The frugal beekeeper absolutely must have: A Bee Guy.
(Now, I know that it could just as easily be A Bee Gal but since my Bee Guy is, well, a guy that's what we'll call this tool for the purposes of this post.)
Preferably a Bee Guy who is upgrading all his equipment and unloading lots of the old. I've scored a bunch of boxes, frames, wax to melt and reading material to study. I've noticed that beekeepers, in general, seem to have stuff laying around that they are "meaning to get to" and could probably be convinced to sell it for a fair price if you don't mind a little patching and painting.
Part of being frugal is buying used whenever you can. I've seen some used equipment on places like Craigslist but getting used equipment from A Guy is preferable since your Guy is not going to give you woodenware previously infested with something like AFB.
We don't live in a perfect world so this tool is not without it's cons. For me that means my Bee Guy and I have philosophical differences. He does everything according to the industry standard (brood in deeps, medicate the beejeebuz out of them, etc.) while I am more interested in sustainable practices. So when I'm talking about crazy, granola ideas like foundationless frames, I get some funny looks. But he humors me.
The pros far outweigh the cons though. It's great to have someone to bounce ideas and questions off of and my Bee Guy is so awesome he invited me along to try catching a swarm (unsuccessfully) and he saved my bacon when I discovered my hive was queen-less (that's a story for another post).
My Bee Guy has been an essential part of getting started and I recommend that you get one too. It's simple enough, just ask around. If you don't know a Bee Guy personally, I'll bet you know someone who knows A Guy. Or look for a beekeepers club in your area, that's a whole room-full of Guys (or Gals)!
Cost of A Bee Guy: so far $0. But I'm feeling guilty for being such a sponge. I should probably buy him lunch pretty soon.
No comments:
Post a Comment