Hello from Melbourne Australia!

[Pete]

Hey there, Pete here from Mornington near Melbourne Australia.

For reasons i cant explain i have become fascinated by honey bees and two weeks ago i decided i would get started. I found a long time beekeeper who sold me a solid hive and my wife and I and the kids picked it up a few days before Christmas. It has 2 x full sized 10 frame boxes, 1 excluder and 1 small framed super for honey.

Within a few days of moving it here the activity rose dramatically (and i got stung). Those dudes on the video in shorts and thongs know a lot of stuff i dont, bee suit only from now on :) We can see 3/4 out every 5 bees returning loaded with pollen. The smell of honey 5m from the hive is really strong.

Today i got a lesson from my beekeeping 'mentor' on her hives. First time with a veil or near bees and we split one hive, took honey and replaced with drawn frames another hive and opened and inspected a small (6 frame?) hive full of tiny placid bees - in this hive i found the queen and watched her laying etc. Later i got a lesson uncapping and extracting and testing the honey (wife and kids all heavily involved).

I was pretty surprised how much activity there was on the strong hive. So many bees flying around us, some were not happy trying to sting through my leather gloves.

Now i have some experience i am starting to get enough confidence to open the hive at home and get ready to extract honey in a week or so, hopefully.

 :-D :-D :-D

[Cindi]

Pete, welcome to our forum, we have many new members joining from your country, that is cool.  So neat that you have decided to take up this most interesting hobby of beekeeping, soon you will be held very deeply under their spell.  Stick around.  This will be a place where you can tell your stories, tales and experiences, there will be many.  Have a most wonderful day, love life, with health.  Cindi

[Phil-J]

Hi Pete,

Welcome to the forum.

I am also in Melbourne outer east. I have my first hive buzzing away which seems very busy but I am also a complete beginner. My intention to get a few more hives once I know what I am doing ;)

My entire family, kids and all are very interested in how the bees are doing. I have built a second hive over this Christmas break and my 4 yo wanted to paint it all by himself, because it has been quite warm here over recent days, I stripped him off and away he went. He managed to paint the hive - and himself - very funny :lol:

Good luck and all the best.

Phil J

[SlickMick]

Welcome Pete.

Now ya just havta have a decko at the Aussie bit where we all give each other a bit of cheek and have a good time keeping up with all the bee news Here's the link that takes you there. You'll have fun... guaranteed

Ooops nearly forgot the link    :roll:  http://forum.beemaster.com/index.php/topic,25400.0.html

Slicko

[Geoff]

     Welcome Pete from a Gippslander. You have found a great site for information on beekeeping or just a spot to communicate with a great bunch of people.
       Apart from the beekeeping we have people who are knowledgable on all sorts of subjects from computers to tractors.
      The great way to communicate is using the ventrilo facility. Simply a VOIP software system (free) on the computer which allows either voice or text. You only need a mike and you are up and away.

       A good link to start is :- http://forum.beemaster.com/index.php/topic,5880.0.html
 
       I could put a whole pile of links here for you but an Aussie thread is :- http://forum.beemaster.com/index.php/topic,25638.0.html[/url]

       The last link comes under the general section of:-  http://forum.beemaster.com/index.php/board,157.0.html

        Sounds as though you have a good mentor to get you going, I have not had one so have learned some very hard lessons along the way. Have had some very sticky messes and a lot of angry bees at times with some pain but have got through it always. Like so many others started off with one hive and am now approaching the magical number of 20. Thats the magical number because most wives say " No more".
        
         Good luck with them Pete.
        

[Pete]

Thanks for the supportive responses. I will follow up on the suggested reading.

Waiting for actual bee suites to arrive before i open up the hive again. Previously i have been using paper painters suit with masking tape :)

[SlickMick]

Thanks for the supportive responses. I will follow up on the suggested reading.

Waiting for actual bee suites to arrive before i open up the hive again. Previously i have been using paper painters suit with masking tape :)

Tell us what happened for you to go off the paper painters suit and masking tape. I suspect a story here  :-D

Mick

[Pete]

Nope  :-D

The only thing i learned was that even after a full role of masking tape i had loads of holes and no bees came in. But the painters suit just arent tough enough.

Once i found out where to get a bee full suit affordable i couldnt resist. Bee supplies in Oz have them for about 150 a suit, i paid 180 for two delivered.

[beemaster]

GEOFF SAYS:
a good link to start is :- http://forum.beemaster.com/index.php/topic,5880.0.html

Geoff, you are a true Ventrilo Diplomat for Australia - I have noticed the growth of the forum since the Down Under FORUM started, here and more notably in Ventrilo Voice Chat: Free, Easy to install, set up in minutes and you are talking - or AT LEAST listening and hopefully talking or texting there LIVE with other members. Or make friends and shaking hands from around the globe, literally. Geoff our first notable Aussie has visited the states a bit more than a year and a half ago, he met with many many members, I am proud that I am one of them. Point is to anyone reading, it is Ventrilo Chat (paid for generously by the members who have donated to the forum - I just mention that for all of you who have gifted funds to keep our site up and running, we are doing well. Thank you for gifting.)

But I urge all members to try ventrilo voice chat - or as I should call it Beemaster Chat - and I think Many members may more willing to join in this 30 member room running 24/7 on a commercial server with great up time and nightly you can see a dozen members, it honestly is Vital and enjoyable for all members to join in BEEMASTER VOICE CHAT it can take you magical place.

Look at Bud1 who came into Ventrilo a few years ago, made friends for life whether he ever meets them or not, but Bud1 has met a whopping numbers by graciously hosting our INTERNATIONAL BEEMASTER GATHERING in Macon, Mississippi, USA on the weekend of April 24th. Expected will be dozens of members, many steaming LIVE VIDEO and live CHAT BROADCASTS from the Gathering. I expect to steam dozens of hours at www.blogtv.com/people/beemaster (mind you my NEW and ONLY LIVE VIDEO FEED. You can catch me often in the afternoons and evenings EST live on video and Ventrilo together - so members can speak to me as well as just type. Soon I'll have Sktpe on this computer (as I do my others) and Skype is interfaced with BlogTV - so it sounds near studio chat quality over Skype.

I promise some day here to have a scheduled open room night where people who like to think of themselves as well learned beekeepers can share their knowledge and pick their brains. Anyone through Skype and BlogTV can interact. I'm actually always ready for TOWN MEETING. Maybe we should take a poll and see what time MOST MEMBERS would like a live VIDEO, SKYPE, VENTRILO, TEXT CHAT session

So, forgive me getting off topic, but Geoff had a very good point and I needed to expand, I believe Ventrilo to be more that fun, it can be magical to many many members.



 
      

[Yarra_Valley]

Hi Peter,

James from Fitzory / Healesville here. I live in fitzroy but keep my hives in Healesville. Will be moving out there for a few months for vintage (I'm into wine) so I'll get to spend more time with the bees, which is good because they're busy and are starting to need a lot of attention.

If you want to meet more beekeepers perhaps you should come along to the Victorian Apiarists Association Melbourne section monthly meeting. There's a few commerical guys who regularly attend from down your way; John Winkels in Moorooduc and David Severino on Phillip Island. They know a bit about what's flowering down that way too.

Phil-J - I'm always driving through your area on the way out of town!

James.