welcome. you will enjoy beekeeping. the article may have been incorrect, but if it motivated you to beekeeping, that's a good thing.
do you plan on having a totally self sustaining farm?
As self sustaining as we can. We're planning on wind/solar running the electric, evaporators (run by that sustainable electric) creating water, compost from the yaks, goats and chickens going to feed the garden, recycled greywater so we don't abuse the water, sod/underground home to take advantage of the natural heating/cooling of the earth.
I see the bees as a wonderful asset to this, pollinating the plants, strengthening the planet, and again, MEAD!
Okay the story, and I tell it because I think this is a forum that might enjoy. About a dozen years ago, I was invited to a Children's Adventure Games at a local metaphysical school/hangout. (The owner is the biographer for Joseph Campbell). It was a game based on Dungeons & Dragons type stuff and the kids were doing live role-playing and battling the "enemy" with styrofoam swords and such. The adults were the non-player characters, charged with giving the kids clues to their next objective. I was tagged to be the Lady of the Meadow and was given some lines to tell the kids when they came along. So here I am swathed in a white gown and veils, standing in this meadow just before sunset. Purple loosestrife and black-eyed Susans swathe the landscape around me, and from afar I hear the sounds of "battle" as if from some ancient land. And then I notice that the honey bees are getting caught in my veil. For a moment I'm afraid - what if I get stung? But then I realize that they mean me no harm. They just hang with me, buzz around me, dance amongst my clothes. It somehow became a magical moment, that almost felt . . . seperated from time. That's the best I can explain it. That was the day I decided I wanted bees.
