# Hello from frozen Ohio



## Pleasantly (Jan 14, 2015)

Hello, I'm an aspiring beekeeper in NE Ohio looking to start this spring. Like all my interests, I've been researching and gathering information to prepare, which brought me to this site! 

Last summer, I learned a lot about bee colonies and the structure of hives, as well as the care involved. After exploring information on honey harvesting and winterizing colonies, winter came and here I am...but I still have a lot to learn, which I'm sure will come with experience as well. Currently, I'm looking into which hive to get, which feeding method is best, etc. etc. 

I decided to keep bees last summer when I was hand pollinating my vegetable garden...yep, hand.pollinating. This confused me as I looked around at the thousands of clovers covering my plot of land, but as my gaze went further to the neighbor's lawn, which was spotless green, and then to the other neighbor's lawn, and the ones behind, too...l couldn't help but wonder if that had something to do with it. Chem-lawns everywhere! One thing I can't bear to watch is the deterioration or destruction of something beautiful...like the gift of the honeybees. Aside from that, I find great joy in building or growing something and watching it flourish. Like gardening, I imagine beekeeping would bring a similar sense of reward from the work. 

Aside from beekeeping, my other interests revolve around my other roles, such as; housewife/mother/artist/gardener/musician/poet...let's just say I have multiple interests  Personality theory is another thing that wildly interests me as well. 

I'm glad to have found this site and hope to gain some direction from those who are kind enough to pass on their knowledge. 

Have a lovely day


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## WWW (Feb 6, 2011)

Welcome


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## krista45036 (Oct 7, 2014)

welcome from SW ohio!


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## AL from Georgia (Jul 14, 2014)

Welcome to the forum, good luck with your bees.


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## enjambres (Jun 30, 2013)

Welcome to the forum!

You do realize that if you get bees they will be foraging on those Chem-Lawns, right? Bees don't stay in your yard - and you can't order up one of those Invisible Fences that works for your bees. They will be out looking to visit flowers in a circle all around you that can be 3 or 4 _miles_ in diameter. I am often mildly vexed when I don't see my bees in my large vegetable and fruits gardens and orchard, but do see them fussing away at something far out in the field on my farm. They know what they like and they are time-management specialists: avoiding that row of peas that's 20 feet from their boxes, but devoting lavish attention on something with more flowers and nectar and pollen that's half a mile away. So you may still need to hand pollinate (though why you'd do that except for seed saving purposes, I don't know) - but at least you may enjoy the bees for their own special magic.

I will say this, though, if you are expecting that you won't have to deal with the serious pests that are afflicting bees right now simply because you can do that successfully with your plants - think again. You may be lucky, but chances are you won't be. Don't set out to "save the bees" by ending up letting them die from preventable pests simply to prove a point. I know this may seem harsh, but bees don't really need protection from destruction (native pollinators are another issue - they do need saving). You may have heard otherwise, but honey bees are not really in danger of disappering - they are too valuable. Keeping bees is ten times harder, and more frustrating, than growing plants. I am a professional horticulturist and there is no comparison between them. I was completely unprepared for how hard it is to keep healthy, robust, surviving bees. Not that I think this is because of any current threat to them. It's just that they are complex and inscrutable animals, which although we humans have "kept" them for thousands of years, are still mysterious. And frankly, that's the source of their charm and addictive potential.

Hope you enjoy your bees as much as I have - I simply adore my bugs!

Enj.


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## rookie2531 (Jul 28, 2014)

Welcome, Enjam sounds a little harsh but is correct.
I too thought that once I got bees that my garden would flourish. Not one bee, not one day, did I see them on anything. And they were within 10 feet from the edge. They fly right past every huge blossom. Seems to me that the bumblebees do more for my garden. But there were other reasons for me getting bees and I am hooked. I hope you have great bees and great bountiful honey crops. Good Luck.


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## awebber96 (May 28, 2012)

Hello from Dayton!


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## BeeMoose (Oct 19, 2013)

Hello and welcome from Marietta. Glad you joined us.


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## Tenbears (May 15, 2012)

Welcome from NW PA. nearly neighbors.


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## Pleasantly (Jan 14, 2015)

enjambres said:


> Welcome to the forum!
> 
> You do realize that if you get bees they will be foraging on those Chem-Lawns, right? Bees don't stay in your yard - and you can't order up one of those Invisible Fences that works for your bees. They will be out looking to visit flowers in a circle all around you that can be 3 or 4 _miles_ in diameter. I am often mildly vexed when I don't see my bees in my large vegetable and fruits gardens and orchard, but do see them fussing away at something far out in the field on my farm. They know what they like and they are time-management specialists: avoiding that row of peas that's 20 feet from their boxes, but devoting lavish attention on something with more flowers and nectar and pollen that's half a mile away. So you may still need to hand pollinate (though why you'd do that except for seed saving purposes, I don't know) - but at least you may enjoy the bees for their own special magic.
> 
> ...


My post must read a lot like naivety, which I get a lot, but never seem to see why. Blame it on my gypsy soul 

I don't mind continuing to hand pollinate my garden (yes, for seed saving but also because my squash were dropping fruit. Hand pollinating solved the issue.). I'm truly interested in beekeeping, and not for rescuing purposes. Dedicated hard work is not something unfamiliar to me  The reference to plants was not about the level of care being the same, but that the sense of reward from the work are what I imagine as similar. Thanks for the tips and I hope I enjoy them as well! 



rookie2531 said:


> Welcome, Enjam sounds a little harsh but is correct.
> I too thought that once I got bees that my garden would flourish. Not one bee, not one day, did I see them on anything. And they were within 10 feet from the edge. They fly right past every huge blossom. Seems to me that the bumblebees do more for my garden. But there were other reasons for me getting bees and I am hooked. I hope you have great bees and great bountiful honey crops. Good Luck.


Thank you. I really don't mind continuing with the hand pollinating. One of my favorite things to teach my 3 boys is being self-sufficient and resourceful. Growing our own food and getting our own honey (among other things) makes me feel like I'm really "teaching them how to fish".


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## AmericasBeekeeper (Jan 24, 2010)

Welcome! I truly understand your concern. Your neighbors' land is a pollinator desert. Chemically and mechanically stripped of life.


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## GaryG74 (Apr 9, 2014)

Welcome to BeeSource and good luck with your bees!


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## KQ6AR (May 13, 2008)

Welcome, from former northern OH res.


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## Pleasantly (Jan 14, 2015)

AmericasBeekeeper said:


> Welcome! I truly understand your concern. Your neighbors' land is a pollinator desert. Chemically and mechanically stripped of life.


Exactly. 

It makes my yard stand out like a sore thumb, but I take pride in every dandelion


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## Pleasantly (Jan 14, 2015)

Thanks for the warm welcomes


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