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Offline Natalie

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New here
« on: November 04, 2008, 04:06:22 pm »
Hello,
          I am a new member here and new to beekeeping.
I have been interested keeping bees for a while and now a couple of my family members seem to be on board as well, so we will dive into it this spring. I plan to get between 2-4 colonies to start. I hope to find someone local that I can purchase nucs from.
My 6 year old son is very interested in this as well, I don't know why it surprised me much since he is really into keeping chickens and is very responsible with them. He can't wait to get bees.
It would be nice for him to learn about them.
I have been reading as much as I can get my hands on and picking other people's brains when I can.
I want to be as prepared as I possible beforehand.The rest I will learn as I go I suppose.
I live in Weymouth, Massachusetts with my husband and 6 children aged 5-20.
I raise chickens and sell eggs, love to garden and grow my own vegetables and I  am an avid antique collector.
I hope to learn alot and make some friends here, look forward to meeting you all.
                                                                    Natalie

Offline edenviewgarden

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Re: New here
« Reply #1 on: November 04, 2008, 05:26:22 pm »
Welcome Natalie,

How cool that your 6 year old son is so anxious have bees.  Just think, when he grows up, he will hardly be able to remember a time when he didn't have bees!  I wish you incredible success.  You will find lots of helpful friends here.

Jane
Those who dance are thought mad by those who do not hear the music.

Offline 1reb

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Re: New here
« Reply #2 on: November 04, 2008, 10:58:23 pm »
Hello and Welcome Natalie
There is alot of great information on the forum !!
The members here are willing help and answer your questions, all you need to do is to ask
Johnny   

Offline indypartridge

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Re: New here
« Reply #3 on: November 05, 2008, 07:31:32 am »
Hello and Welcome!

This forum is a friendly place to learn more about bees & beekeeping.  Over time, I've found the 'search' function to be very useful - more often than not, when I have a question it's usually been discussed before, and I can get an immediate answer (which is nice if you're impatient!).

If you haven't already, I recommend getting involved with a local beekeeping club. Clubs are great for finding mentors and getting connected with other nearby beeks. Plus, clubs often offer beginning beekeeping classes, and members can help you with such things as finding local suppliers and beekeeping techniques that are specific to your location.
http://www.massbee.org/links.shtml

Good Luck!

Offline danno

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Re: New here
« Reply #4 on: November 05, 2008, 09:10:01 am »
Just remember. The only dumb question is one not asked and to all members remember, new people dont ask you dumb questions

Offline JP

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Re: New here
« Reply #5 on: November 05, 2008, 09:14:46 am »
Welcome Natalie! You will be right at home here, you say you raise chickens, we have other chicken lovers here, make sure you check out the farming and country section.


...JP
My Youtube page is titled JPthebeeman with hundreds of educational & entertaining videos.

My website JPthebeeman.com http://jpthebeeman.com

Offline Cindi

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Re: New here
« Reply #6 on: November 05, 2008, 10:08:24 am »
Natalie, welcome to our forum, so nice you found us.  This will be a place where you will meet new friends, have a place to tell your stories, tales and experiences, and most of all, find out how to keep bees, we can all help and offer our advice.

You sound like my Sister, she has 6 children, aged 6 to 18 though, but very similar. I can only begin to imagine how busy your life must be.  You are an avid farmer, good, so I am I, I love my chickenyard critters too.  Stick around, enjoy your stay with us.  AND...have that most wonderful day and awesome life, Cindi
There are strange things done in the midnight sun by the men who moil for gold.  The Arctic trails have their secret tales that would make your blood run cold.  The Northern Lights have seen queer sights, but the queerest they ever did see, what the night on the marge of Lake Lebarge, I cremated Sam McGee.  Robert Service

Offline Natalie

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Re: New here
« Reply #7 on: November 05, 2008, 06:20:42 pm »
Thank you everyone for the nice welcome, I really appreciate it.
I have been busy ordering some of the supplies I will need come spring and I start classes for beekeeping in a couple of months.
I am going through all the threads here to glean some more information as well.
I called a man to inquire about nucs that he sells each spring and we started chatting about beekeeping and spent at least 30 minutes explaining all kinds of techniques people use and methods he has tried and how it all worked or didn't work for him.
Its such a relief to find so many other people that keep bees and are so helpful and willing to share their knowledge.
I look forward to getting to know you all and learning from you.
Thanks again, Natalie

Offline Robo

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Re: New here
« Reply #8 on: November 05, 2008, 07:01:32 pm »
Just remember. The only dumb question is one not asked and to all members remember, new people dont ask you dumb questions
True, but there is a search function too,  so show a little effort and see if your question has already been answered before you expect others to take the time to answer.  Most generic questions have already been answered to death ;)
"Opportunity is missed by most people because it comes dressed in overalls and looks like work." - Thomas Edison



Offline johnnybigfish

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Re: New here
« Reply #9 on: November 05, 2008, 07:34:36 pm »
 But,....but......Gee Robo,........I wanna be able to answer some easy questions! Everybody here always beats me to the answers :-\ You cant imagine how depressing it is to go through all my books for answers only to find that 2 days later someone has already come up with an answer!
 Oh,...Just KIDDING!!!
 Hey Natalie, my problem is that when I answer a question, by the time I get to the end of my answer I just might be telling you how to wax a car and I'd a forgotten all about the question being about a leaky feeder or something like that :)
 At any rate, welcome to the forums, Natalie! Theres tons of stuff in here about bees! For me, this is where i get practically all my bee knowledge...and chicken information...and how to eat right...and when I should pull up my garlic...and what medicines to take for what disease...And when people see aliens in their yard...and how to make liquor from honey.......
You know,..when I got my first bees I,...........Uh oh,,,,,,.......
Ok,...gotta go learn something else!

your friend,
john

Offline asprince

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Re: New here
« Reply #10 on: November 05, 2008, 07:48:15 pm »
Welcome Natalie.

Get some bees, they will teach you! With your interests and hobbies, you will find lots of friends here.

Steve
Politics is supposed to be the second oldest profession. I have come to realize that it bears a very close resembalance to the first. - Ronald Reagan

Offline Natalie

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Re: New here
« Reply #11 on: November 08, 2008, 12:31:21 am »
Thanks everyone,
Don't worry John I do that sometimes too, and then half the time I end up erasing half of my answer to get to the point.
What do you mean I can't ask a bunch of questions that have already been answered a thousand times?!
You want me to take some initiative and LOOK for the answer myself? What the? What kind of a place is this?   :-D
 I know that for the most part I can find all the answers to my questions from reading the old threads, which I have already been doing so I don't expect to be bothering you folks too much unless its something specific to my situation.

Um, does anyone know what a frame is? and what does extracting mean? a nuc?
I always hear people refer to a super but they never say a super what? What the heck is so super?   ;)

Offline poka-bee

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Re: New here
« Reply #12 on: November 08, 2008, 01:27:56 am »
Um, does anyone know what a frame is? and what does extracting mean? a nuc?
I always hear people refer to a super but they never say a super what? What the heck is so super?   ;)
[/quote]

Welcome Natalie!  You are going to fit right in! You will spend hours reading & learn things you didn't know you needed to know.  There are many ways of doing almost everything, it's fun to see all the different methods & reasons why! I too have chix! J
I'm covered in Beeesssss!  Eddie Izzard

Offline Cindi

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Re: New here
« Reply #13 on: November 08, 2008, 10:39:51 am »
Um, does anyone know what a frame is? and what does extracting mean? a nuc?
 a super but they never say a super what? What the heck is so super?   ;)

Welcome Natalie!  You are going to fit right in! You will spend hours reading & learn things you didn't know you needed to know.  There are many ways of doing almost everything, it's fun to see all the different methods & reasons why! I too have chix! J
[/quote]

Ditto to Jody, we are a friendly and funny group and love to kid each other!!!  Cindi
There are strange things done in the midnight sun by the men who moil for gold.  The Arctic trails have their secret tales that would make your blood run cold.  The Northern Lights have seen queer sights, but the queerest they ever did see, what the night on the marge of Lake Lebarge, I cremated Sam McGee.  Robert Service

Offline johnnybigfish

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Re: New here
« Reply #14 on: November 08, 2008, 09:24:27 pm »
Poka and Cindi, You guys took the words right outta my mouth!!!...Honest, you really did!!!! After reading Natalies last post I said to myself,"Geez, she's gonna fit right in here!"
 And Natalie!!! I DO THE SAME THING!!!! I write a mess off stuff then I go back and delete some cuz i found how distracted i got while writing!!!...And THATS a lotta work when typing with two fingers!!
your friend,
john                             (heh heh heh.....Great minds think alike, huh?)

Offline annette

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Re: New here
« Reply #15 on: November 08, 2008, 11:26:53 pm »
Hi Natalie

Annette here from Placerville California and another women beekeeper. I have been keeping bees since April 2006 and have learned so, so much from my experience with the bees, many things that have gone wrong, and posting for help here on the forum.

I never could have gone on without the help I received right here on this forum. I had so many challenges, but I worked them all out and I still have 2 wonderful beehives.

The people on this forum are very friendly and they come right to the rescue if you truly are fretting. Believe me I have fretted many times and people still help even someone neurotic like me.

Just have fun here and you will see how many new friends you will make

Sincerely
Annette

Offline johnnybigfish

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Re: New here
« Reply #16 on: November 08, 2008, 11:49:10 pm »
Hey Annette!
When are you gonna get another hive???? :)
your friend,
john

Offline annette

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Re: New here
« Reply #17 on: November 09, 2008, 04:14:38 pm »
Hey Annette!
When are you gonna get another hive???? :)
your friend,
john

I was going to increase to 4 hives, but I was waiting for that guy Saj to make me 2 hive stands and I guess he just disappeared. I really wanted those hive stands. (he actually PM'd me and said they were almost done and to give him my address and then he just disappeared).

I like having my hives on the sturdy hive stands I have and I do not want anymore unless I have more stands.

I know what everyone will say. Use blocks, etc.  Who knows, I may split one of my hives this Spring and then I will have 3.

It is a lot of work for me, as I have many problems with my body and just taking care of 2 has been enough for me.

I do have the desire for more, so we shall see what happens
Take care
Annette

Offline johnnybigfish

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Re: New here
« Reply #18 on: November 09, 2008, 06:56:53 pm »
 Oh yehhhh,...Ol' sarge.......I do remember he said he'd make you some. If I was closer to you(Like right next door or just down the street) I'd make some stands for you. Ive made them out of different things...Maybe you should use blocks....heh heh heh... :)
 Really though the blocks with 4x4s is what i will do from now on I think. I just have to remember if I have a hive on each end, and i go to move one, the other will drop until it catches the inside top of the block...Really scary, but I should remember next time!

your friend,
john

Offline annette

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Re: New here
« Reply #19 on: November 09, 2008, 10:28:59 pm »
I think I will stick to my hive stands!!!!!!!

 

anything