Hello from Indiana

[Lunawriter]

Hi all,

I'm brand new to all things beekeeping so I'm happy to have found you.  I live in central Indiana with one husband, two boys (ages 3 and 1), two Australian cattle dogs, a cat, 5 chickens (with 30 more due to hatch in a week and a half) and a Flemish Giant rabbit.  I'm excited to add bees!

I have one top-bar hive ready to go and am building two more barrel hives based on Robo's.  I was so excited to find out about top-bar hives because monetarily I just couldn't manage to start beekeeping with Langstroths--the only hives I was familar with.  I'm a gardener and want bees for pollination more than anything.  The honey and wax will be a bonus.  I'm also trying to encourage more bumble bees and solitary bees to my garden by building them some housing as well.

I'm excited to learn from everyone here!

[Jack]

Welcome. Sounds like the bees will be a fine addition to your little farm.

[indypartridge]

Hello and Welcome!

It's always nice to see another Hoosier on board. This forum is a great place to learn more about beekeeping. Be sure to check out the tutorials on the main Beemaster page.

Depending on where in central IN you're located, you may want to familiarize yourself with Graham's Beeworks in Morgantown. Good supplier of bees & equipment. Very handy when you need to replace a queen.
http://www.grahamsbeeworks.com/

There are also a number of beekeeping clubs around the state - good for finding mentors and getting connected to nearby beekeepers:
http://www.in.gov/dnr/entomolo/files/ep-indiana_beekeeping_information.pdf

I'd also like to invite you the State beekeepers meeting June 19th. We hold our summer meeting at the Purdue beeyards. It's always a fun meeting, with much to see and learn. Details will be posted on the website once we get further along in the planning:
http://www.hoosierbuzz.com/

[Lunawriter]

Thanks so much for the welcome, Jack!  And Indypartridge, thanks so much for all the information and links!  I'll definitely try to make it to the beekeepers meeting.  I'm in Zionsville so not too far.  Hope to meet you there and get to know you in the meantime. :)

[Cindi]

Lunawriter, welcome to our forum, that is great you found us.  Stick around, we love new members, you will have stories and tales to tell, along with your experiences with the bees.  Have a most wonderful day, love, with health.  Cindi