Bee space
I need another hobby about like I need a(nother) hole in my head. But at the same time, ya gotta keep life interesting. Several times over the past few years, K and I have talked about keeping bees. I think that next year we’ll finally do it. We’re interested in the bees themselves (hive mind! hive mind!), the pollination and the honey, so why not. I’ve read a couple of books and was originally planning to take a class, but the one I wanted isn’t offered until 2011. But hey why let that stop us.
This afternoon, I took a trip up to our local apiary. Actually, the only apiary (to my knowledge) in a 150 mile radius: Busy Bee Apiary. There a very lovely woman, Betsy, whom I am certain had better things to do, talked to me for almost an hour about beekeeping. What is the equipment like? What would I need at first? What kind of clothing do I need? What’s an extruder look like? How much space does the hive need in NC? When should we feed bees in NC? Do you just feed sugar water or pollen too? When can I order bees? What kind of bees do they recommend and sell? You get the idea. The poor woman.
The upshot is that I seem to have a good head start, having read as much as I have and we’ll probably host two colonies come spring. After the grilling, I did pick up another book and a jar of their honey – it really is much better tasting than the clover honey you buy in stores. Maybe I’ll make the next batch of breakfast bars with this instead.
Rachel said,
October 22, 2009 @ 12:28 pm
Also an interest of mine (also unpursued so far) – do you know about http://www.ncbeekeepers.org/? Looks like there’s a Pitt county chapter, and I think most county chapters offer training and education.
Rachel said,
October 22, 2009 @ 12:35 pm
Sorry, I meant Chatham…they have one too.
cec said,
October 23, 2009 @ 10:12 am
You should do it! It’ll be fun.
Thanks for the pointer to the state beekeepers association. I haven’t joined yet, but I did see that there was one. I’ve also signed up for the Chatham beekeepers mailing list. It’s the Chatham class that I was hoping to attend – it’s only 10 miles away which in Chatham county is next door 🙂 I need to show up at one of their meetings (maybe next month) and join. FWIW, I think that Chris G. over in econ is interested in beekeeping too so if you do decide to start, we can all commiserate.