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Author Topic: Newbie From Kapuskasing N. Ontario  (Read 3981 times)

Offline Ema

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Newbie From Kapuskasing N. Ontario
« on: January 29, 2011, 02:13:08 am »
I live in Northern Ontario and in 2005 I bought a farm with about 50 acres of land. a lot of it is wooded and I hope sometime soon to be able to clear cut some more space to add more animals. The plan when I bought this place was to turn it back in a working farm, not for the public, but for myself and my family in order to maintain better means of living, self sufficiency, and raising our own food. We weren't quite sure where we wanted to start and when we would get around to it. with three children and both my husband and I working we knew it would present some challenges. However after my husband began going on the road for work with his construction company I found myself sitting at home doing "much ado about nothing" After 6 months of research, turning the 2 1/2  detached car garage that we never used into a working barn, I built an in barn coop from recycled materials and got myself 21 beautiful Rhode Island reds that as of now give me 21 fresh eggs every single morning.

I knew 2 years ago I wanted to have my own backyard bees, but I have been searching starter kits etc and I find the prices are quite high, and I have been having a hard time locating a place to buy bees from. the topic of raising bees has been falling on my lap every couple weeks since I first thought about it. I found the subject quite overwhelming,not really knowing where to start and what to get until I watched a nature program a few sundays ago on an asian Bee master, it showed how he built his hives and how he got his wild bees.

then tonight I did some research and found this website and Bushkillfarms.com I watched a couple videos and I immediately felt more at ease and knowing this is something I can do. I guess the literature at first is very intimidating, but with a bit more research and the more I find out I see that I do not have to make things so difficult for myself.

Frankly, before I embark full fledge into this hobby I need to know more, nothing would bother me more than a bunch of dead honey bees because I decided to take this on without the proper knowledge.

So yes, I do not have bees yet, but I plan on sticking around and learning as much as I can before I decide to do this.

thanks for having me,

Ema
"A bumble bee is considerably faster than a John Deere tractor".

Offline specialkayme

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Re: Newbie From Kapuskasing N. Ontario
« Reply #1 on: January 29, 2011, 11:17:36 am »
Welcome to the site!

Offline BlueBee

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Re: Newbie From Kapuskasing N. Ontario
« Reply #2 on: January 29, 2011, 01:18:28 pm »
Hello Ema from Kapuskasing,

I’ve been up there are few times cold testing car engines.  Unfortunately I’ve never been there in the summer time though.  There are lots of things you can learn from this site.  There are also plenty of good bee books you can get from the Library, Amazon, or even download for free from Google.  The old bee books that are out of copyright can be downloaded in full from Google for free.  You can read the works of the fathers (and wives) of bee keeping written by the likes of Dadant, CC Miller, Doolittle, Langstroth, and many more.  The basics haven’t really changed that much since those guys wrote about it 100 years ago.  Those old books are also very fascinating to read if you enjoy a little history too. 

This forum is great too.  The only problem is everybody does things a little differently and often strongly opinionated about their ways.  It makes it more difficult for a new comer to really figure out which advice to take.  The good news is the bees are fairly forgiving!  I’ve done some dumb things times at times and yet the bees survive.  So you don’t have to be perfect to start.  Your biggest challenge will probably be wintering them up there.  There are plenty of options for doing that; they are regularly discussed on this forum.

I would encourage you to start with 2 hives if at all possible.  If one dies for whatever reason, you can do a split from your remaining hive to get up to 2 without having to buy more bees.  Forum user “Trot” from Sudbury, ON mentioned an option worth considering too.   He says you might find you can buy an entire hive from a local BK for a reasonable price compared to buying packages or nucs.  From a full hive you would have more options for splits and expanding your yard going into winter.   

Good luck

Offline tim adams

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Re: Newbie From Kapuskasing N. Ontario
« Reply #3 on: January 29, 2011, 01:32:28 pm »
Welcome!

Offline Robo

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Re: Newbie From Kapuskasing N. Ontario
« Reply #4 on: January 30, 2011, 11:28:06 am »
Welcome Ema,

Beekeeping can be a simple as you want to make it, or as overwhelming as you let it.  There are plenty of good folks here who will help you out with advise. 
"Opportunity is missed by most people because it comes dressed in overalls and looks like work." - Thomas Edison



Offline schawee

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Re: Newbie From Kapuskasing N. Ontario
« Reply #5 on: January 30, 2011, 02:50:36 pm »
welcome to the beemaster forum.   ...schawee
BEEKEEPER OF THE SWAMP

Offline lenape13

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Re: Newbie From Kapuskasing N. Ontario
« Reply #6 on: January 30, 2011, 05:22:40 pm »
Wecome, Ema!

If you are anything like the rest of us, you'll soon be attending meetings with the opening phrase of "Hello, my name is Ema, and I'm a beekeeper."  Yes, it can be very addicting, and expensive if you let it.  You will find lots of information here, some of which may work for you, some won't.  With you unique local environment, not all solutions will work, but have fun anyway.  For example, some people treat with chemicals, some don't.   Feel free to ask for help and opinions, but be prepared for a variety of answers.  Ask 50 beekeepers the same question, and you may get 50 different answers.  You're job will be to figure out what works for you.

Offline Ema

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Re: Newbie From Kapuskasing N. Ontario
« Reply #7 on: January 30, 2011, 08:55:02 pm »
Well I got in touch with a few people from the Ontario Beekeepers association, now waiting on a reply.

thank you for the warm welcomes, I am still navigating through this forum. lol....I am sure there is tons of useful topics to read up on where I am sure I will spend endless hours reading only to look up and realize it has gotten late and I didn't even make dinner....happened the other day to be honest...lol....

Robo, my husband and I really enjoyed your videos, wish the rest were there too, very informative and helpful. Specially if you are first learning.

so looking forward to learning what I can from this forum and sharing my experiences.

I too was thinking that starting with 2 would be good, we will see as time passes and I learn more and decide what my preferences are how and when I will do this.

I know one thing for sure, I want them as natural as they can be. for several years I have been seeding around the boundaries of the property with wildflowers and different grass seeds etc, I like the birds and insects the wildflowers bring. I do not know what using chemicals or not using them means, I guess I will certainly find that out soon enough. I have never used a pesticide in my life and allow everything to be as wild as possible. But I am not opposed to medicating if my livestock or bees in this case were to be sick. Which I do not even know if that is even possible. Another thing I will soon find out :-)

Well time for me to get the kiddos in bed.

Ema
"A bumble bee is considerably faster than a John Deere tractor".

Offline ONTARIO BEEKEEPER

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Re: Newbie From Kapuskasing N. Ontario
« Reply #8 on: February 02, 2011, 01:22:12 am »



  Hi Ema,

 Not sure exactly how far you are from Sudbury,  but I take nucs up there every season.  I am www.dancingbeehoney.com
 Let me know and I can add a few nucs to go up there for you.

 Todd.

Offline Ema

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Re: Newbie From Kapuskasing N. Ontario
« Reply #9 on: February 02, 2011, 01:30:10 pm »
hi there, thanks for your warm welcome, I did check out your website. looks great and prices look good too :0)

Kapuskasing is about 6 1/2 hours north of Sudbury. I am not sure if you ever come up around here or not. I am not keen on cities so I tend to stay out of them, though I was in sudbury this summer and its a beautiful city for sure.  I look forward to educating myself more and then getting started.

Ema
"A bumble bee is considerably faster than a John Deere tractor".

Offline greenbtree

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Re: Newbie From Kapuskasing N. Ontario
« Reply #10 on: February 02, 2011, 02:02:01 pm »
Hi Emma.  There is LOTS of information out there.  Check out the Brushy Mountain Webinars and you MUST watch some of JP's removal videos (look on the bee removal section of the forum).  JP's videos are informative AND entertaining. :-D  (Hey, JP, do I get points for the plug!?)
You can build your own hives and even frames (But they are cheap enough that most don't bother) if you have more time than money right now.  I have certainly been there, done that.  There are lots of plans you can download out there.  You can use screws on corners instead of box joints, they won't last as long, but will get you started if box-joints are too intimidating.  Check out some of the other forums too.    Go to you local lumber yard and check out some prices.  Write them down in a little notebook for reference.  Hit a few farm auctions - you can pick up scrap lumber really cheap, because the sizes you can use for hives are smaller than most people want.  Just be careful you are not getting chemically treated lumber, and that you don't get the bidding fever and end up paying more than you would at the lumber yard! (Thus the little notebook.)

JC
"Rise again, rise again - though your heart it be broken, or life about to end.  No matter what you've lost, be it a home, a love, a friend, like the Mary Ellen Carter rise again!"

Offline Ema

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Re: Newbie From Kapuskasing N. Ontario
« Reply #11 on: February 02, 2011, 11:15:48 pm »
thanks for the tips...my husband and I recycle as much as we can. therefore we have a ton of lumber laying about, and in good condition. I still haven't found a place here to buy full hives from. I found places to buy the queens and nucs from though, so I am thinking I might venture into building the hives, my husband is pretty good at the carpentry stuff anyhow. If I can find a place for hives I will go with pre-fab if not then a building we will go :-)
"A bumble bee is considerably faster than a John Deere tractor".

Offline hardwood

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Re: Newbie From Kapuskasing N. Ontario
« Reply #12 on: February 03, 2011, 12:17:24 am »
Welcome Ema! Keep us informed of your trials/tribulations :)

Scott
"In the first place, we should insist that if the immigrant who comes here in good faith becomes an American and assimilates himself to us, he shall be treated on an exact equality with everyone else, for it is an outrage to discriminate against any such man because of creed, or birthplace, or origin. But this is predicated upon the person's becoming in every facet an American, and nothing but an American...There can be no divided allegiance here. Any man who says he is an American, but something else also, isn't an American at all. We have room for but one flag, the American flag...We have room for but one language here, and that is the English language...And we have room for but one sole loyalty and that is a loyalty to the American people."

Theodore Roosevelt 1907

Offline Ema

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Re: Newbie From Kapuskasing N. Ontario
« Reply #13 on: February 03, 2011, 03:05:44 pm »
thanks and I definitely will. I spent most of my evening last night reading, and then all day today watching videos on you tube ahahaha. well I watched a few of the extraction videos at the end and I think I might be getting the HoneyBee fever    :shock:

this weekend we are going to build the hives and frames well attempt to anyhow, we will see how it goes. DId I mention I love this site :-D though you guys are a bunch of enablers!!!!   :bee:

Ema
"A bumble bee is considerably faster than a John Deere tractor".

Offline Galdron

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Re: Newbie From Kapuskasing N. Ontario
« Reply #14 on: February 04, 2011, 01:05:43 pm »
Well the post saying that beekeeping can be about as simple or as complicated as you make it is certainly accurate.

I have made both my Langstrom Hives and Top Bar hives by hand.  I always purchase the frames and foundation.
I have made my own queen rearing kit as well.  I might even post some pictures after the forum opens up for me.

Welcome to the wacky world of Beekeeping!

Offline Algonam

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Re: Newbie From Kapuskasing N. Ontario
« Reply #15 on: May 29, 2011, 10:08:25 am »
Hi Emma,

I too am new, (from west of Ottawa) except I took the plunge and have now just started up 2 hives. It turns out my nucs came from Todd.....a previous poster. I will be looking to make contact with a knowledgeable beekeeper on email so I can ask questions daily as my experience grows!
I joined the local beekeeping club expecting it to be a support/discussion group but it seems more like a classroom style, where we meet 4 times each year with a full presentation each meeting. It looks like this forum will be my answer source going forward.

AM (Algonam)


Oh Canada!

Offline Jim134

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Re: Newbie From Kapuskasing N. Ontario
« Reply #16 on: May 29, 2011, 10:58:30 am »
"Tell me and I'll forget,show me and I may  remember,involve me and I'll understand"
        Chinese Proverb

"The farmer is the only man in our economy who buys everything at retail, sells everything at wholesale, and pays the freight both ways."
 John F. Kennedy
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anything