My interest in becoming a beekeeper

[Richard Joyce]

I moved from California to Oregon in 1998 and live on 18 acres just SW of Lebanon. I have worked my entire life in the high tech markeplace and was just released from Hewlett Packard, Corvallis as they continue to off-shore jobs overseas.

My property is zone farm/forest and I have recovered half the property which is 80% free of blackberry bushes and the scotchbroom. This field is now a field on grasses and wildflowers with a tree lined seasonal creek.

My question to this community, does this valley need more beekeepers? Do the local beekeepers want others to help offset the risk of maintaining large sets of hives? Would you recommend anyone getting into beekeeping if they never done anything like this before?

I appreciate hearing your opinion and look forward to hearing from you real soon.

[Thom]

Richard, More is better, though my advice would be to study up on it through the winter. Attend a beekeeping class this winter that will be listed on the events page at orsba.org, and most of all start small. Maybe four hives the first year and see how it goes then you should be able to grow a little every year turning it into a side line if you like.

[Richard]

Thanks Thom. From the little reading that I had done, I thought I had missed doing anything this year.

What is really scary is the more a person learns about bees, the risks appears to be much higher. Yet other than creating a side business, I feel do this work will only help Mother Earth and put my property to good use.