First Post and introduction. My name is Doug Croll. Live in Alamo, CA. Retired.
My Grandfather was a commercial beekeeper that started in business in the late 1940's. My Father went into business with him in the 50's. All the boys in the family worked the business from the time we could wire frames at .25 a box. (BTW, new frames are 10 to a box, but when Dad took them to the field we would put 9 in a super on the bees. It was his way of getting his moneys worth out of us.)
I had about 200 hives (early 80's) while working a regular job while Dad was still in the bee business. He had just under 2000 hives that went into pollination, Seed alfalfa and almonds. My beekeeping stopped in 1990 when someone needed my equipment more than me. 175 hives with supers stolen from a seed alfalfa location... I was out of business. Dad continued until he sold everything in about 1990.
About 4 years ago my wife said that we needed a bee hive...., I said "go buy a quart of honey".... between my brother and myself we have about 20 hives now. I honestly think its harder now as a hobbyist to keep things working smoothly. It is a lot more fun though. And I'm amazed at what I remember from years ago. And more surprised at what I don't know. The learning curve is back on.
Looking forward to interacting on the forum. Doug
Topic: Hello from California (Read 1592 times)