Comments, an extractor, and plans

Thanks to all of you leaving comments. I appreciate the encouragement. And I envy the person who works at Buckfast! I do enjoy the full time job that pays for this expensive hobby, but a life among the bees is attractive, too.

My one colony is still alive. I knocked on the hive a couple of days ago, and heard a reassuring buzz. I've decided to travel to Buckeye to pick up my packages. It's a long drive, but I'll break it up (sort of) by traveling first to Michigan to visit with my aunts and cousins, then down to Ohio to see the Buckeye operation and pick up the bees.The Michigan to Ohio to NY part will probably be too long to do in one day, so there may well be an overnight in a hotel. I wonder how the Motel Six will like having me and 15 lbs of bees in a room? I could leave them in the car, of course, but I suspect that the weather will be too cool. Hmmm.

My hope had been to have someone come along for the ride, and do it in a long one-day drive, but I don't think that will happen. So I figure I'll take a week off of work and combine it with a visit. The pick up day is a Wednesday, so when I get home I can either hive the girls in the early evening or the next day. Everything, of course, depending on weather.

A couple of weeks ago, I bought a Ranger Radial extractor, electric uncapping knife, and other odds and ends from the window of a local beekeeper. He had only used the extractor once, so it is essentially brand new. The visit turned out to be an interesting one from a personal point of view. The house was only a few miles out of town, but as so often is true in this area, had that country feel. The barn had three horses in it, there was a Chow mix dog, several cats. Everything warm and clean and casual. She obviously still misses her husband, and spoke fondly about him and the hobbies they had shared. Beekeeping, though, was his alone. She found a beekeeper to take his colonies and other equipment last fall, but no one yet had wanted the extractor, knife, and other things.

Her comments about their life together painted a picture of a truly happy, long marriage. There's not much to say in these situations that doesn't sound trite to my ears. Words of comfort hardly exist, so I told her he sounded like a wonderful man. She said she wanted his beekeeping things to go to someone who would use them and enjoy them, and I told her that I was very, very sorry for her loss, and glad that I could at least give a "good home" to his equipment.

She probably has enough honey on that shelf in the basement to last years, but I told her to keep my number and if she ever runs out, I'll drop off a few jars. She was hesitant to take my check--she didn't even want to name a price.

There are still plans to be made for the spring and summer. I have enough equipment for now, but I'll need more supers, medium frames, and foundation. Last fall, I bought enough deeps for my colonies. I'm still deciding now whether I want to do some cutcomb or section honey, and what type of foundation I should use for extracting. Plastic is easiest, and lasts the longest but I hear that bees like wax best. And who could blame them? I may go with wax for this year. If I change my mind, I can always buy plastic. And wax never goes to waste.

I would also like to try raising queens, with a view to eventually making up nucs for sale (and to have queens on hand for my own hives). I'm hoping that my remaining colony will be strong enought to split this spring. If so, I may buy a queen from elsewhere to add to the gene pool, since all my bees now are from Buckeye. A Russian, maybe, or one of those Mountain Gray...

Finally, there is the farm stand. I'll need one. In real life, I'm a systems administrator, running email systems for a college. My first thought is always to do things online. Although I might be able to sell candles and other things that way, shipping honey would cost more than the honey itself, so I can't imagine there would be many buyers. And why not a farm stand? I live on a rural road with little traffic--most of the time. But it is on the way to Watkins Glen, where there is car racing and auto shows every summer.

Yep, I'll do the honor system. I'm pretty trusting. So there will be that to design and build.

My bees now have their own checking account. I registered a doing-business-as name and opened an account for "them," so to speak. I'll inject some funds from savings, and buy future equipment only from that. I am determined to turn this into a sideline business that at the very least pays for itself. Since my day job pays well, this isn't out of necessity. I think it's more the challenge or the experience. So far, I've been giving away candles, honey, and hand creams, but it will be interesting to see what I can do if I actually try to sell some things!