Hello from CT

[bjw27]

I am from CT and getting 2 packages of Italians in April.
  My father was a beekeeper.  I remember always having the bees around and trying to keep the smoker lit for him, unfortunately he passed away 3yrs ago. He had three hives left that I drove into the ground by a year and half later.  When I checked out the dead bees, they had lots of varroa mites on them.  I have not seen a honey bee flying around the yard in a good year or so and I find it kinda sad. Plus the veggie gardens and fruit trees are producing less without the little pollinators.  Hopefully my second go round will be more successful.

[Bee Happy]

Good luck to you - maybe you still have access to your dad's bee library too? and you can look at the same lessons he did.  These forums have been a tremendous help to me as well.

[AllenF]

Sorry for your loss and hopefully bee keeping will be a joy to you to bring back memories.    Good luck this spring with them.

[specialkayme]

Welcome to the site!

[bjw27]

Thanks for the welcomes! It looks like there is a lot of great information on this site!