I should be specific. I was taught to always wear a hat and veil. I don't wear gloves anymore, and may not wear a long shirt or long pants when I'm just refreshing the syrup, but I know the risks. And I always work from the back of the hive (the other end of the bee entrance) so I'm not a standing target for the guard bees. I was told to dress in light clothing; dark clothing can aggravate the bees. So: newbies: always wear a hat and veil because stings to eyes or lips are no joke Don't face the entrance when working the hive Wear light clothing which includes long sleeves and pants until you know the risks which is getting stings.

Nathan Thank you for comment on 'then & now' thread. I know that many are able to grow succulents much better & faster. That's why I read every post, and post some of mine-to compare & learn. I kept them in cold room for 'practical' reason - have a new place, but didn't move in yet, just 90% of my plants. So in order not to have to pay astronomical $$$ to heat 2 houses, I had to keep temps down. I did have the supplemental lighting set up for few hrs/day. I am sure it could have been more, but again-had to watch $$$ too. Temps were set @49F, and plants did very well. Besides succulents, I have there f. Benjamina, 4 pots of figs (kept those in bsmt. in order to keep dormant - now they are leafing out), boston ferns, 6 olives, 7 angels trumpets (Brugmansia) and few other. I do have some casualties: 3 of my euphorbias are gone, and Meyer lemon. I think (not sure) that they were just too cold, or maybe should been watered even less in col temps. I know that soil is good, very well draining. But I noticed that many plants actually look great, some better than when I had them in warmer house - definitely less water (I tend to water too much) was great for them. I watered approx. every second 'visit' & that would be approx. 3weeks. Few grew very leggy, but that's to be expected if not enough sun. So those will get their 'heads chopped off' as soon as it get warm. Yay, more plants. BTW, I have at least 20 pots of jades, all of them grown from cuttings or fallen leaves. Few of them are very unruly and there is going to be lots more cuttings. Even if there were occasional shrivelled leaves (just few), I am sure it was still better than rotted roots. Photo of few in Nov. 2013 (have to update!) Rina ...sheesh, that's long read....sorry! This post was edited by rina_ on Wed, Mar 19, 14 at 13:35

These kind of questions will start wars. I have the Canon XT, Olympus E500, Olympus E1. I enjoy all of the camera. I think the best bang for you buck is definately the E500. Best price for entry level camera and it comes with two kit lenses, and they are really good lenses. The colors are great, better than the XT in my opinion. Canon has better noise control in lower light, but that is okay with me. Another thing, Canon's aspect ratio is 3:2, Olympus is 4:3. 6x4 print: -- Canon - you use all 8MP with the ratio -- Olympus - you use just under 7Mp with that ratio Rusult- pretty much nothing, you can get a clear 6x4 print with 3 MP since its a small print. 5x7, 8x10 Prints: --Canon - you will lose about 2MP with these prints due to the ratio -- Olympus- better fits these print ratios, lose about .2MP on 5x7, lose about .8MP on 8x10. Results - when the picture is taken with proper technique it would be hard to notice a deference, but the more MP you can cram into the print the better (when using higher quality cameras and lenses, of course) Also, Olympus just announced two entry level models to be released this year - E410, E510- so the price of the E500 should be falling a bit. I migh tpick up a second body if the price is right. Just my opinions. ZJoe

The AUTO setting is a good place to start for a beginner. Like Zitro_joe says - keep that ISO as low as possible. If you are in low light you can get more pictures with a higher ISO - but they will be grainy. Practice - practice - practice. Take as many pictures as you can. If you take 20 of something - you might get that really AWESOME shot! It doesn't cost anything to shoot digital - just upload them on your computer and look to see how you are doing. I recommend lots of practice before you really need to get some good pictures. That way you are used to the camera and know what kind of shots you are capable of. Have fun!