I've been beekeeping for only a year now. George (macmex) has been keeping bees for a lot longer, I believe. I'm not sure if anyone else here does.

It can be daunting getting set up and learning all that's needed but it's fun!

Diane

Laurrie,
Where are you living? Or, where are you going to be living when you want to get into bees? I might well be able to put you in contact with someone who can help.

George
Tahlequah, OK

George I will be south of Lone Grove in Carter County and would love any help or info you can provide
Thanks
Laurrie

Will check around and see if I can find someone near you.

George

Beep keeping sounds great especially gardening point of view. But not sure how difficult is that and secondly about kids in the garden. Indeed I not have been hive in the garden, but there will be lot of bees in garden during flowering season. If its safe and not required too much attention, then I would like give a try.

George,
Do you have any suggestion in Norman or Moore or south OKC area? Any suggestion for bee keeping in our back yard?

Diane,
What is you experience last year? I would like learn from your experiment.

Laurrie,
I hope I will join you, keep us updated on your exploration.

Thanks -Chandra

We just had our local beekeeping meeting last night and, within the past hour, I posted info about an upcoming beginning beekeeping class on my blog. It's the time of year to have beekeeping on the brain!

Chandra, we began by attending the beginning bee class put on by our local beekeeping association last February/March. It was an amazing class and we learned bunches. Also, we began going to the monthly association meetings. Those experienced beekeepers became our mentors -- I cannot even begin to express how invaluable they have been to us. Immense wisdom & experience, freely given. Unending patience for our unending novice questions. I bet you'll find a local group similar to mine and I bet anything that they're just as helpful as mine. Beekeepers and gardeners -- two of the best sorts of people to be found anywhere.

I've documented bits & pieces of our newbie beekeeping journey on my blog. I'll link that below. Just enter "bees" into the search box on the sidebar and all of my beekeeping posts should pop up.

It's been fun -- and safe. You'll learn the ways of the bees and how not to cheese them off. LOL You'll also probably want to buy a bee suit or, at the least, a hat/veil. Some folks handle bees without any protective clothing but most at least use a veil to protect their face & eyes. I've been stung many times over my life but only once or twice since keeping bees -- and one of those was on the face. That sucker hurt like a mother bear! Stings other places have never bothered me but I ran like a girl when that one got me on the face.

If you choose to keep bees in your yard like we do, you'll pick out a safe spot for them. Obviously, not in a high traffic area and not somewhere your babies and soon-to-be toddlers will get into them. Bees will leave you well enough alone unless you mess with them. There will be a bee "super highway" from the front of the hive so you'll want to orient it in a safe direction. If you happen to stand in this pathway, you'll get pummeled. If you happen to stand too close to the hives when the bees are having a cranky day, guard bees will "bump" you as a warning. If you're too dense to move farther back, like maybe a certain Diane was last summer, they might sting you on the face and make you shriek & embarrass yourself as neighbors drive by laughing & pointing.

You'll definitely want to check out your local laws, ordinances, HOA rules, and what have you to see if beekeeping is allowed in your area.

It doesn't take much time. Some folks check them once a week. I think most folks that I know check them once every two to four weeks in the warmer seasons. That's what we do. If you're medicating for any reason, you might be in there a bit more often. We take a lazy, er, natural approach to our bees and haven't medicated for anything. I'm reading up on more natural methods of keeping bees. http://www.bushfarms.com/bees.htm is a great resource for that.

http://www.honeybeesonline.com/lessons.html is another excellent resource for beginning beekeepers. They have an incredible (free!) beginning beekeeping course online at that link.

I could go on and on and on about bees! Oh, wait. I already have.

Diane

Here is a link that might be useful: My blog

I echo Diane's recommendation of beekeeping associations. That's how I got started, back in the 70s. Below is a link to a blog by a great fellow, who uses all natural methods of management. I will look for associations or mentors for anyone asking.

Also, if anyone is interested, I have written "an article," for lack of a better name, about my own journey in beekeeping. We have a friend who is trying to get me to start a blog. We'll see. Anyway, I can e-mail it to anyone interested. Beekeeping has evolved tremendously since I first started, and, I kept bees in Mexico, for quite a few years. So I had to learn to deal with Africanized bees.

Most good honeybees are quite non-aggressive. But as Diane mentioned, it's a good idea to situate them so that people don't often walk through their flight path. I don't like to weed right up to my hives, when they are in the garden, as individuals may decide that I'm up to no good, and come after me.

But to put things in perspective, I had 12 hives last summer and worked bees about once a week. During that time I was stung, perhaps a dozen times. And I thought that was a bad year. In the past I've gone an entire year with no more than one or two stings.

One can grasp the essentials of beekeeping in just a couple of hours of instruction. But no one ever plumbs the depths of all that there is to learn!

George

Here is a link that might be useful: Little Creek Bee Ranch

George I would like a copy of your article. my email: eirrual@gmail.com
also interested in an association or mentor near me.

thanks
Laurrie

George, I'd love to see that article as well. diane at speedkin dot com. And, yes, start a blog! I'd love to learn all of the things that would spill out of your brain!

Diane

Diane,
Thank you for the detail info and links. I will go through it. I looked at your blog and you have many interesting post there!!! I also subscribed to it and so that I can read them whenever you post new stuff.

regards -Chandra

George, I would like to read your article. I just sent you an email, please let me know just in case you in not received it. Thanks -Chandra

eirrual - When I lived in Lone Grove, I bought honey from a man named Morton that lived in Ardmore but he had bees in several areas between Ardmore and Marietta. That has been 11 years and he was an old man at the time. I can't remember his first name right now, but if he is still alive you might find him in the phone directory. He lived a few blocks north of Hiway 70, and a few blocks west of Commerce. I started to say by the 'big intersection' because that's what all of the cops call it and we all picked it up from hearing them. Sorry I can't remember more but maybe you can find an address for a Morton that fits that area. He was a very nice man.