As a newbie beekeeper, I am still trying to find my way in this sweet, sticky world of bees and honey. It all began when a coworker wanted a hive, followed by my offer to allow the hive in my yard.


Easy peasy, right?


In an attempt to understand what I'd gotten myself into, I reached out to a sweetheart of a guy who owns Hays Honey and Apple Farm, Mr. Hays. His enthusiasm was infectious, and one thing led to another... I wound up purchasing beekeeping equipment for myself, as well. Then came ordering bees and planting pollinator plants. Okay, this was getting rather involved. And there was one small problem. I know nothing about bees. Oh, snap.


Thank goodness for YouTube. You can learn anything there. And I must admit, I learned a few things I could have done without. For example, How to make homemade squishies! Not necessary for me personally.


I soon signed up for a two year beekeeping certification course through New Mexico Beekeepers Association (NMBKA).  I completed the first level over the last year and am about to embark on the second year journey.


Last year, my yard had two hives. Mine, and my coworkers.


To track hives and their progress, I guess I'll name them: Hive 1 and Hive 2.

This is a pic of my first mistake. Hive 1 is facing west. Hives are supposed to face South or East. This was an easy fix. 

Hive 1 is in the background and is facing south now.  Hive 2 is front and center. Notice the topnotch paint job I did with stencils. You may begin mocking me now, it's ok. 

In the picture you can see fencing, which most people would use as a dog run. I use it to keep the dogs out. I don't want the pups getting stung; however, when I've left the gate door open, they didn't go near the hives. The bees probably already had a meeting of the minds with the dogs. 

This style of hives is called Langstroth. If you've seen bee hives in the past, they probably looked like this. They're wood, box shaped, and easy to stack.


We used Langstroth for the first year. As we prepared for winter, we changed over to Apimaye Hives. They are plastic and well insulated. This was my coworkers idea, and it sounded fine with me. I'll upload pictures of those soon.


This blog is designed to document beekeeping experiences along the way. Hopefully things go a little smoother than the first year. But I'll get into that a little bit...