The Bee-ginning. Get it?

Besides being the year the total annihilation of the world as we know it occurs, 2012 will also be known as the Year I Started Keeping Bees, or alternatively as That One Year When I Thought I'd Keep Bees. We'll see how it goes.

About 4 weeks ago I took an introductory beekeeping course. It was a one day deal, and we didn't work any bees because it was January, but it was very informative. It was given by Jeane Hansen of the Dane County Beekeepers Association. Good stuff.

Then 2 weeks ago I went to Lapp's Bee Supply in the metropolis of Reeseville (no soliciting allowed) and bought a bunch of stuff and ordered 2 three pound packages of bees. The bees should come around the third week of April or so.

The bees will be living at the farm of my friends, Huck and Courtney. Last weekend, Lawton and I went out to their place to scope out potential apiary sites. Too much dang corn out there. Grow something else, farmers! Five hundred acres of clover and alfalfa from everyone!

This weekend I put the boxes together. Beekeepers usually call them bodies or supers. Anyway, I put them together. Fortunately they are all cut to the right size and shape so they go together pretty easily. I just had to nail them together. As the guy who took Home Ec instead of Shop classes in high school, I appreciated that. Also, they are made out of nice soft pine, so the nailing went well, too.

I'm starting out this year with 2 hives (which is why I ordered 2 packages of bees; I'm smart that way).  I got a slightly modified 2 hive beginner set up from Lapp's. (I didn't want the head gear, full body suit, and big leather gloves. Hot, uncomfortable and hard to work in? Yeah, no thanks.) So that set up comes with, for each hive, two deep brood bodies and 1 medium honey super. So that, plus 2 bottom boards, are what I put together.

The nice woman at Lapp's, whose name I forgot to get, talked me into getting plastic frames. I'm sure lots of people, especially old-timers, would tell me I messed up, but they are super easy to use, cheap, and durable. And also, hey, why not. From what I can tell, about 80% of beekeeping is trying different things and seeing how it goes. Stay tuned, right? Zzzzz.

Anyway, here are some pictures:

This is where the magic happens, in the underground Bee Lair, deep below Wayne mansion.

A bottom board just waiting to happen.

Look, I successfully made 2 bottom boards!

My first medium super with frames in... They fit, so I guess I did it right.

A hive awaiting paint. And bees, at some point.

Next week: painting the hives. Come back and watch paint dry!

The constant wall

or: No duh

I try to remind myself as often as I can that staring at the wall is not an occasional activity. The wall is always before me.

I must always strive to be who I love. That is accomplished by making right decisions. Right decisions are made by thinking less. In place of thinking I open my heart. When I open my heart, the "no duh" choice is always obvious. That is the easy part. Allowing the "no duh" solution to manifest through me is the harder part. Allowing that manifestation is accomplished through less striving and more loving.

That is when the knowledge that the wall is always before me can be especially helpful. The knowledge helps me see that there really is no choice in front of me and that creating one only takes me off the path. Reality is not in the choices, it is in the space between the choices.

In order to be the one who smiles, I must smile. In order to be the one who loves, I must love. There is no such thing as a smile, or love, or even existence. There is only smiling, loving, and simply being. Actions I have to consciously choose not to do. Why would I do that? To me, the answer to that question is a "no duh."

Living is easy with eyes closed, misunderstanding all you see

or: Be careful what you eat, including this blog post

Wow, I'm hungry. I wonder what's for supper.

Oh, yummy!

I'll take the black one.

C'mon, you! I will take you to dinner! Haw haw!

We are going to have such a wonderful dinner, piggy!

Camp town races sing this song, doo dah, doo dah...

Oh boy. I can't believe I ate the whole thing.

I don't feel so good...

Hey, who used the outhouse without restocking the corn cobs?!

Only vegetables for me from now on!

If you are unfamiliar with the original, here is a linky for you. Enjoy your cheeseburger!

That has never worked

or: I bang my head against a wall because it feels good when I stop

Ah, blogging. It seems to imply that you, or in this case, I, have something to say to the world. Or at least to a particular audience. Or at least to the one person who +1ed my first post.

(I guess whoever +1ed the post is not in one of my circles and I'm not in theirs because I don't know who did the +1ing. Well, thanks, anonymous +1er! I wonder how many ways you can conjugate +1? I +1, we +1, he/she/it +1s, they +1; I have been +1ing, we have been +1ing, he/she/it has been +1ing; they have been +1ing; etc.) [Edit: I guess I can see who +1ed the first post. Internet +1, Chris 0]

Overly personal information that pushes private space boundaries

or: The Blog Post in which I attempt to Start Blogging Again

Welcome! How's it going? I'm doing OK, thanks for asking. I used to write a blog called "2,000 words about nothing," in which, on a weekly basis, I wrote 2,000 words, generally about nothing in particular. I wrote it on Thursday evenings. On other days, I would put up links to YouTube videos, almost always music videos, that I liked or found interesting.

Unfortunately, it appears that Blogger does not have a word count function. At least not one that I've found yet. I'm sure it's in here somewhere. Maybe I'll do a quick Google. Just a sec.