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Author Topic: hello from Northeast Florida  (Read 3109 times)

Offline charles

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hello from Northeast Florida
« on: March 23, 2009, 11:33:29 pm »
Hello, everybody!

My name's Charlie, and I live in NE Florida with my wife and 2 boys (1, and 3). I am an aspiring newbie with three empty hives standing by for a couple splits that a local beeman has promised to sell me in Mid April. I can't wait to get started.

While the honey is definitely nice, I'm more interested in raising the bees themselves. I'm hoping after growing the colonies up in year one to split them into several more. I also found some bees on my father's orange trees next door which makes me want to see about tracking and capturing a feral colony. I put out some boiled-down honey water this afternoon next to the tree where one was spotted. I'm hoping I can mark and time some workers and take my three year-old on a honey(bee) hunt. We'll see.

Anyway, I've found this website and others to be a great resource for heading up the learning curve. I'm looking forward to interacting with some of you.
4 hives

Offline Brian D. Bray

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Re: hello from Northeast Florida
« Reply #1 on: March 23, 2009, 11:52:28 pm »
Let me be the first to say Howdy and Welcome!
Life is a school.  What have you learned?   :brian:      The greatest danger to our society is apathy, vote in every election!

Offline JP

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Re: hello from Northeast Florida
« Reply #2 on: March 24, 2009, 12:12:53 am »
Welcome!


...JP
My Youtube page is titled JPthebeeman with hundreds of educational & entertaining videos.

My website JPthebeeman.com http://jpthebeeman.com

Offline pdmattox

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Re: hello from Northeast Florida
« Reply #3 on: March 24, 2009, 08:19:32 pm »
Welcome to beekeeping and to our great forum.

Offline vermmy35

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Re: hello from Northeast Florida
« Reply #4 on: March 24, 2009, 08:29:30 pm »
hello
Semper Fi to all my brothers out there
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Offline davedill

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Re: hello from Northeast Florida
« Reply #5 on: March 24, 2009, 09:46:25 pm »
Welcome Charles!!!!   I am sure you and I will learn together.

Offline BjornBee

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Re: hello from Northeast Florida
« Reply #6 on: March 25, 2009, 08:39:29 am »
Welcome to the forum.

Put me down for a gallon of orange blossom honey. I'll assume you will be giving it away....  :roll:  A nice feedback or referral is guaranteed!
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Offline 1reb

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Re: hello from Northeast Florida
« Reply #7 on: March 25, 2009, 10:33:27 am »
Hello and Welcome Charlie
There is alot of great information on the forum !!
The members here are willing help and answer your questions, all you need to do is to ask
Johnny 

Offline charles

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Re: hello from Northeast Florida
« Reply #8 on: March 28, 2009, 09:58:25 pm »
Thanks for the warm welcome.

Okay, so an update since my first post. I have seen some bees around my dad's orange trees, but they didn't go for my little feeder at all. I guess it just can't compete with the citrus nectar. I saw one of them fly off, so I thought maybe that was the direction of their hive, but... oh well.

Today, I got my bees!!

A local guru had about 80 nuc splits and I bought a coulple of 4-framers from him. Great looking bunch. The queens were gorgeous. So they are now sitting in single deeps with boardmans, just in case. I imagine as soon as they find the orange grove, that old honey water won't entice these bees any more than the other one.

My plan is still to grow these up and maybe try to split them this year.

I do wonder about that feral hive, though. There's no way I'd be able to spot a bee from there now. Eh,, more certainty in this path.
4 hives

Offline Cindi

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Re: hello from Northeast Florida
« Reply #9 on: March 31, 2009, 07:51:59 pm »
Charles, welcome to our forum.  You got the bees, you got the fever, you can't stop now!!!  Just wait until you get to know them even better, you will never believe the amount of fun you're going to have, it is a wonderful life, living amongst the bees.  Stick around, this will be a place where you will love to spend time.  A place where you can ask any question you choose, you will make new friends and have a place to tell your stories, tales and experiences, and believe me....you will have many.  Have that great and most wonderful day, health.  Cindi
There are strange things done in the midnight sun by the men who moil for gold.  The Arctic trails have their secret tales that would make your blood run cold.  The Northern Lights have seen queer sights, but the queerest they ever did see, what the night on the marge of Lake Lebarge, I cremated Sam McGee.  Robert Service

Offline charles

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Re: hello from Northeast Florida
« Reply #10 on: March 31, 2009, 09:12:35 pm »
Thanks Cindi.

Yes, the girls are a marvel! Saturday around sundown I put them in their new home. That night, we had the wickedest thunderstorm I believe I've ever seen in this part of Fla. Five inches of rain got laid down in a couple hours and the lighting was like a strobe light during that whole time. My three-year-old was terrified, as the thunder was continuous for 1-1/2 hours. And safe and sound in our bed that night, I wondered about the bees.

That morning, I stayed home with the cold-afflicted and sleepy kids while dw went to church. I had to know...

We went out and I opened the hive. Not only were they perfectly fine, they were already foraging and had drawn out quite a bit of new comb on their brand-new foundation. They hadn't been in there 14 hours! That was the moment it went from fascination to adoration.

Oh, and the three year-old likes them too.
4 hives

Offline Cindi

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Re: hello from Northeast Florida
« Reply #11 on: March 31, 2009, 09:18:59 pm »
My three-year-old was terrified, as the thunder was continuous for 1-1/2 hours. And safe and sound in our bed that night, I wondered about the bees.  That morning, I stayed home with the cold-afflicted and sleepy kids while dw went to church.

Charles, so sorry to hear of the horrified child, thunder can be one of the scariest things on earth, not only for a child.  Have a wonderful and most awesome day, health.  Cindi
There are strange things done in the midnight sun by the men who moil for gold.  The Arctic trails have their secret tales that would make your blood run cold.  The Northern Lights have seen queer sights, but the queerest they ever did see, what the night on the marge of Lake Lebarge, I cremated Sam McGee.  Robert Service