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Article from NSTA 11 Feb 2014

Today saw me rifling through the newspaper recycling pile looking for an article in the local paper that I had been told about.
The target of my search was details on a local beekeeping course which this person thought I would be interested in. I was.

It's only a 3x 2 hour course, but rather reasonably priced and, with the rugby season looming and a new crew of juniors to coach, my Saturdays are soon going to be filling up - so I jumped (or, more accurately, I clicked..) at the chance.

If this sounds like you, you can find the details here. I know the Auckland Beekeepers Club also runs a beginners course, and I expect that course may go into more detail as it is a 7 week, evening course. 
If March doesn't suit you, the course runs again in May - and from what I can see, this course has been run in previous years so the odds are good it will continue to be repeated in the future.

So all the pieces seem to be coming together, I've read a bunch of books, I've obsessed over where to site the hive (then asked an experienced beekeeper to come and tell me where the actual best location will be, I've got a hive and colony on order - and now, I'm signed up to an introductory course in beekeeping!

Good times.

Welcome to the club

It's a rare occurrence for me to get any postal mail these days (aside from bills of course), but today I received a "Welcome to the club" letter, complete with my Auckland Beekeepers Club (Inc) membership card!

A few days before this, the first newsletter from the club arrived so now, despite the utter lack of bees or equipment, I'm a paid up, official new member of the local beekeeping club. 
I've already read the newsletter from cover to cover a couple of times, but missed my first club meeting due to galactic bad planning so will have to wait until next year for an extraction day. On the upside, I fully expect to have both bees and gear by then so I may have some practical experience and be a slightly lighter shade of green.. that's the plan at least.

Book Review: Beekeeping For Dummies

Title: Beekeeping For Dummies (2nd Ed)

Author: Howland Blackiston, David Wiscombe

Year: 2009

ISBN: 0470430656 (ISBN13: 978-0470430651)

GoodReads Reviews

My Score: 4/5

Predictably, this was the first book off the pile...  As a veteran of other 'For Dummies' books, I appreciate the layout and purposeful progression of the series, and this book was no exception to the rule. 

The book comes in an easy to read, understandable format and covers almost the full gambit of topics that a beginning beekeeper may need to know from initial questions and concerns, the gear you need, getting and introducing your bees all the way to what to check for and how to treat problems, and a large section on what to do with your impending honey flow, including a crazy amount of recipes.