I live in Northern Ontario and in 2005 I bought a farm with about 50 acres of land. a lot of it is wooded and I hope sometime soon to be able to clear cut some more space to add more animals. The plan when I bought this place was to turn it back in a working farm, not for the public, but for myself and my family in order to maintain better means of living, self sufficiency, and raising our own food. We weren't quite sure where we wanted to start and when we would get around to it. with three children and both my husband and I working we knew it would present some challenges. However after my husband began going on the road for work with his construction company I found myself sitting at home doing "much ado about nothing" After 6 months of research, turning the 2 1/2 detached car garage that we never used into a working barn, I built an in barn coop from recycled materials and got myself 21 beautiful Rhode Island reds that as of now give me 21 fresh eggs every single morning.
I knew 2 years ago I wanted to have my own backyard bees, but I have been searching starter kits etc and I find the prices are quite high, and I have been having a hard time locating a place to buy bees from. the topic of raising bees has been falling on my lap every couple weeks since I first thought about it. I found the subject quite overwhelming,not really knowing where to start and what to get until I watched a nature program a few sundays ago on an asian Bee master, it showed how he built his hives and how he got his wild bees.
then tonight I did some research and found this website and Bushkillfarms.com I watched a couple videos and I immediately felt more at ease and knowing this is something I can do. I guess the literature at first is very intimidating, but with a bit more research and the more I find out I see that I do not have to make things so difficult for myself.
Frankly, before I embark full fledge into this hobby I need to know more, nothing would bother me more than a bunch of dead honey bees because I decided to take this on without the proper knowledge.
So yes, I do not have bees yet, but I plan on sticking around and learning as much as I can before I decide to do this.
thanks for having me,
Ema