One of my recent assignments was to give a presentation at the Short Course on "Bee-ing a Beekeeper" which was about my experiences and the stories of a panel of several others. I focused on the fun(ny) parts of Bee-ing a Beekeeper. I've thought about posting the PowerPoint presentation I did and then thought it wouldn't be the same without the stories to go with the pictures, but I may post it anyway.
In thinking about what I might address if I were asked again to talk about first year experiences, I generated (in no particular order) the questions that were on the top of my mind when I got started. They are:
- How hard is it to put together a hive box?
- What do you use to light a smoker?
- How do you put the bees in the hive and what are the scary parts?
- How do you deal with your neighbors?
- What is it like to be stung the first time?
- How much is the initial investment and do you have to have an extractor?
- Will you have enough wax the first year to make candles?
- What's the purpose of a hive inspection and how hard is it to do one?
- What are the most confusing parts of the first year of beekeeping?