# A Keyboard and a Smoker



## BeeCurious (Aug 7, 2007)

I'm not sure how many years will pass until I consider myself anything more than a student of beekeeping (as in beginner) but I'd like to offer a little advice to new arrivals to Beesource:

Read carefully and read a lot, and know that the responses to your questions may not be correct. Look at Member Profiles and look through some of the threads that the member has started to get an idea of their background. There are a number of very knowledgeable people here that you could simply follow any advice they may offer. And there are sometimes a few good answers for a question...

On the other hand, if you see a member's posting "My Bees Arrived" that is six months old, you may not want to follow their queen rearing advice!

But, before asking a question, do a little research of your own. The search function on the "Beekeeping Home" http://www.beesource.com/ will often return results that you won't get within the forum itself. A big advantage is that three character searches can be performed such as "CCD".

The number of postings a member has made is not always an indication of their experience, and there are no free gifts awarded to frequent posters. Go to the member list and get a feel for who's who. Knowing a little about the members will help you to get the most out of this forum.

Keyboards have become beekeeping tools and only experience will teach us to know when they're being used properly...


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## rkr (Oct 30, 2008)

> keyboards have become beekeeping tools and only experience will teach us to know when it's being used properly...


amen!!


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## brooksbeefarm (Apr 13, 2008)

I agree with BeeCurious. The keyboard doesn't have a stinger but it can cause alot of discomfort with the wrong info.I'll have to say that most of the advice on beesource is good. When working bees and you do something wrong the bees will bring it to your attention. Jack


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## Robbo (May 11, 2008)

yea, is there a chance that the forum software could be changed to allow 3 letter searches? I noticed that when I was looking for SHB stuff.

I just like the way that the forum displays search results better than the web page.


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## SwedeBee1970 (Oct 26, 2008)

Look under "diseases & pests" section on the main page. Doing a general search for SHB will cross your eyes looking at pages of different stories. Or be more specific: "SHB problems" for example.

There's nothing wrong with a little Keyboard Nosema amongst friends.


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## KQ6AR (May 13, 2008)

I would like to ad, 
Many things read in book & advise given at beekeeping meetings should be taken with a grain of salt. At least in my experience.

Use common sence & learn from a broad spectrum of information.


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## BeeCurious (Aug 7, 2007)

Seems like a good time to give this thread a Bump.


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## AstroBee (Jan 3, 2003)

Couldn't agree more with the original post. Beekeeping, not being an exact science, has many possible paths to success. It is best to collect as much advice as possible, then do your own independent research and then integrate the surviving ideas into your own style of beekeeping. Of course internet forums are not the only place to get less than correct advice. Beekeeping clubs (not my club of course) are full of personalities that can sometimes hinder understanding for newbees, however the same rules should apply (collect, process, reject/adopt, integrate).


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## StevenG (Mar 27, 2009)

And to add to what has already been said, all beekeeping is local. What works one place, may not work someplace else. Yes, there are basic universal principles, but they still need to be applied to your locale and climate. Don't be afraid to try different things out. Remember, there's more than one way to be wrong! oh, I mean, more than one way to be right, and successful in beekeeping! :lpf:
Regards,
Steven


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## honeydreams (Aug 10, 2009)

Most questions can be answered by reading about three books on beekeeping

"The Back Yard BeeKeeper"
"Natural beekeeping"
and "Beekeeping for Dumbies"
there are way more books and stuff but those are great reads for new beeks and old timers as well. most questions posted here can be answered in those books.


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## Budster (Mar 24, 2006)

Good advice! I learned only from BeeSource and the school of hard knocks. Sure, I'm not a pro, but I can always consult with many beeks with years of experience. These people here love to discuss bees, or they wouldn't be here! I'd hate to guess how many years of experience, combined could be found here. Also, in reading the forums, you can learn who knows whats going on and who the bs'ers are!

Someone has a tagline that reads something like this...

"Ask 10 beekeepers a question and get 15 different answers" or something like that. It's really the truth. As Judge Judy says "The good Lord gave you 2 ears and one mouth for a reason, listen twice as much as you speak" or something like that! 

I also agree with the post count philosophy, I think I'm past 400 posts, and well on my way to 500 posts here. But, I'd bet 95% of the users here know more about bees than me!

And, as Linda, from Linda's Blog says, as per Winnie The Pooh "You just never know with Bees"! or something to that effect!


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## Budster (Mar 24, 2006)

Good advice! I learned only from BeeSource and the school of hard knocks. Sure, I'm not a pro, but I can always consult with many beeks with years of experience. These people here love to discuss bees, or they wouldn't be here! I'd hate to guess how many years of experience, combined could be found here. Also, in reading the forums, you can learn who knows whats going on and who the bs'ers are!

Someone has a tagline that reads something like this...

"Ask 10 beekeepers a question and get 15 different answers" or something like that. It's really the truth. As Judge Judy says "The good Lord gave you 2 ears and one mouth for a reason, listen twice as much as you speak" or something like that! 

I also agree with the post count philosophy, I think I'm past 400 posts, and well on my way to 500 posts here. But, I'd bet 95% of the users here know more about bees than me!


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## concrete-bees (Jun 20, 2009)

id add ABC & XYZ and the Hive and the Honeybee

great reading !!!!!

oh and my new book that im writing,,,,, "how to be a million dollar beekeeper and go broke doing it!"

should be a best seller 


hahaha 

but yeah some books have me asking more question and then start to question the writer 

so you have to do the same with answers you get on the forum 

but what i have noticed is that everyone learns bits and pieces from every post that they read - and thats what makes us all hooked on this site


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## Omie (Nov 10, 2009)

honeydreams said:


> ...and "Beekeeping for Dumbies"


Don't forget "Beekeeping for Gumbies" too. :lpf:


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## BeeCurious (Aug 7, 2007)

BeeCurious said:


> Seems like a good time to give this thread a Bump.


The original posting is here:

http://www.beesource.com/forums/showpost.php?p=493497&postcount=1


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## BeeCurious (Aug 7, 2007)

Giving this a bump...


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## BeeCurious (Aug 7, 2007)

BeeCurious said:


> The original posting is here:
> 
> http://www.beesource.com/forums/showpost.php?p=493497&postcount=1


Bump


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## BeeCurious (Aug 7, 2007)

Giving this a bump...


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## BMAC (Jun 23, 2009)

uh oh. You are about to burst some bubbles on here if they really read this but yeah the bump was long over due.


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## fat/beeman (Aug 23, 2002)

I would have to add find a old mentor that has some real experiences in beekeeping not just books and the inter net,not that there's lot of good advice out there.I would suggest go to this chat room sit listen/learn.If you have a question there is always some one willing to lend a hand. remember we all started not knowing. the only dumb question is the one not asked.
Don
P.S.I have few yrs in beekeeping and still have lot to learn.


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## BeeCurious (Aug 7, 2007)

It's a nice day to give this a "bump".

http://www.beesource.com/forums/showthread.php?237007-A-Keyboard-and-a-Smoker&p=493497#post493497


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## BeeCurious (Aug 7, 2007)

BeeCurious said:


> It's a nice day to give this a "bump".
> 
> http://www.beesource.com/forums/showthread.php?237007-A-Keyboard-and-a-Smoker&p=493497#post493497


Bump...


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