#3. First class down, and the learning curve is steep.

Where do I even begin?  Perhaps by setting the stage.  The course in Beginner Beekeeping is being held at the Cornell's Long Island Horticultural Research and Extension Center.  I love these places.  Felt like I was back in college, except plant-oriented and by the beach.  And because I was early, I was able to scan the Center's table of literature.  Why, oh why did I pick up the pamphlet titled 'Plum Pox'?  To ruin my life?  The end of the stone fruit world as we know it is nigh.  And I was going to be planting a peach tree and about 12 cherries this year...

So there were about 20 of us sitting around long lab tables arranged in a giant square.  I was really surprised at how many people showed up.  The students ranged in age from 20's to elderly, with most around my age, I think.  (I'm going to call that 'middle aged', to be kind to myself.)  Our mentor/instructor Ray had tons of visual aids, from real bees suspended in a resin cube - one worker, one drone, one queen, to miniature model hives, to real hive parts.  Also, lots of photos illustrating life stages - btw, a worker bee lives 6 weeks.  The wear out their wings flying!  They literally wear out!!!  So they live longer in winter when they're stuck in the hive staying warm.  Great factoid:  internal hive temperature is always 96°.  The bees keep it that way.

Here's the bad news:  amateur beekeeping is not for those with light wallets.  The initial investment is crazy expensive.  Hate to "hok a chainik", as my grandmother used to say, but when I started a hive in England in the 70's, I think the whole setup cost me around £20.  Of course, that was when a £ was a £, so maybe $40.- $50.  Including hive, bees, and sundry equipment - all used, of course.  Well, things have changed a bit.  Okay, so the class cost is $150.  It's 1½ hours/month for 9 months.  But then last night we were handed order sheets for hives and equipment.  New stuff, of course.  A complete beekeeping setup, including assembled hive parts, tools, gloves, veil, smoker, sets us back about $500.00, delivered.  Then there are the bees.  I stuck with the nuclear option, and that's $125.00 (as opposed to 4 lbs. of 'package bees' @$110.00).  The 'nuke' (my word, it's actually 'nuc') includes a proven queen (she's mated and laying - important, because they only mate once in their 2-yr. lifetime) and enough young attendants to fill four wooden frames.  There are 10 frames per 'super' - or layer of hives.

Okay, so I ordered my bees.  I will order hives and supplies this month.  But I'm starting out with 2 hives.  So my investment so far will be around $1200.00.  Oh, and Long Island, I found out, is not a great honey-producing area; we just don't have enough things blooming, especially late in the season.  Apparently, our honey will be all made by the end of July.  And we'll be lucky to get between 10 and 30lb. of honey per hive per year.  So let's do the math:  $1200 initial investment ÷ $300. (30 lbs. per year average for 2 hives x $10./lb. for local honey) = 4 years to break even.  That's if I were to sell all the honey.  And that doesn't include the cost of jars and extracting the honey.  I think centrifugal extractors cost around $500., but I think we (class students) will be able to borrow an extractor from our teacher or from a Long Island bee club, at least for the first year.  That is if our bees produce any measurable honey the first year, and that is, apparently, a big 'if'.  So obviously real beekeepers don't do this the way we novices do.  As colonies divide and expand, they get to collect swarms, i.e. free bees (freebees, hah!), and they must make their own equipment or score cheap used stuff.  At some point, the true economics will become clearer.  Right now, I'm all in and am ready to let go of the expenses issue and concentrate on the process.  


My head is ready to explode.  But I'm really excited and fully engaged in the planning:  thinking about where on my property to situate my hives, and what color(s) to paint them... 

#2. Going to my first class

So things have certainly changed in the decades since I kept bees.  I got a preparatory notification from our bee guru, Ray Lackey, about tonight's class, by computer.  Yahoo Group, to be specific.  Last time I had bees there were no computers.  

Among other things we are going to accomplish this evening, is the ordering of bees.  I will be writing a check for bees!!!  Tonight!!!  Need to decide whether I want "package bees" or "nucs".  I think I'm going to go with the 'nuclear option', or, as I will now be referring to them, 'the nukes' (decision based solely on silliness).  Plus I called Kelvin today and he said that the juveniles are the 'wax builders', so nukes might be better anyway.  More youngsters, apparently.

Also in the Group posting were some helpful links, one of which I checked out https://www.hivetracks.com.  An unbelievable free resource where you set up a virtual apiary, based on the apiary in your backyard.  These amazing people monitor your specific conditions and can help you if your bees are in trouble.  Still, I have a sneaking suspicion that beekeeping will come down to good old elbow grease and common sense.

#1. Anticipation

It's been over 30 years since I kept bees.  And that was only for one season, before my parents sold our home in Grendon Underwood, not far from Oxford, in England.   I was a then member of the Mid-Bucks Beekeepers, a group of mostly elderly men, many of whom provided great mentoring.  I bought a hive from a retired beekeeper, complete with bees.  I picked up the hive one evening, covered it with a blanket, hoisted it into the back seat of the car and off I went.  Next day, the bees woke up in my apple orchard, 20 miles from where they'd started, and never seemed to mind.

Now I'm ready to start keeping bees again.  The big day is approaching - this Wednesday is the first day of my beekeeping course at the Cornell Agricultural Extension in Riverhead.  Every Wednesday evening for the next half a year I will be brushing up on beekeeping.  I expect to place an order for bees and supplies soon and get my hives up and running this spring.

Taking a break from the winter winds here on Montauk, I spent a week with Aunt Millie in Florida last week where I met Kelvin, a good ol' boy from Tennessee.  A friend of a friend, Kelvin is a jack of all trades and has a particular talent working with stone and doing woodwork.  Turns out that as a kid, Kelvin helped his buddy's father manage 2000 hives.  2000 hives!  It seems to me that what Kelvin doesn't know about bees isn't worth knowing.  He had some great management tips, but even better - he's going to be spending part of the summer with his old friend Paul in the Springs.  So, it looks like I may have found my new mentor.

It's been 30 years, and it seems like the timing is finally right.  I can't wait to get the process started.