# Mike from California



## MikeK (Jun 20, 2010)

Hi folks,

Mike from California here. New to bee keeping and enjoying it very much.

My bees:


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## bobber128 (Jun 6, 2010)

Mike, welcome to the party!! Excellent pictures. What kind of camera are you using? I can never get mine to look that good....


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## MikeK (Jun 20, 2010)

Thank you for the welcome. The camera is an olympus E-3. I have a little practice with the camera. I am a photojournalist by trade.


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## MikeK (Jun 20, 2010)

I got thrown ino the beekeeping world recently when a client asked if I'd like some bees after I had spotted her dozen or so hives at the far corner of her backyard. I said "Sure" not knowing what I was getting into. She told me to come back that evening and she would have a "box" for me to bring home. I drove over in my truck around 8pm to find her milling about outside. She taped the entrance of a single she had and said "Here you go. Take this home and stick it in your backyard. Take the tape off when you get home" Boy, was I in for a surprise. They swarmed as soon as it got warm enough the next morning. (She gave me a new split by accident and the box she gave me was bad. Smelled of soaked/old wood. The bees hated it and took off) But, I managed to get them back and into a new box. I now have captured another swarm that ended up in my backyard from somewhere else. Second swarm caught and now in another box in the yard. Much darker bees and started building comb quickly. Queen started laying within a few days. Studied all I could from the net and purchased parts. Made supers and frames from purchased parts and made my own bottoms and tops from scrap I had at home. All this in about 6-8 weeks. Talk about a jump start...


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## rafterdog (May 20, 2010)

MikeK
Wow! These are among the best pictures I've seen. Someday, could you try and catch a newly hatched worker brood egg (about 12 hrs. old)? This would be a great help to me and to those who would like to initiate Queen cells. 
Thanks again for the great pics!


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## Bee Bliss (Jun 9, 2010)

Welcome MikeK. We are looking forward to seeing more of your bee pictures! We are new this year also. Good luck!


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## Fuzzy (Aug 4, 2005)

Mike,

Welcome. We have a pretty good bee guild in the valley here. You will find it at beeguild.org They have regular meetings and a very low annual cost of $15.

There are also mentors available should you need advice.

Again -- Welcome


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## MikeK (Jun 20, 2010)

Thanks for all the welcoming posts. I'll look into the local guild. I do have somewhat of a mentor already (he showed me how to catch my first swarm and told me to start building my own equipment) but the more info I can get the better off I will be. 

As for photos. I do love taking photos so I'll be posting them as I go along. I'll try to get a "newly hatched worker brood egg" but no promises since I don't know what I am looking for.

Mike


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## KQ6AR (May 13, 2008)

Hi Mike,
We also have a good group over here in the east bay.
www.diablobees.org 
Feel free to drop in on a meeting some time.


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## AmericasBeekeeper (Jan 24, 2010)

Welcome, great pictures!!


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## MikeK (Jun 20, 2010)

eggs and larvae from a while ago. I'll open to inspect today and get more photos.


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