Bee Keeping

Tomorrow I attend my first bee keeping class. I've been burning up google researching and looking at pictures of beehives. I've also spent time visiting blogs about bees. There are many out there but my favorite has been "Two Men and a Little Farm". I've found a lot of information and inspiration there and I just love 1st man's style of writing.

I've decided that I want Langstroth hives with the copper English style roof. Any time I can put English into anything I do is a good day! I'm going to start with one hive, but if I can manage it financially, I'll start with two. My thinking on this is that if one "fails", perhaps the other will not. I like the look of the Langstroth hives and have decided to paint them a crisp white. They'll be easily seen from the house in white so that I'll be able to keep an eye on them.

The hives come in 8 and 10 frame boxes. I'm going to go with 8 for ease of lifting. Since I'll be setting up this year for bees next year, I plan on purchasing my bee keeping supplies through the coming year. I have visions of veiled hats, white gloves, smokers and various other tools dancing through my head.

The next decision is where to place them on the farm. For that, I'm hoping the teacher in my bee keeping class will be able to help. I've also joined the Dodge-Jefferson Bee Keeper's Association who meet monthly and where I hope to gain a lot of information and advice. They are also one of a few clubs who maintain an active hive yard (apiary) so I'm hoping to gain valuable experience even before my hives are up and buzzing.

Bees and Honey - what could be more glorious! A Bee Garden of course!

All pictures in this post are via the internet.