Starting Out

Last year I ran into my cousin Bill and found out that he was keeping a hive of Russian Bees on his property. I couldn’t resist dusting off a very old beekeeping outfit and going out for a visit. As I was walking out to the car, Michael opened the gate and asked me where I was going. Then he started talking about the bees and in that early twenty southern twang said, “Wow dude, bees are so cool…can I hitch a ride.” So I drove him out my cousin’s and we spend the afternoon inspecting Bill’s babes. Bees are a very interesting things. Something about their similarity to zerglings and the sound of thousands of insects buzzing are way cool.

This winter I talked to my wife and we decided to go buy 2 hives. Michael agreed to pay for ½ of the expenses. After searching all around the country for a couple of Russian nucs and coming up empty, I eventually decided to put a deposit on a couple of local Carniolan nucs. The story of this little adventure I will have to wait for another day. Michael and I spent a couple of hours ordering some replacement parts for hives and $400 USD later we are now waiting for the first days of spring. I thought it might be interesting to keep a record of the hives during the first year or so and write about the adventures and misadventures of a beginning beekeeper.