1) I am working overseas and will not finish this contract until 1st week of April. If I had all my supplies and hive(s) (- bees) set up before I got home...would it be too late to start a hive(s) from a NUC or package once I got home 2nd - 3rd week of April? Answer. It's important to get your packages ordered early. They always sell out. I order packages from Betterbee in Greenwich NY It's about 1 hr 1/4 away from me. They'll be taking package orders starting on Jan 4th. They usually have 3 or 4 delivery dates (saturdays) starting around april 15th Picking a date is hard because it all depends on the weather both up here and in Georgia where they get their packages. Delays from one week to 3 weeks aren't uncommon. You want to get your bees off to a good strong start but anything can happen. My first year I had a late delivery date. I was thinking that all the established hives would be building up while I was still be waiting to get bees. Well the weather here was cold and steady rain so the delay didn't hurt. Nucs usually come later because they have to be established already. I'd advise starting with package bees because you will be learning right from the get go. You'll have to install them in the hive, check for queen release, check to be sure she's laying a good brood pattern. In other words you'll be involved every step of the way and you'll learn more, and things will be gradual. 2) Everything I have read...the Italian bee seems to be the most docile bee. Would that be the bee for the beginner? answer. Italians are what I started with and still have the most of. I also have some Russians. It's all a matter of opinion. I don't find my Russians to be any more aggressive than my Italians. Russians have many good traits. One thing I definitely noticed with mine is they overwinter in a smaller cluster and consume much less honey. When buying a package, you may not have a choice as far as the type of queen you get. 3) How much time do you average a week working your hives? I have read numerous posts that "you experts" suggest starting with 2 - 3 hives (to gauge potential problems). How much time per week to manage my bees effectively with 3-hives? answer: You have to remember that this is agriculture so anything can happen and will, and it's all variable You'll plan your sight and get everything ready to go ahead of time which will take some work. On the big day, plan to spend a couple of hours being your first time. Once you have the hang of it you can install a package of bees in a matter of minutes. The first time you'll be double checking instructions and going over all of the details. You will be very excited and nervous at the same time. After your successful at that you do a check back in about 3 or 4 days, only to see that the queen has been released. At one week you'll check for signs that she's laying. You'll probably be feedin 1:1 sugar syrup to help them build up. In general there's lots of work in the beginning, less in the middle, lots toward the end. It's not an everyday thing and sometimes more than a week between any actual work. You want them to do their work without too much disturbance 4) I would like to sell my honey (- what we eat of course) and my wife is really into crafts so I am sure she will be interested in making candles etc. If the market was available in my area (which I am sure it is)...how much money could I expect to gross from my hives on an average season? answer: That's the toughest question of all. The saying goes the first year is a building up season, the second is a harvesting season, but it's all relative. (remember the agriculture thing)I've had 1st yr hives that gave a surplus of over 100 lbs and others that only made enough to get them through the winter. This year with some established and some new hives I got 375 pounds from the 5 that produced surplus. It ranged from over 100 to 35 lbs. We kept about 150 lbs and gave some away and are selling some. I'll probably gross about a grand but I'm not making a profit because I'm putting it back into bees and equipment. I hope to make another few hundred selling lip balm, salves, candles and soap. My first year I made enough to cover about half my costs. You'll get some wax from cappings but it won't amount to very much. You'll need to buy more for any real amount of crafting 5) I know I have read in several posts that an average hive produces about 110-lbs of honey (some 200-lbs). How does that compute into 1/2 pint, 1-pint, 1-qt jars of honey? I would think honey would weight a lot more per gallon than say water or milk? answer: Honey has to be sold by weight, so you'll be dealing in half pound, one pound jars etc. Do not get the idea that I am thinking strickly about the money...because I am not! When I get home in April, I want to semi retire (it pays well over here) and I would like to know what to expect. We have a huge garden, goats, chickens and soon to have meat rabbits. I have been slowly building a nice herd of goats the past 4-yrs and think I might break even or be in the "black" on them for the first time this year. We love the country life and if I could start these bees...who knows...diversity is awesome. I am just excited thinking about my little black / gold pollinators in my own garden. No more flowers falling off my pumpkins because "ZERO" bees to pollinate them. Sorry for rambling...I am just excited! I will continue to hang on "your guy's & gals" every word...so keep the posts coming. I am only up to about the 10th set of posts so far...so a lot of "back dated" ones to read. Hopefully by April I will have it all figured out (the process anyway). Sorry...one last question. How many times a week do you get stung...and...do you ever get used to it? answer: That's pretty variable too. A lot depends on the demeanor of your bees (demeaner dey are, da more you get stung)Actually if you work them at the right times and move slowly you may not get stung very often. This past year we worked our 10 hives mostly without gloves and sometimes in tee shirts, moving slowly and being as gentle as possible. I probably got a half dozen stings over the course of the season. If the bees seemed like they were getting angry we just backed off and waited, and wore gloves and long sleeves when it seemed necessary. A friend with a feisty hive got a half dozen at once, so you never know. Thanks, You're very welcome

I drag the hose all day, every day Glenda. My feet, legs and knees are killing me, but I am keeping it going and praying to the Great Spirit for much rain. I watch those thunderheads build every day and my heart flutters with hope and anticipation, and then they fly off to some other where and rain and by sunset the sky is clear again. Darn! The bees and butterflies are wonderful. I saw one of those huge black and cobalt blue swallowtails yesterday, but he was just too elusive. They are so huge! Haven't seen any of the white Tigers yet. I keep my camera ready with fresh batteries. OT - but...my tiny Carolina Spicebush I ordered on eBay kicked the bucket. I am so disappointed and upset. I was looking forward to having one of those bushes. This damned heat didn't help any either. It really makes me mad. That Spicebush Swallowtail I saw the other day was huge. It was just beautiful. No sign of it today so far. - Wish I had a Spicebush for it. :) Looking at my photos again, I decided to go to the "Simply Butterflies" website in my favorites and recheck some of them. I may have a few mislabeled. Oh my! For shame! Glad you enjoyed. My poor garden is suffering so. What the heat isn't burning, ruining the blooms, frying their edges and the buds, the insects are devouring. I keep putting Sevin Dust on everything, but it doesn't seem to phase the JBs. Insects like JBS and grasshoppers are always bad when there is a drought. IF I still had guineas, the Japanese beetles would be history. They loved those things and I didn't have much of a problem. No sir. The chickens ate certain kinds of bugs and insects and small snakes, and Guineas ate what the chickens wouldn't. Anyway, I am working to keep what I have alive. Glad you don't think it looks awful, or are too kind to say if you do. I just couldn't take it - Waaaah! (JK) Apparently the wildlife thinks it is heaven on earth right now. DINNER TIME! Sheesh! Time for coffee! and go move the water... Cheers! ~Annie

Lou, I think this will work well for you too(from a fellow nutcase). I originally thought about doing framed boxes to cover each vegatable but I figure why not just do a framed bed. I had been toying around with the idea for a while but when Tom (tomncath) talked about growing veggies in his screened patio a while back, I figured this would work for me. Silvia, thanks for the info. These are new veggies to me so it's good to have some info on them. I am also prepared for the fruit bugs war. I made these bags (screen and shade fabric) for things like peaches, papayas, sugar apples and guavas. I will use them on the young mangoes but as the mangoes ripen, I will switch to a metal mesh bag to protect them form the squrls and birds. I showed those bags on another thread last year. I had 100% success in protecting my mangoes so we'll see how these work with the other fruits. I set bird food for the birds and I have butterfly attracting plants. My benevolence ends there. I don't intend on sharing my veggies and fruits with insects. :)

Ya know they got doctors that can help with obsessions - fortunately this one is a healthy one. Nah - it ain't too awful bad freezing cold up here right now. About 35 or so at night and we have seen a couple of 70 degree days already. Spinach is looking good. Cabbage too. No carrots up yet - but since I just finished up last season's crop, I ain't too anxious about them - yet. Kind of hard to try and keep track of everything at this time of the year. Got the mulch pulled back so the ground will warm up. Steadily planting the cool weather crops and killing off the cool weather weeds. Tomato stakes are driven and ready to go. Cucumber trellis is ready. Blackberries are all pruned, tied up, and ready for the demon child from next door to raid. Already have two dump-truck loads of horse manure/straw ready to compost and go into my last bed (as soon as I double dig it that is). I should have had it ready last fall - but since I already grow more than I can possibly eat, I am in no rush. Might have to join one of those dating sites to find me a nice hungry female so I don't have to wander up and down the streets trying to give away free vegetables. And I STILL have to get all the canning equipment ready to go! Unfortunately it is in the shed. And the shed is buried under the elm tree that I STILL haven't cleaned up from the ice storm. *Chuckles to self* It just occurred to me - I am a real hellion full of all kinds of interesting qualities that ANY female in the world would be proud to snatch up. I can just see how it would go on THAT dating site: Q) What are your hobbies? A) Digging big rocks out of my garden. Q) What do you do in your spare time? A) Think about ways to get that big rock out of the garden, and look for sources of compost and mulch. Q) What qualities do you look for in a woman. A) She has to be strong - cuz she's gonna help me dig that big rock out of the garden. Oh yeah, I'm a real catch.