Bee Syndicate S2 E1 1/19/2016 You down with O.P. Bees? “Yea, you know me!”
Click here for the Master Bee Syndicate Post with links to all other posts
The other day I was having some fun flying around The Feed and I visited one of my new favorite threads Ruin-a-Wish I mean it's no logan-driving-things but it’s still an enjoyable thread and gets a few chuckles out of me. (especially if i'm at work)
Seeing the it pop up at the top of the feed I clicked to see what was the latest granted only to promptly have its lunch money stolen then given a swirly.
This forum thread for those of you who don't know is a game wherein each interaction follows the basic following format
You make a wish
(I wish I had a pony)
A responder then says “ Granted”
followed by “but your pony has a broken leg and kidney failure.”
“I wish i wasn't so constipated.”
A second responder says “ Granted” continued with “ but you are very much no longer constipated. Like that scene in Van Wilder not constipated.
Every post of the thread is like wishing to go to Juliard, getting accepted, but when you get there everyone hates you. It also becomes evident that your family and friends have infact been more than untruthful with you, and it is painfully obvious that you can’t actually play guitar, and you are a terrible musician. If you can even be called that.
That day I had been researching different types of bees I would like to keep. There are so many I just can't seem to chose just one, or two or three. So I wished for more hives to put bees into.
My wish was of course granted. followed with the immediate kick to the shin stipulation of “ but you don't have bees to put into them. Followed by the wish of the person granting my wish. Surprisingly to me was “I wish you would upload pictures of your hives.”
For that @tigrooby I thank you. I always love seeing that people are interested in sharing in my Bee Journey. especially when it can lead to a fresh blog post like this. (we are getting to that just hang in there)
One of my favorite things that has happened since I started this blog back in August is when in a totally different thread someone makes a bee reference of some sort a brief discussion occurs then someone posts with an @beesyndicate and I can respond with a new blog post I had never planned on making ( @Alamar @SpaceCat Thanks One of my favorite highlights from season 1)
Back to you @tigrooby. You wished for me to upload a picture of my hive…. Granted:
But I don't have any bees to put in them…
“I blame you for this @tigrooby ” It all makes sense now. This problem that I have been having for a couple of months now the one thing that has been throwing my life off balance. Countless nights I have lost sleep because I can't bear the thought of going through the next year beeless. I finally have someone to blame for this injustice other than myself. I suppose I can sleep a little better now knowing that the reason i can't find anyone to sell me bees is your fault @tigrooby it was because the cosmos knew that you would ruin my wish by taking away my bees.
Back in June/July when I decided to fully commit to the whole bee thing It was far too late in the season to start a hive of my own. That was sort of good thing because from that time until now it's been a stream or Books, Blogs, Podcasts, newspaper/magazine articles, and youtube videos. Soaking up all the knowledge i can find about bees and committing it to memory and sharing some of it with you guys. It has become an intense passion and something that i enjoy learning about. I haven't had something peak interest and raise excitement like this in me since I first sat in front of a computer. Back in July I didn't know what I didn't know. Now I am ready, sure there is years of learning yet to be done but at least now I am ready for my own bees. Well that's what I thought.
Something new that I’ve learned is that December is not to early to pre-order your bees for spring. It is infact mostly far too late. a lot of venders are already sold out…
“Balls.”
can you believe that? In all my research in all my interactions it never came up that hey you may want to order your bees in like October. I assure all you I will have bees this spring. I have a few leads for bees from a local bee club, and a guy from work whose uncle has bees in canada. If all else fails I will go out and catch some bees myself. I could also call local exterminators and ask them to let me know if they get any swarm calls so i could go capture a colony.
So what have I done and what will I do until I have bees of my own?
O.P.Bees.
That’s right other people's bees. Through local bee clubs and new friends I offer to help and learn from people who already have full productive hives.
Even after I have hives of my own I still hope to be getting my tool (hive tool you sick monkey) into Other people's hives. There is just so much to do so many types of bees i couldn’t possibly keep enough hives on my property to try them all. I also want to try and hook up with some migratory beekeepers when they pass through my area and see what it's like in the commercial beekeeping world. I want to meet up with some urban rooftop beekeepers in cities like DC and Chicago and get a feel for that. I want to go talk with and tag along with people who keep killer bees. OPBs are going to remain an important part of my growth as a beekeeper and an important part of this blog as I will surely be writing about my excursions with OPBs.
If at some point you decide that you might want to take up beekeeping I suggest you get down with OPB too. Start with a Beekeeping club from your area. this site can help you find one http://www.bees-on-the-net.com/bee-clubs-by-state/ A club is a great way to meet people that can help you get started and help you along the way so when you run into a problem (like this dude on the internet cursed me and now I can’t find any bees to buy ) and you dont know what to do you will have help. Clubs almost always have events where you can meet other beekeepers or take classes, or buy and sell equipment. Come harvest time you may even be able to borrow all the stuff you need to get that sweet stuff.
Clubs sometimes have community apiaries too so if you live in a place that won't allow you to keep bees there is still hope. community apiaries are a place where a bunch of people keep hives and usually make the surrounding area a great place for bees to live by planting a variety of pollinator friendly plants
Recently I noticed that a house a few neighborhoods over from where i live and I drive by often had a couple of hives in the backyard (Clearly visible from the cross street ) So after saying I should go talk to whoever owned the hives for many weeks I finally got around to it. and the guy was totally happy to let me look at his hives and to come by the next time he opens up the hives. Most hobby beekeepers are very proud of their bees and are happy to share their bees and their knowledge with you.
