# Bee Camp



## Michael Bush

I've been talking to people about doing this. I decided I don't have enough people yet to quit my job, but I scheduled two weeks for a bee camp if anyone is interested:

http://www.bushfarms.com/beescamp.htm


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## Rader Sidetrack

Will there be _smores _available at your bee camp? :lookout:


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## Michael Bush

Of course. And you can sleep in a tipi...


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## linn

Are you near any water? Will you have male and female bathrooms with showers? It sounds nice. I always think swarm control is the hardest part of beekeeping.
Some sessions on swarm control would be good.


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## Michael Bush

>Are you near any water?

A creek runs through the place. I'm not sure what the question is.

> Will you have male and female bathrooms with showers?

Probably not. I will have to set up something and most likely it will be an outdoor shower and some portapotties at this point. In the long run I'd like to build better facilities.

> It sounds nice. I always think swarm control is the hardest part of beekeeping.
Some sessions on swarm control would be good. 

I timed the camp to cover that along with queen rearing, splits etc.


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## linn

Hi Michael,
I really enjoyed your presentations as did my mother, because once we went to an open hive where you were the guest speaker. You sang and played the guitar so nicely. My mother requested all those gospel hymns from the 1800s. She so enjoyed that day.
Decades ago, I thought I would save a little money by camping. Well, the campground seemed idyllic. I wanted to camp by the stream. Another family member wanted to camp by the restrooms. We set up the tent by the restrooms. Next to our camp site there was another camp site. It looked like a number of families were camping together at the adjacent camp site. On the picnic table was a whiskey bottle. At 11:30 p.m. all was quiet. At 2:00 a.m. the camp ground became a race track. The road around the campground was a dirt oval. By the time the dust had settled, the whiskey drinkers had stopped arguing and all was quiet. Anyways, I like your idea and I wish you success.


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## Michael Bush

I lowered the cost and posted updates on the schedule of activities and posted a registration form:

http://www.bushfarms.com/beescamp.htm

Bee Camp

I'm sending this to each of you who expressed an interest in the camp. 
Here are more specifics (with some changes in price etc.) 

*	Bee Camp dates: 23 May 2014 - 8 June 2014
*	Location: Nehawka, Nebraska 68413(50 miles south of Omaha Eppley Airport)
*	Cost: $100 per day
*	Accommodations: meals and camping provided. Probably a tipi. Hotel or Glamping are at the cost of the camper and the camper is responsible for arrangements.
*	Weather permitting we will be doing bee things for 4 hours a day at least. Maybe more.
*	We will probably be talking about bees all the time.
*	Bee activities we will do:

*	All aspects of queen rearing will be done in the course of one week (several batches going at once) including:
*	Cell starter
*	Cell finisher
*	Grafting
*	Mating nucs
*	Catching and marking queens
*	Shipping queens
*	Splits
*	Inspections
*	Building equipment
*	Repairing and cleaning equipment

*	Tentative schedule (equipment, inspections etc. will fill out the days)

*	Fri May 23rd Pick people up at airport, settle people in. Orientation etc. (not counting this as a day of camp for fees)
*	Sat May 24th make starter queenless. Assess the hives for queen rearing purposes. Some inspections.
*	Sun May 25th graft
*	Mon inspections of outyards (memorial day) possible splits
*	Tues inspections continue possible splits
*	Wed May 28th catch queens or setup more mating nucs
*	Thus May 29th cells in mating nucs
*	Fri clean up equipment or other yards
*	Sat May 31st make starter queenless
*	Sun Jun 1st graft
*	Sun-Tues (1st - 3rd)

*	Make cut down splits
*	Make walk away splits
*	Equipment

Wed Jun 4th catch queens

*	Thus Jun 5th cells in mating nucs
*	Fri Jun 6th Equipment
*	Sat Jun 7th make starter queenless
*	Sun Jun 8th graft

I wanted to make it open ended so people can work around their schedules. Come when you can. Leave when you need to. Book ahead of time so we don’t run out of resources or room, but this will allow people to fit it into their schedule or adjust their schedule for what they want to learn about. I’ll provide food. You may have to help cook it. I will probably have to pitch some tipis, I’m thinking one for the men and one for the women and I have a few smaller ones we could pitch for couples. You could stay in a RV if you want to bring one. No real hookups, but we can probably manage an extension cord. There is a “Glamping” (Glamour camping) place 3.5 miles from my house where you could stay in a tent with a queen size bed, a wood floor etc. or you could stay at a local hotel (there are three towns about 20 miles away in different directions that have hotels) if you like, out of your own pocket, and drive in every day. I am considering some other options as well.

I have a farm and a life, and a family, so I can’t do just bees all day every day. There are too many other things that need to be done, but I will be doing bees probably about four hours a day most days and then other things the rest of the day. Not that we can’t talk about bees all the rest of the time, but I will need to do other things around the farm besides just bees. I don’t want someone to feel cheated because we are hauling firewood or moving hay etc. But we would have queen rearing things to do almost every day. Outyards to check. Splits to make. Equipment to fix. Equipment to build. Equipment to move, clean up etc. Yards to move. Other things I need to be doing besides bees that I would want help on: construction, hauling wood, moving from my old house, planting, watering, mowing, feeding horses.
The nearest airport is Eppley in Omaha, NE There is also an Amtrak station in Omaha, NE There is a Greyhound bus station in Omaha, NE Let me know if you need to be picked up from one of these. Where, when and flight number etc.
If you can’t afford the money, make your case and I will negotiate barter or try to give scholarships. I don’t want someone to miss out because of money so please, if that is an impediment, please let me know.

Go to http://www.bushfarms.com/beescamp.htm for registration and an email address where you can contact me.


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## WBVC

Are there available hotels and rental cars in the vicinity or are RV rentals available?...


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## Michael Bush

I haven't tried renting RV's but I'm sure there are a number of places in Omaha that would. Rental cars are available, of course. All the usual rental car companies are in Omaha. No close hotels, but there is a "Glamping" (Glamor camping) place 3 1/2 miles away. Hotels are about 20 miles away in Syracuse, Plattsmouth or Nebraska City. I'll have tipi's in the backyard. Am considering using my old house (30 miles away) but will have to round up some beds. If we do that I have some spare vehicles we can use for that or I can pick people up. We will see how many people we get and I'll see what makes sense.


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## Haraga

Sounds like a great opportunity to learn.


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## matthewstiles

Any plans to record any of the sessions?


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## Michael Bush

I guess that depends on who volunteers...


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