...and on being able to walk away from the insanity at such a young age.
What part of the country are you moving to?
Here are some suggestions we gained from practical experience:
1) Check in with you County Extension.
They are very helpful. There are some regulations concerning transportation, registration, and inspection, and there may be some local ordinances. They are a great resource for latest research and new methods, pest & disease control. They can facilitate state hive inspections.
We generally avoid government agencies where ever possible, and have never voluntarily registered anything, but we make an exception for our bees. The benefits FAR outweigh any downside.
2)Join you local Beekeepers Association.
These are some of the most laid back people you will ever meet. Starkraven and myself are not joiners, but we look forward to our monthly meetings with the "bee people". This is another valuable resource for local information concerning pests, honey flows, equipment and disreputable operators. You can also pick up some hands-on experience working around hives.
Make no mistake...it is scary opening a hive the first time.
You will also be able to pick up some free localized bees from you local bee keepers. (Healthy colonies EXPAND, and many local bee keepers have all they want and are more than happy to give them away).
3)Always use new equipment
There are some very persistent pests and diseases that can be transmitted through the equipment. Used equipment abounds at some very attractive prices.
It is not worth the risk in my opinion. If you join the local association, some will offer you old equipment for FREE, but we always politely turn it down.
New Equipment is very reasonable, and there are many wholesalers and retailers online.
4)Do NOT to use flower scented deodorant or fabric softeners.
You would think this is Common Sense, but we found out the hard way.
5)Do NOT feed your bees Corn Syrup
There is no verifiable science to support this suggestion.
It is our personal preference. Corn is NOT a natural Bee Food.
Many BeeKeepers DO use Corn Syrup. It is cheap, the bees seem to like it, and the chemistry seems OK.
We refuse to use it, and will continue to do so until there is 100% proof that GM contamination absolutely can NOT
be transmitted to our Bees through Corn Syrup.
We use only 100% Cane Sugar to make our food solution,
and then only use it when necessary.
We like this website, though don't agree with him on everything.
http://www.bushfarms.com/bees.htm
He pushes
Top Bar hives as more natural,
and he is right, but the problem with Top Bar hives is that the honeycomb gets destroyed in the harvest.
We built a small home made honey spinner
http://www.democraticunderground.com/11592698
and can return the
spun out honey comb frames to the hives for
refills the same day.
Good Luck with your new adventure!
bvar22
Ouachita Mountains, ARkansas
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