The Beekeeper's Handbook Discussion Part 1
Hi friends! My apologies on being a day late with the first book group session. I totally crashed yesterday after working a half day and then lunch with friends. I guess it was all too much fun for me. Have you ever been so tired that you just couldn't really even see straight. Or form coherent sentences? Yep. That was me the past few days. So I took a breather. And now here we are ready to dive into our first book group meeting! You can catch up on what's going on by reading this post.
Let's start at the beginning though. I attended a beekeeping class recently and that inspired me to do a number of things. First, it inspired me to really start thinking about keeping bees. From there I was thinking about how I could learn more about bees. There are a couple of ways-attend classes, attend beekeeping group meetings and events, get a mentor, and read. From this list I definitely have time right now to read. And then I thought, why not start a book group? I've always wanted to but just never did. And then I thought we could have fun here on the blog by hosting the book group here. And what's more fun that reading books? Reading books AND talking about them. So the book group was born. I've named it "Chicken Librarian Reads". But enough about that. You can read the post that started it all and then jump in here to discuss. But before we get started, let me just run down the beekeeping class I took a few weeks ago and then we'll get to it!
I've alluded to the class in several posts and I wanted to give you a rundown of everything from that day. I really think bees need to be a part of the future of the homestead. I didn't really know much about bees before taking the class. I really still don't because there's so much to know and the class is just the tip of the iceberg. But I do know that I want to know more!
I took my class at Kutik's Everything Bees. You might have heard me mention them before. I've been using Kutik's honey off and on for many, many years now thanks to my MIL for introducing me to them. They started with just a little farm stand and occasionally you could find their honey in local grocery stores. Fast forward until a few months ago. I found out they were expanding their store (keeping the original farm stand, but locating production to a different location and therefore had room to make a store and classroom setting). So this past year they've really been ramping up their classes. One of those classes that they offer is beekeeping. And they're the only ones that I can find that offer beekeeping year round. So I thought why not take the class now, in the fall, so I have all winter to think about it, study it, and plan for it.
Kutik's really does offer everything for bees. When I mentioned that I taught homesteading how-to classes they were very excited and a partnership was born! I signed on to teach a few classes for them and they are interested in selling some of my products. And that was before class started! Class was good. It gave a good overview of how to get started in beekeeping and they offer more in-depth classes and will literally hold your hand as you get started with your hive(s).
So that leads us to our next step--book group! It just seemed like a good starting place--reading about beekeeping. I chose the book The Beekeeper's Handbook by Diana Sammataro and Alphonse Avitabile. I've had this book on my 'homesteaders resource' reading shelf for a very long time but I don't think I would have tackled it before taking the beekeeping class. It's a lot of information to digest and some of it is technical. I think I would have been hopelessly lost without that introductory information at Kutik's.
Our first assignment was to read the Introduction-Chapter 5 and then we'd discuss over the course of two weeks. Every two weeks we'll read another section, discuss, and so on and so forth. Our discussion dates are as follows:
November 18th: intro-Chapter 5
December 2nd: Chapters 6-10
December 16th: Chapters 11-15
December 30th: Appendixes and wrap up, next book and schedule.
Okay. On to the discussion! Did you get a chance to read the intro through Chapter 5 yet? I thought it was all very interesting, full of good information, and also very diverse. You start with kind of 'what is a honeybee' and very technical information and go from there to the colony to equipment to obtaining your bees to finally working your bees. Most of my questions are very basic and introductory. Feel free to add to the discussion and/or pose your own questions! This is meant to be an interactive group.
Questions:
1. Why keep bees? Do you currently keep bees? Have you ever kept bees (if you don't currently have them)?
2. What resources do/did you use to learn about beekeeping? Books, classes, local beekeeping groups, mentor?
3. Have you researched beekeeping laws in your area? What did you discover about the laws?
4. What are your interest in keeping bees? Honey, pollinators, wax? Something else?
5. What did you think about the different bee varieties? What about the hybridization of bees?
Let's start here. I might add some more questions as the week goes forward. Or we might have some in the comments. These are very basic questions because I think we need to establish where we're each at in our journey. I'll post my answers in the comments below.
Oh! And suggest a group name if you don't like "Chicken Librarian Reads" or can think of something more creative. So far we've had the name CLUCKERS suggested (Chicken Librarian Unites Curious & Knowledgeable Readers) by Tracy. I think it's pretty cute and clever. Let's see what you think all the way around. Happy reading! And happy discussion! I'm looking forward to it.