And so it Begins.......

2014 - Brings new things....and so it begins....my journey of being a beekeeper in the 'burbs.....being a beekeeper and a mommy......and eventually introducing beekeeping to my oldest daughter.....

So how did I get here?

My oldest sister got the book "Homegrown Honey Bees" for Christmas and posted it to Facebook - so I had to pick it up a copy too.....because if my sister wanted to do it....I thought that sure I can do it too...

Actually - I was interested in bees way before my big sister decided to post that book about bees on her Facebook page - a few years ago I wanted to do it but a friend of mine suggested that I take a class and also link up with a mentor if I wanted to be a successful beekeeper......but as I got busy with life --- you know working full time, dealing with two kids and everything that goes along with it.....and it faded to the background but now with this renewed interest I decided to look at how, where and what I needed to do......

I recommend looking up your state or local beekeepers association.  I looked up the North Carolina State Beekeepers Association http://www.ncbeekeepers.org/ and found out that here in New Hanover County there was a class - the local beekeeping association teaches a beginner class.....and luckily I was able to snag a slot in the class....it was a 6 week course including a field day to a "bee yard"....I didn't know what to expect.....but I was excited....

The first day of class - I was surprised that there was so many people - almost 50 people were in the class - the largest class that they ever taught -- some were younger like me and most were older retirees....and I felt like I was back in college learning all about the biology of a honey bee.....and I thought what did I get myself into.....but as the classes progressed.....it got easier and a little overwhelming too - especially the class about all of the things that can go wrong or that can affect the hive - including our recent cold snap that killed some local hives - one of the Bee Masters brought in a few frames of a "cluster" that had froze to death during our ice storm.....it was really sad.....

Bee Keeping Equipment class

Looks overwhelming doesn't it?  This is all of the things that can affect a hive!

Queen Bee (top)
Worker Bee (bottom)
These poor bees froze to death during the ice storm in January 2014

Example of bees who froze during the ice storm - notice the ones with their "bums" sticking out of the cells and also the capped brood.
We found the queen bee - shown above within this cluster.





So next week.....I take my written test and hopefully we will have our practical field day soon - if the weather cooperates.  Will keep you posted!