I spent a few hours last night learning from the wisdom of local beekeepers. One fellow learner came prepared with pages and pages and pages of printouts on the different hive styles, supplements, and medicines he'd researched for his bees. I showed up with pen and paper.
I learned a lot and met a few other "local" beekeepers (local is relative when it comes to bees and farming I guess!). I was expecting an "old boys club" but was really excited to see several other young women, some getting started like me and others with well - established hives. Nothing is better than gender equality in beekeeping.
After my meeting, I've decided the next step is to clean up the mess from this winter and get the hives ready for new bees. I'll be heading out to Five Points Food Forest on Sunday from 2-4 pm to get started. Feel free to stop by and help out.
The plan for Sunday is to scrap all the old frames and prepare them to be burned. This will involve breaking up the old frames and packing them into boxes for me to take home and burn. The next step will be cleaning up the hive bodies and supers. This means scraping out all the propilis and wax and giving them a sanitizing pass with a hand torch. Finally, we'll need to build new frames. That involves some light hammering and wax placement. Its like craft time :) There will be plenty of time for questions and checking out the food forest while we are there as well.
We won't have bees around (other than the occasional visitor) so no need to worry about gloves or bee-proof clothing. It will be sticky, messy work, however, so come dressed for the mess! If you have any small hammers or putty knives (or your own hive tool!!) bring them along!
There is an event on the Five Points Food Forest Facebook page, so check it out for location information or to ask me any questions. If you're not on Facebook, feel free to comment you this post with your email address and I'll get in touch.
We have a barn and some dry indoor space so we'll be out rain or shine!
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