Aspiring Beekeeper

[Cyphrex]

Hello all, my screen name is cryptic in nature I know but taken from the idea of Leonardo Da Vinci’s Cryptex and using Ciphers as a kid (spy wannabe) I merged the two and came up with a screen name that is seldom used.  The name is Jason, approximately 25 yrs of age and I currently live about 60 miles south of DFW, Texas.  I will probably be moving shortly to the Houston area into an apartment with my wife due to her job transition.  I’m a computer geek by nature (Bachelors of Science in Computer Information Systems with a minor in Criminal Justice, and Master’s of Science in Information System) as is my wife (the computer part); however she is not thrilled at this idea of me wanting to start my own hives. Please forgive me for all the questions I have before purchasing my first brood:

Any suggestions/material that I could use on educating the non-savvy anti-bee populations around me to be more accepting of these wonderful creatures of the hymenoptera order of the insect world?

I would really like to have a mentor (volunteer) that can similarly show me the ropes of getting started as Sid in another posting, as its been stated more than once on this site, reading and doing are two different things. 

My father is highly allergic to stings of all sorts; however, I have shown no allergen to recent wasp/yellow jacket stings. Should I be tested to be sure?

What is the governing factor of having Africanized bee’s appear at a hive since Texas has been shown to already have been infested with this not so docile swarm (do they just come in and invade any bee hive; if they do how would I make them want to leave so the honey bees can take back over)?

Do the bees take the dead carcasses out of the hive of bees that were shaken into the hive from the shipping package originally (You tube video of packaged bees)?

I guess this is a start for my education deprived mind and all that it seeks to learn about nature and these magnificent social creatures.

-Jason

[Kimbrell]

Welcome Cyphrex!
I'm not an expert, But I can recommend a book to get you started and to allay any fears your wife has. " Beekeeping for Dummies" can answer most of the questions you have.  If not ask any of the experts here.  If you are looking for a mentor, try your local beekeeping organization.  This is a wonderful and underused resource.  Your county agent can put you in touch with them.  Again, welcome.  You're on the right path to becoming a beekeeper already.

[qa33010]

Welcome and you've taken a great, my opinion, first step...questions.  Don't hesitate to ask them, especially here.  These folks have been my mentor, as well as other forums, and I've learned a lot.  Once I see it in action then the lesson stays with me better.

   As far as educating the public... good luck.  I have folks that love the honey and ask me questions all the time.  Before they just said keep 'em away from me or "...cool, you keep bees...here in town?..." as they backed away slowly.  I don't think they even realized they were backing away.  Like I said, now they ask after the hives and any new news about the bees future or research, but when I talk about what I've seen as I got in the hives some would shudder and walk off saying something to the effect of NO WAY FOR ME...

   My sister is highly allergic to wasp/hornet then bumblebees and then honey bees in that order.  I'm not and neither is anyone else in the family and we're not a small family.  I had never been stung until I started keeping bees.  I've been stung more this year than in the past couple years I've been doing this and the last couple didn't swell and stopped itching after a couple hours.  years past the stung area swelled like a balloon.  If you're not sure go ahead and get tested.

     My extension office had some literature that helped and was specific to Arkansas.  The first peice of literature was from the library dated from the seventies, man what an differance from then and now.  When I got my kit from Betterbee The New Starting Right With Bees by ROOT Publishing.  This and other websites and I keep ABC...XYZ Of Bee Culture and The Hive and the Honey Bee as referance.  My wish list is Natural Beekeeping, the Dummies book, breeding and queen rearing books...ect.

      I don't have africanized but will start brushing up on BEST methods and maybe buy some books on A.I.

   Yes they do wrestle the dead bee corpses out and may carry them a ways away from the hive.

[indypartridge]

Hey Jason!

Cool name, 'Cyphrex'.

This is a good forum for learning about bees. There are some great tutorials, and I use the 'search' function a lot. Many times I find that my question has already been discussed.

Try getting in touch with a local bee club:
ttp://www.texasbeekeepers.org/indexDynFrames.htm?http://www.texasbeekeepers.org/Directories/TBA%20Chapters.htm&1
Clubs are great places to find mentors, and to learn how the locals deal with issues such as Africanized bees.

[Cindi]

Jason, Cyphrex, welcome to our forum, I love the name that you created, it is very interesting and so unique.  You have some interesting academic backgrounds too, that is cool.

THis is the place where you will lean on us for help, for information, for advice.  There are some wonderful information sites available to anyone who choses to go there, in our internet cyberspace, it is a wonderful learning tool.  There are mountains of posts that may be of great interest to you, spend time with us, enjoy this time you spend, I know that you will.  Welcome, and have that great and most wonderful day, Cindi