hi everyone. despite my vigorous declarations to my husband that i would not be joining any online beekeeping forums (having spent a couple of years on a parenting board, listening to people accuse each other of being the worst parents ever, and ruining their children with everything from their politics to their brand of shoes to their big macs) i've decided to register here, since everyone seems pretty laid back and knowledgeable.
but seriously, dudes, lay off my big macs.
i'm a first-year beekeeper with one hive, and about a thousand pieces of wood in boxes, ready to become a second hive next year. i took the rutgers short course back in april, and got my package of bees about five weeks ago. this past friday i put on a SBB and the second hive body, and i've been chewing my nails down to the bone waiting for the weekend so i can open it and see if they've moved up. so far everything has progressed like they told me it should, and i'm really enjoying the whole process - as are my husband and kids, who were fairly ambivalent about the whole idea while i was at "bee college", as they call it, but climbed on board as soon as the actual bees arrived.
i take this less as a sign that i'm not a freak, than that i am raising a family of freaks. yay bees!