And so it begins…
Last week I went to a beekeeping class. The teachers were hilarious. They just kept making fun of each other. Some of them do it for fun like I will. One of them does it as a side business. It’s pretty amazing to see how into it they still are after 8, 10, 15 years.
The warnings are stark… you will fail. You will have a hard time keeping them alive. It is expensive to get started.
But the opportunities are there too… lots of honey, lots of wax (chap stick forever!), and a whole new hobby to explore.
I’m really excited because it gives me a hobby that isn’t technology. It gives me a pet who I can leave for a month at a time, and it will be ok. And it gives me something really fun to do with the kids that also teaches them about simpler things.
So after class number one, I’ve sat here tonight and looked at multiple bee equipment vendors finding the least expensive one. There’s a tie between two of them, and the guy teaching the class had a very clear winner in his eyes.
I think I’ll go with that one, but I’m going to call them to see if it’s even cheaper than I thought. Then we’ll build the hive. Take one more class in March. And then the bees show up in April.
Then we rock and roll.
Here’s the crazy thing… your bees take about 6 weeks to find themselves. Well in that six weeks, the only bee that you bought that will still be alive will be the queen. The rest will have died, and the queen will have repopulated her hive.
And in 18 months when she can’t lay any more eggs? Well, they off her, find a new queen, and start all over again.
Crazy, huh?