Greetings to all from the North Texas Hill Country just a little south of the Red River. This is my second full year of beekeeping and I am having a blast...except I am afraid the heat and drought is going to be a killer again this year. Started out with two hives in the Summer of 2011. The drought and heat took its toll as I lost one hive. Both hives were swarms that a friend of mine gave me to get started in my beekeeping adventure. Knowing what I have learned through the school of hard knocks--one of my queens died in the heat of the summer and the poor girls didn't have the resources to make a new one. Also the wax moths took advantage of this weak hive and one morning in the fall, after our first "cold" snap the hive packed up and left.
This year I started with the one surviving hive, two packages from R Weaver, a nuc from a private individual, a swarm from a friend's peach tree, and a split from my original hive. Everyone is doing great, but because Mother Nature has turned off the water faucet, the landscape has left much to be desired for foraging. a 25 lb sack of sugar, Honey B Healthy, and pollen substitute are my new best "friends". Planted a quarter acre of buckwheat so here's hoping for the rain!
Glad to bee here! :)