# Ok, what got you into beekeeping?



## Memtb (Sep 5, 2012)

BeeGhost,
My grandparents had bees when I was a kid. Also, "robbed" a few bee trees with my uncles when I was a kid. So, I've always had the interest! What really prompted me to take the plunge, was the present state of world affairs, I guess you can say I'm a "prepper". I also like honey on my bisquits!!!! memtb


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## Rader Sidetrack (Nov 30, 2011)

It's all the local power company's fault! 

I bought a nice piece of property that had no driveway, and no power. Part of the property was former pasture, but had been colonized by young cedars and hardwoods. After I built a long driveway, and wanted power, the power company engineer decided the best route was to shortcut a curve in the driveway, and _forced _me to clearcut the area under the powerline route. 

Then I decided to grow some thornless blackberries under the powerlines to keep the trees from regrowing. After that I cleared more small trees to plant more berries, and then I began to worry that there might not be enough pollinators for all those berries. 

Time for some bees!  And then I found Beesource! :lookout:


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## EastSideBuzz (Apr 12, 2009)

I was trying to keep my Neighbor from taking his horses on the back of my property. 150 hives later that did not work.  And I needed another hobby to take all my spare income and time. If I had realized it was so much fun spending thousands of dollars each year might have done it 20 years ago when I was younger and back was stronger.


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## nada (Nov 26, 2012)

i need reasons to get out of the house and im hoping to make some money


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## lazy shooter (Jun 3, 2011)

Beekeeping tweaks my naturalist being. My ranch raises grass fed, free range cattle like the ones your ancestors ate. A couple of years back and old pal of mine told me his good friend had recently died and his wife was selling his farm implements. He told me there was enough hive equipment to house three bee hives. I jumped on that deal and hived three packages of bees on April 7, 2010. I truly don't know why I hadn't gotten into the "bee thing" sooner. I'm 73 years old, and I can almost guarantee that I will die with bees. My bees live in West Texas brush country, and there are not any farming operations for at least 20 miles. I love the bees and the thought of making my area better with all of those pollinators working for me.


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## Maryland Beekeeper (Nov 1, 2012)

I grew up behind a few hundred acre orchard, had strawberries and veggies. Neighbor up the street has mini-orchard, has had 5-10 langs up there for 40+years. Across town there is a farm that I believe was part of the original land grant, those hives could very well have been there since before independence. Neighbor and I worked with a small pollinator, few hundred hives, for a few summers growing up, had a couple ourselves that ended up with AFB. That was when I lost my first dog so to speak. I'll bet I said @ least once a year for over 20 years, "This year I should get my B's back goin." Well you got women, golf, fishin, there are only so many hours in the day  So I finally did it and boy am I glad I did !  
p.s. Good thread idea !


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## libhart (Apr 22, 2010)

Visited the state fair bee booth. I was really curious, asking lots of questions. My wife and her green thumb approached and she said, "You should do it." The man at the booth (my future mentor) said, "You should. Wives never say that."


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## Joseph Clemens (Feb 12, 2005)

For me it was a combination of factors: 1) When I was 4 y.o. I was stung on the foot by a bee working the clover in my grandfather's yard. He explained to me about bees and he gave me my first taste of honey. 2) Then we relocated near Buena Park, CA, where we visited Knott's Berry Farm. They had an observation hive in their basket shop, where I was able to observe the inner workings of a beehive. 3) After that I was hooked. I got my beekeeping equipment from santa for my ninth Christmas, and we put the bees in the hive before my tenth birthday.


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## Mr.Beeman (May 19, 2012)

I saw a show that made fact that honeybees were on the decline and I noticed there were very few bees on my dandelions. So I got started and jumped right in with both feet. I also stated a new company collecting swarms and providing a beehive removal service in structures as well as offering professional repairs.
I own a residential building company and the two companies compliment each other nicely.
Check out the facebook page. Dont foget to push your like button! lol


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## Baldursson (Nov 22, 2011)

I got into it a bit like Mr Beeman. I have heard and read stories of the bee decline and I realized that I had not really seen many bees around. I said someone needs to do something and I realized I was someone. I had a rocky 2012 (my first year) I have 1 current hive out of the 4 I got during the year. I will not be defeated.


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## DanielD (Jul 21, 2012)

For some reason I don't remember for sure exactly what got my family and I to begin considering and studying beekeeping in the fall of 2011, but what actually got me started in it was when I got out of my car early last summer in front of my shop and had a swarm of bees flying above and around my head. I actually ducked from a bee at first when I got out of the car, but I knew then I had to catch them and I became a beekeeper. They're still alive so far, along with another from a hive cutout I did after that.


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## StacieM (Dec 13, 2012)

I have always been afraid of bees. My memories of bee stings are horrible, I remember them as the worst pain of my life. But, I also grew up loving the big mason jars of honey that my great-uncle brought to us every summer. I fondly remember eating the jar and chewing the chunks of comb. 

About three years ago I just sort of got a little interested in beekeeping, and started reading everything I could about it. Then, in the fall of 2011 we got a 20 acre farm, which really has afforded me the opportunity to give it a try. I started last spring by buying one hive, but everyone was sold out of packages of bees in April when I got it. So, luckily, one of my husband's coworkers who lives in the area has a wild hive in his tree that swarmed, and my husband and I caught the swarm and put them in our hive. They have really thrived! 

I have bought two more hives to have put together for this spring, and may buy two more as an anniversary present to myself. 

I'm also a little embarrassed to say that since starting beekeeping in April, I haven't been stung at all. Actually, the last time I was stung by a bee was about 17 years ago. I'm nervous for when I do, but I wear gloves when dealing with the bees and my bees seem to be very, very gentle. I hope I don't cry like a baby when it happens!


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## Luv2beekeep (Dec 11, 2011)

I have a friend that has kept a couple of hives of bees and I got interested in bees by helping and watching him. I was amazed at how the bees worked together. I bought a stack of lumber and started building hives. My wife thought I was crazy but still supported me. This all took place in the early spring of 2011. I bought four packages and started them in the equipment that I had built. I have since found a place where I can buy the boxes cheaper than building them. All four hives made it through the winter and I split them in the spring of 2012. They did very well. Then in the spring of 2012 I was being helped by a commercial beekeeper that I knew and he told me I should watch for swarms. My friend and I did just that. Between him, my wife and I we caught 16 swarms and had to scramble to get equipment put together. We haven't looked back and now I have built all the equipment to start rearing queens. My wife says she can't stop me, she can only hope to contain me. LOL. But in all honesty it is one thing that has brought my wife and I closer together and gives us something to do together. My 11 year old daughter loves working with the bee also. Thanks for letting me tell my story.


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## Bear Creek Steve (Feb 18, 2009)

Like LazyShooter in Post # 6 I'm also 76 but my story is a little different. At age 8 my father gave me a colony of bees from Sears Roebuck which I kept untill I joined the Army at 18. My first Boy Scout merit badge was Beekeeping. I had a 50 year gap in beekeeping while I worked my career mostly overseas and then a fellow gardner invited me to attend a local club's bee school about five years ago. Beekeeping is a deep seated true love for me and I couldn't be happier.

Steve


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## Ranger Cody (Jan 21, 2012)

Tending bees with my grandfather during my youth. After his passing, I found an old box with all his old bee stuff in it... and here I am.


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## WWW (Feb 6, 2011)

My Dad kept bees throughout my childhood and up until a few years ago, I always had an interest in them and desired to have my own hive. I can still remember chewing on the honeycomb as a youngster, a good memory.

Around 20 years ago I did a trap out and a friend of mine gave me a deep box setup to put them in, well they died the first winter and that was it I guess, 20 years later here I am. 

Three and a half years ago my wife found a hive advertized on Craigslist and asked me if I was interested, of course I jumped at the prospect of having bees again. It was in November and the the seller wanted $100 dollars for the hive, I looked at the pic and there was no super on the hive for winter stores so she worked on the seller for a week and they settled on $35.00 and two cats for this hive ( I would have driven there just to give them the cats  ). I know it was a gamble, a real long shot that the hive would even make it through the winter but we drove to the location and found an old rotted deep box sitting directly on the ground, 5 frames were gone and 5 were partly collapsed with a very small cluster and virtually no stores. In shock and very disappointed we gave them the $35.00 and 2 cats, pried the hive from the ground with a piece of pipe wrapped up the hive in a tarp and drove home.

I rigged up a plastic feeder box on top of the hive inside a shallow super and fed the bees Megabee patties all winter with a heating pad set on low laying on top of the feeder, the bees came through a very cold winter with a fist sized cluster in the spring. I still have the old original mother queen with her hive and 5 more hives to boot, all the hives were started from her hive and her daughters are doing great, I have a total of 6 hives now and they were all out flying this weekend looking strong and healthy.


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## Charlie B (May 20, 2011)

Right before I retired from police work a good friend and colleague was blown up by a bomb and another lost his left leg in the same incident. When I did retire I needed something positive in my life to deal with it and all the other tragedies I had witnesses over the years.

Three years ago I saw the San Francisco Beekeepers Association observation hive set up at their booth at a garden show and it was love at first sight. Beekeeping changed my life and gave me a whole new outlook. I really can't explain it other than that. There's just something about honeybees that makes me very happy.


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## Kirk Osborne (Oct 7, 2012)

I am mesmerized by watching bees enter and exit the hive. I look at the benefits that bees offer to their environment, add a bit of honey for my table, and the mysteries that come with beekeeping. I'm hooked!


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## wildbranch2007 (Dec 3, 2008)

a friend of mine wanted them and was going to bee school, he wanted company. three years later he gave it up, 30+ years later here I am.


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## Michael B (Feb 6, 2010)

I am a farmer first and a beekeeper second......back when I started. Now I am a beekeeper first and a farmer second.

I get into it for pollination benefits.


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## ralittlefield (Apr 25, 2011)

Many Years ago an uncle gave my brother and I each a hive. I did not have a clue about beekeeping and lost that hive the first winter, but the seed was planted. A few years ago, a nephew mentioned that he was getting some bees. That was the water that the seed needed! I got a couple of nucs and have enjoyed the bees more than I could have imagined!


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## DonShackelford (Jan 17, 2012)

I was raised on a small farm in a family of 13. Dad loved section comb honey, and would bring one home from the farmer's market occasionally. Passing a 4x4 square of honey around a table of 13 people didn't go very far. I could see the frustration in Dad one day when the section had made one round and was empty. He blurted out " If I had a kid that kept bees, we'd have plenty of honey".
I was 13 at the time, knew nothing about bees, but did know I loved that comb honey! I spoke up, and Dad agreed that if I learned about bees over the winter he'd help me get a hive in the spring. I started with 2 hives, paid him back first year with honey sold, and we had plenty of honey after that.


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## mac (May 1, 2005)

Add in the news paper free bee equipment grandfather passed away. A friend said ya want to try that?? mmmmmmmm O.K.


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## Gord (Feb 8, 2011)

I got into bees to relax.
I had a demanding job, and couldn't get my mind away from work.
I had always wanted bees, and started with 1 nuc and 2 full hives.
It's hard to think about anything else when there are thousands of ladies in the air, and the pitch of the hive is telling you that you have overstayed your welcome.
Anyway, I retired in October, so now I can focus on my bees and world domination!


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## oldiron56 (Mar 9, 2009)

A friend bought a hive I went to his house and saw it, I was amazed. I told him that I always wanted to do this but never did. The old man who lived behind my parents had hives, I would watch from a distance. Come Christmas all these boxes arrived, he bought me a hive,and ordered a package for me for spring, got my boxes all painted up, and installed them when they came, they done real well the first year, next year they swarmed. I caught them put them in a bucket,had no more equipment to put them in. I called on a guy that I saw at a meeting and he was going to all med so he gave me a complete deep hive to house them.6 years now and still haven`t had to buy bees yet,I have 10 hives and 11 nucs. I never thought Bees would take up this much of my time.I wonder what I would be doing if he didn`t buy that hive for me?


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## djastram (May 1, 2011)

I couldn't sleep 1 night, so I started channel surfing, and landed on "Honey Bees and Beekeeping: A Year in the Life of an Apiary" by Dr. Keith Delaplane on RFD-TV.

I built my own equipment from beesource.com plans found in a google search, and a couple of weeks later drove 200 miles one way to pick up a nuc.

I've been hooked ever since, and my wife enjoys it as well.

DJ.


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## cg3 (Jan 16, 2011)

When I was a kid in Central California, my best friend's parents owned a migrant labor camp. Every spring, a bunch of Mexican beekeepers would show up and we'd play with their kids. One day a swarm call came in and we went along. I was mesmerized. That was the seed.
Then, a couple of years ago, like djastram, in the middle of the night, I caught Dr. Delaplane's show on RFD. Hooked and landed.


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## westernbeekeeper (May 2, 2012)

I was given 4 hives, used and empty of bees, when I was 16. Along with the hives, I was given a Maxant 1400 20-frame extractor, and all the tools and suits. Everything was free, and I decided that their was no reason why I shouldn't put bees into the hives. I bought four 3# packages of Carniolans, and that how I got started. First mistake was opening the hives twice a week to check on them . Set them back way too much, lost a hive that winter, and they never grew further than 7 frames of bees during that first season. Here I am and doing well! Lots of great beginnings here, good to hear all this.


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## westernbeekeeper (May 2, 2012)

Michael B said:


> I am a farmer first and a beekeeper second......back when I started. Now I am a beekeeper first and a farmer second.


Same here. Kinda odd how it's that way, huh?


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## johng (Nov 24, 2009)

Even as a kid I was always interested in growing things plants or animals. Then I saw an observation hive at the fair and the fire was lit. Now in my adult life I have the ability to actually do it. Keeping bees is the best of both worlds, you are raising bees, and you are also growing a crop. And its all connected to the seasons, weather, and the local plants. What else could you ask for?


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## mmiller (Jun 17, 2010)

My first real experience with bees was a swarm on some neighboring property. I was amazed to see so many bees in a bowling ball size in a tree about 8 ft up. The next morning they were still there and I was even more interested. I couldn't wait to get home from work to check them out again only to find them gone. I couldn't shake the interest and started reading to figure out what the heck those darn bees were doing. I was hooked. My first year I had 2 hives and found that I pestered those poor bees so much I knew the next year I had better get more hives. Each year I increase because I find myself wanting to play with my bees all the time. 
Now here I am with 30 big hives and 18 nucs going into this winter. With wintering luck, splits and purchased wintered nucs I figure to be around 75 hives this year. 

It takes up alot of my time but it never feels like work. 

Mike


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## opihiman911 (Sep 23, 2012)

My dad told me my very first paying job was cleaning honey frames at a commercial beekeepers warehouse when I visited my grandpa's farm. I would get a quarter an hour and all the scap honey comb I could eat while scraping frames. Well an 8 year old can only scape for so long and eat so much comb, I would collect my quarter or 50 cents and head off to the store to buy more candy, not realizing I just had natures best candy ever made.

30 years have passed since scraping frames for Mr. Yak and I find myself helping my inlaws reclaim some abandoned family farmland. Finally get to an old tool shed and behold it is inhabited by a very large feral colony. My wife and all her family are very allergic to beestings so they look at me and I get voluntered to take care of the job. We know how importanat bees are to pollinating our crops & trees so they clear a spot at the end of the gardens and fruit trees at the furthest corner of the property and tell me that is my spot and no one will ever go over there and bother me and "my" bees. A months worth of reading and pouring over this and other natural beek sites and I had as much knowledge as I was going to get to do the job. 

2 years later a couple more feral colonies rescued and rehomed, a split or two and I now have 8 strong and healthy hives doing an amazing job at pollinating our family farm and giving my family and friends all they honey they can dream of. And I am happy to say the original shed hive is still alive and going strong. 

Cory


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## chrisd4421 (Oct 11, 2010)

When I was a kid, I saw as episode of Mr Rogers that walked everyone through a medium scale extraction process from the hive throught the filling of the jars. Something there clicked but it has taken 30 years to figure out what. 

After a few years of reading about bees in magazines and the news, I starting wishing but put it out of my mind because I live in suburbia and my 75' x 175' property would never work. 

Then, at te age of 37, I read an article in Mother Earth News about urban beekeeping. That planted the idea of possibility and on vacation that year in the Catskills, the owner of the cabin we rented had 3 books on beekeeping. 

That is all I needed ( and the urging and support of my wife) and at the age of 38 I bought my first 2 hives

Chris in NJ


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## shannonswyatt (May 7, 2012)

Going back around 5 generations my on my Dads side there has been at least one person keeping bees. When I was a kid my Grandfather had them. My Dad moved back to were my family is from and he and my cousin both got into it. My daughter really like them and I figured we could do this as well as something we could do together. It has been a lot of fun and I think that it really makes my daughter feel good that she can stand in the maelstrom of bees flying all over the place and not get stung, or be afraid.


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## applebwoi (Jun 20, 2006)

In 2006, A swarm landed in an apple box, stored on top of a wooden cabinet, on my back porch about a foot away from my back glass door. My wife and I watched and could see the new comb built in a few days. Talked with a friend at work who used to keep bees, he gave me some old boxes, a vail and gloves and I've been going ever since.


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## bhfury (Nov 25, 2008)

My grandfather when I was about 14 yrs. One time when him and I were moving a bees, one had gotten under his veil and I remember it crawling around all over his face and it never stung him. I can still remember that as if it was yesterday...some 33 yrs later.


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## schmism (Feb 7, 2009)

I run a fairly good size garden and fruit trees and wanted abundant polinators.

I like honey and figured having a source of mine own would be good. 

it fits well with my goal of self sufficient hobby style farm homestead.

I just wish i had another beek in my area that i could work with that would push me more to expand from my 2-3 hives as my market for honey is 2x -5x more than i can supply at the moment.


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## BeeGhost (May 7, 2011)

Some great stories here!! I like hearing about them all!! Plus it might be one of the first threads in a while that wont start an argument!!:applause:


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## indypartridge (Nov 18, 2004)

Years ago when my girls were very young, we did a homeschool curriculum one year based on Laura Ingalls Wilder's "Little House" books. In "Little House in the Big Woods", there's a chapter "Pa and the Bee Tree", so we did a unit study on beekeeping. As part of that, I took a day off work and we did a family field trip to visit a local beekeeper.

My girls have grown up, but I seem to be stuck on the beekeeping unit study!


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## beepro (Dec 31, 2012)

BeeGhost, here is more...

Memories took me as far far back. When I was in elementary school, I think at the 5th grade, there was a swarm of honey bees up the tree by the school playground. At recess, we were all fascinated by the bees. The kids not knowing anything took off their shoes and threw at the swarm. About 5 or 6 shoes went at the same time. No hall monitor at that time yet or they were not there when this happened. Some bees dropped off the branches and then flew back to the swarm again. It was an amazing sight to see them flying up and fallen again when the shoes hit them.
When it was my turn to get closer, it was another story. Someone threw the shoes so close at the swarm that a big chunk of bees fell off and flew everywhere all over the kids. Some had landed on my head as well other children too. We all quickly scrambled off. I got stung on my head 2 times right in the middle. And so was some other kids too. During this time the hall monitor were there also. She got bees flying around all over her head and clothes. You guess it! A normal human being reaction was to brush off the bees like hitting a fly with their hands. But she still trying to move the children away from the danger as possible. Yep, we all ran like crazy. I got stung and didn't tell anybody until today. Good thread to start.
Maybe that was the seed that started it all? But it is the connection and learning that keep the fire still burning
after all those....

Gosh, still get sting even til now.... Just got stung 2 days ago by one honey bee and at night time too. Heee, he!


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## RichardsonTX (Jul 3, 2011)

A commercial beek kept hives on my parents property and I've always wanted my own bees. One of my customers re-ignited my interest a couple of years ago. Now I have a bunch of hives myself and wanting more..........lol. I'm still trying to figure out where I'm going with all this but I know I'll always have bees from now on regardless of what I do.


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## ImaNewBeeToThis (Dec 27, 2012)

Playing call of duty black ops. Someone I was playing with talked about his hive and I've been researching since. We will know if I have what it takes here in a couple months.


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## BeeGhost (May 7, 2011)

ImaNewBeeToThis said:


> Playing call of duty black ops. Someone I was playing with talked about his hive and I've been researching since. We will know if I have what it takes here in a couple months.


That's funny you mention video games and bees! My kids are into a computer game called Minecraft, one evening they got all excited and called me into their room to show me that they could be beekeepers on it! Little computer generated bees and hives!


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## Joel (Mar 3, 2005)

I'm standing in my garden with two friends, it's April and peas are up. One is a farrier, the other a locksmith and beekeeper. The farrier tells me I ought to get bees and my garden would do better. I tell him I hate getting stung and would rather starve. A week later the locksmith brings over a hive set up, takes me to buy a package of bees it took me 3 whole weeks to kill. ( I never thunk I'd have feed bees on foundation in the spring) 20 years later, 10 gazillion dollars and 15 bazillion miles hauling bees and honey all over creation I'm running a few hundred colonies of bees full time with my son and loving it most days.
As to the friends, I doubt I'll ever forgive either of them!


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## Acebird (Mar 17, 2011)

lazy shooter said:


> My ranch raises grass fed, free range cattle like the ones your ancestors ate.


Any chance you ship to NY? My ex co worker who supplied us beef is no where to be found.

Ok, what got me into beekeeping....
MY WIFE! She wanted her gardens pollinated and surfed the net on how to keep bees and became overwhelmed. She got the bright idea I would like beekeeping and forced me into it. I was seriously afraid of bee stings.
I won't say she is always right but sometimes she gets lucky. Dang Irishmen.
I have to admit I never thought I would ever get attached to a stinging insect but they kinda grow on ya.
The gardens, the bees, the grass fed meat, it is so not me. Now all you guys got to suffer because I am going to live longer.


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## RABray (Feb 8, 2011)

My wife and I finished watching a documentary on bees which documented problems they were experiencing and suggested people take up bee keeping to help. My wife turned and said "why don't you try that?" I proceeded to spend hundreds of hours researching the subject and then bought my first three hives. Four months later I picked up my three nucs. 

Today I went out to check on a few of my hives and again felt the same intense amazement with them I felt three years ago as I gazed upon my first nucs, and how they persevere in the face of so many bad odds. I cannot foresee my not caring for the girls in my future...


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## BeeGhost (May 7, 2011)

It amazes me that most of you are like me and just thought you would give it a try, I mean why not, right!! And even more amazing are those that started just for fun and then turned it into a serious sideliner or commercial business!! I also like hearing about a relative passing down the business to others and hope that continues for generations to come, I hope my kids learn and like it enough to keep this going as well! 

I don't plan on having hundreds of hives.............at least anytime soon, but would like to dabble in the side business part such as queen rearing and selling nucs, and of course honey as a byproduct!!LOL

Thanks again for everyone's stories, I enjoy reading them!! And Acebird, your correct, as much as I hate getting stung, watching the hives trials and tribulations keeps me coming back for more!!


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## ckannmacher (Oct 18, 2012)

A coworker of mine came in to the office one day with a chunk of comb honey and had it on toast. He offered me some of it and at first I said no thanks, because I really don't care for honey all that well (crazy I know). Since I will try anything once I tasted some and it wasn't half bad. Then we got into bee talk. I asked a few questions and then he mentioned he used to have a few hives about 15 20 years ago. That really got my attention. And just like almost anyone I talk to, I asked question after question and the interest grew. I bought a couple hives but had to wait a year on bees since it was already March, plus I needed to do more research. So I spent the year studying up on everything. My family thought I was nuts but that didn't bother me. I got my packages in May and so far so good. During the whole process I posted pictures on facebook for my friends to see and keep everyone updated. Little did I know that it would get so much attention from them. Anytime I see someone they are always asking how the bees are doing. Then it becomes a game of 20 questions, but I love every second of it. Sometimes I get that "your crazy" look from them but the more we talk the more interested they become. This is one hobby I don't think I will ever get tired of. Planning on expanding this year and my coworker who got me interested is going to get a hive or two and get back into the game.


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## Finorknerbee (Aug 22, 2012)

Large swarm worked it's way down a long driveway past a large barn and into a field where my buddy was to be married about 10 minutes later. Some saw it as a bad omen. Most of us found it fascinating, and the justice who performed the ceremony calmed everyone down and said to wait them out, and that they would settle out in a tree before too long. Sure enough, they balled up in a tree behind the back row of chairs (outdoor wedding, reception in barn). The justice happened to be a beek, came back the next day and hived the cluster. Coolest thing I ever saw. Been keeping bees and catching swarms ever since. Kind of addicting


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## oldiron56 (Mar 9, 2009)

Ace :no:dont ever critisize your wife`s judgments,,,look who she married:applause::applause:


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## oldiron56 (Mar 9, 2009)

Finorknerbee said:


> Large swarm worked it's way down a long driveway past a large barn and into a field where my buddy was to be married about 10 minutes later. Some saw it as a bad omen. Most of us found it fascinating, and the justice who performed the ceremony calmed everyone down and said to wait them out, and that they would settle out in a tree before too long. Sure enough, they balled up in a tree behind the back row of chairs (outdoor wedding, reception in barn). The justice happened to be a beek, came back the next day and hived the cluster. Coolest thing I ever saw. Been keeping bees and catching swarms ever since. Kind of addicting


that was neat


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## NasalSponge (Jul 22, 2008)

Back in the 80's the wife and I were doing a bit of "self sufficiency" stuff like having our kids at home, homeschooling, big garden, stuff like that. It seemed like a good thing to do so I found a larger scale beekeeper and he took me out to western Oklahoma to a trailer of bees he had. I was standing there surrounded by a huge cloud of bees.....everything seemed to go into slow motion. Right then and there I fell deeply in love with the beautiful bugs and have been ever since.


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## Michael Palmer (Dec 29, 2006)

Put yourself in my place. I had two colonies of bees. 5000 taps in the rented sugarwoods. Gathered sap days, boiled sap nights. Soaking wet up to my butt all the time. Feet wrinkly and chapped...wife found out I was using my chap stick on my toes. She didn't want to borrow it anymore. 

Watching all those little bubbles, bubbles, bubbles. And bees gather the sap. And bees boil the sap. And bees package the sap....

What am I doing here at 2 am watching all those little bubbles??


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## Gus979 (Oct 11, 2012)

Once when I was a kid and visiting my grandmother's boathouse my brother managed to slam a door into a very large hornet nest (we thought they were wasps at that time though). My brother got by pretty unscathed, because he managed to find a room within the boathouse to close a door. However, I pretty much walked right in at the same time that the hornet nest went into code red.
I'd say that in my sprint back to the house I managed to get stung a fair amount of times- like I need to lie on the floor and not move for several hours stung.

About a year ago when I lived in denver I used to spend a lot of time hanging out on my patio at my apartment complex. That patio and for some reason, most of my apartment complex, seemed to be a huge draw for wasps- lots of little paper hives all over the place. I should have freaked out because of my previous experiences, but since I was usually absorbed in a book I rarely noticed the odd wasp that would land on my arm.

When I did notice however, I did panic a bit consitering the hornet incident, but since I was regularly landed on and not stung I began to get curious and would try to take a closer look at the wasps. They are pretty cool little things, and I wondered at the fact that none of them were stinging me. From what I could tell, they were curious about me as well.

In fact, at one point I discovered a wasp nest in my trailer hitch. I hooked that trailer hitch up no problem with wasps flying around me. I actually felt kind of guilty because after I drove off and came back later that day all of the wasps from their paper nest were gone.

I was amazed at how docile they were, as long as I was calm. I googled them and to my suprise...found out that there is something just like them that is even more docile AND gives me free honey- Honey bees.

I kind of wish I could keep wasps too though .


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## Acebird (Mar 17, 2011)

Michael Palmer said:


> Watching all those little bubbles, bubbles, bubbles. And bees gather the sap. And bees boil the sap. And bees package the sap....
> 
> What am I doing here at 2 am watching all those little bubbles??


Ah Michael, you boiled sap? You neglected to modernize. That is why there are less commercial honey producing beekeepers in this country.

What the heck is syrup today 50-60 bucks a gallon. We use to buy if for 3.


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## Splatt (Jul 11, 2012)

My grandmother was a beek. I loved sitting by the hives and watching the bees come and go.


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## bobbarker (May 23, 2012)

I can't really point to any one thing that made me want to be a beek. I've never known anyone else who had bees (until I got some, then I met people that had been doing it before), I had never had raw honey, and I didn't grow up on a farm. In fact, my only encounters with bees before I got them were mostly negative (either stings, or fear of stings.) 

I wish I could have had a picture of my wife's face the day I blurted out, "I think I'd like to get some bee hives." 

The only line of reasoning I can come up with is naturalism. I love being outdoors, I have a 26 acre farm in the heart of amish country, and I am a firm believer in conservation of our great outdoors, so, it made sense to me to have bees. I love the idea of giving back to the environment while getting so much out of it, and they help my fruit trees (8 and counting), my Garden, my berries, and I get to collect all that sweet, sweet honey. Plus, it's fun and so incredibly relaxing to work my bees.

I guess I just stumbled into bees, in a very good way.

And I forgot to mention, luck of luck, when my wife told her parents what I had said, her father got very excited, and gave me a book he had bought YEARS ago on beekeeping, because he had thought about getting them before finding out he was allergic. Even luckier for me, he's a master craftsman and has been very excited to help me build all sorts of bee things, along with being a sawyer with his own mill. So, we cut down, mill up, kiln dry lumber for bee boxes, and he helped me this last summer to build an extractor. He's been almost as happy as I have been, because he kind of gets to keep bees by proxy.


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## John R C (Mar 15, 2011)

Got my Beekeeping Merit Badge in 96 and 3 yrs ago decided to give it a try again


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## Gypsi (Mar 27, 2011)

Some pest control outfit killed every bee for miles taking the bees from a renthouse half a block from me in June 2010. I didn't see another tomato until October 2010. I bought bees in March 2011. Had many adventures and got hooked.


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## Beetrucker74 (Oct 10, 2010)

I was born to it, I am a third generation Commercial. Pap gave me my first hive at age 7 had bees since that's 32 years with bees.


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## Harley Craig (Sep 18, 2012)

I've always thought they were cool, my cousin has bees but lives a few hrs away, and I didn't know anyone else around that had them so I never got into it. When I saw Ckannmacher's posts on face book that he speaks about in reply 49 That sparked my interest again, but like him it was too late into the season. So I've been reading all last yr. I will get my first package this april.


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## Scottsman (May 1, 2011)

I thought there was money in it, turned out I was right, trouble is the money was all mine. Kinda like gambling, don't count your investment just the winnings and it makes you happy.

I do love the hobby, just ain't made a dime to date.


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## praxis178 (Dec 26, 2012)

Always been in the family, except my Dad who's very allergic, so it was kinda inevitable. I remember helping my Granddad as a child to rob his hives, and do inspections and winter feeding etc. What finally tipped me into getting my first hive was a friend who desperately needed to split a colony and had no spare gear to do it with so I built a TBH and the rest is a some what sticky, though fun, story as they say.


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## jdawdy (May 22, 2012)

Thanks to the OP for this thread, the answers are fascinating.

My wife is a flower person, and she was visiting the relatives back in Kazakhstan last summer, leaving me to water her flowers. Noticed there were hardly any bees on them, unlike previous years. I had had to have pest control kill an AHB hive that was in a tree on the property line, right next to our mailboxes and the neighbors driveway- they were stinging us every time we went to get the mail. Didn't like having to do that, so it was in the back of my mind when I noticed there weren't a lot of bees around.

Did a cutout (AHB), which I managed to kill (got robbed out). Then bought two nucs from Paul McCarty, which were great as a learning experience since they were gentle, but had somehow become queenless. Joined them, let them build up, split them in the fall, only to have one of them starve. The other one is doing OK.

Looking to get 2 Beeweaver packages, and 2 local nucs, maybe more if Paul has some available this spring, so should have at least 5-6 hives this year.


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## captaintat2 (Oct 27, 2012)

I am semi-retired and live on a small island in the Caribbean Sea. There is a Facebook page for buying and selling things that is largely used and monitored by expats and I saw a listing one day asking if there were any beekeepers on the island to buy some honey from. Since I'm always on the lookout for an opportunity to make a little money I started studying on the internet and watched a lot of videos on YouTube. The more I read and watched, the more fascinated I became. 
I ordered enough equipment for Eight hives and had them shipped down from the states. On the same day that my shipment arrived I went out into the jungle and captured a feral hive. I had to dig it out of the coral rocks and wasn't able to get the queen because she went deeper into the hole out of reach.
It's my understanding from all that I've read and what I've heard from locals about the bee's behavior that all of the local bees are Africanized, but that doesn't bother me, just suit up and get to work! So, right now I only have the one hive and had to leave for work for several weeks. The hive should be ready to split when I get back and that will get me on my way to rapid expansion.
There aren't packages or Nuc's available, so I need to count on swarm captures, cut outs, and feral hive captures.
I think that it's pretty cool to have a hobby that pays off, (honey for sale), and is also a relaxing challenge. There is so much to learn and I like that!


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