't stupid.
3. look at the bottom of any Michael Bush post and click the link to his website .. lots of info up you can read for free there. I plan to buy his book one day (Beekeeping Naturally), but I'm the type of guy that puts together a swing set for the kids and reads the instructions after, so I figure I'm not ready to read it yet.

The people here are my only bee mentors and my single hive has survived against ALL odds(poisoned twice, hive beetles, and my ineptitude), so you should feel confident with this site and having someone there in the flesh !
It looks like you may hate "sticky". I certainly hope so. That's the absolute worst part of bees to me. Somehow, any time I touch the hive, I need to take a shower because invisible traces of sticky seems to get all over me. Haven't seen anyone else complain about sticky, so that's  something I still don't understand. Sticky is way worse than a sting, imo.

[Ben Framed]

I was most taken aback by how sticky everything is

It looks like you may hate "sticky". I certainly hope so. That's the absolute worst part of bees to me. Somehow, any time I touch the hive, I need to take a shower because invisible traces of sticky seems to get all over me. Haven't seen anyone else complain about sticky, so that's  something I still don't understand. Sticky is way worse than a sting, imo.

lol The inconvenience of 'Sticky'!
I for one understand your sentiments. What I do which helps a lot, is take a bucket of water with me when working the bees. It's handy to have close by in order to rinse the hands when needed. This really makes a difference for me...

Phillip

[The15thMember]

One of my sisters fears the Sticky more than the stings!    I have a squirt bottle of water around that I use for 100 things, among them rinsing my hands of honey every once and while.  Propolis requires alcohol or some other non-polar solvent.  I also wear nitrile gloves when inspecting, but then you trade the Sticky for the Sweaty! 

[Kathyp]

We make mistakes when we try things.  It's a good indication that you are learning.     + I don't know any of us who are not still making mistakes!

Ask any questions you have and use the search feature.  Try things and do what ends up working for you.  Not everything that is suggested will work for your situation.

Welcome to Beemaster!

[MJHellmann]

Thanks for the advice everyone!

I heard I needed to elevate my hive, so this is Version 3.1!

[The15thMember]

That stand looks built to last! 

[animal]

That stand looks built to last! 

Ancient Egyptian style of building ? The blocks could be a little bigger 
One very disturbing thing in the pic though ... It looks like someone willingly put their hands into the paint ... at least it looks like latex .. oil base is much stickier.

[animal]

Seriously though, I wasn't going to say this because it may not apply ...  but in my area, that configuration would be an invitation to fire ants and termites as well as to other bugs to hide under the hives or the support 2xs. You have enough materials there to support 4 hives with nearly the same standoffs from each other and have some blocks left over.
To do this, you would only have one column of blocks on each end. Rip cut one of those 2xs  and cut off appx. 16 -3/4 inches or less from each ripped piece. Assemble the 4 pieces on edge with the short ones between the two long ones to stabilize (keep them from  falling over) Nail or screw together(I would use # 9 or #10 x 3-1/2 " exterior deck screws, but 16d galvanized nails would do, twist or ring shank preferred.)

Personally, If I were trying to do the same type of thing, I would have used 2 4x8x16 cap blocks on the ground, 4 8x8x16 hollow cinder blocks, 2 sheet metal termite shields sized for the cinder block ... to make the 2 columns
, and a couple of 2x4s to make the runners for the boxes to sit on. I'm cheap and in a high moisture, high undesirable bug count area so none of this may apply to your area. I'm so cheap that I ended up with a hive stand made of steel tubing with individually adjustable legs for leveling .. by modifying medical assistance junk found at a charity store. (a spritz of black spray paint and no one recognizes what it once was)

[AustinB]

Welcome from VA

[Michael Bush]

That configuration would work fine here except that the taller the boxes go the more likely they will blow over.

[Terri Yaki]

That configuration would work fine here except that the taller the boxes go the more likely they will blow over.

My neighbor had one unit blow over once but I think it survived and was recouped. That is definitely a concern of mine as I ponder where and how I'll set mine up. They just look so vulnerable.

[Michael Bush]

The bees will glue it all together, so it has to take them all or none once they are glued together.