About/Contact
Last modified: July 8, 2008We live in Charleston, West Virginia…quite possibly one of the best places on Earth. We keep bees, garden, tinker with the house, and spend as much time outside as we can. I am not exactly sure how this blog will go but I suspect it will be quite random!
You can contact us via email: warren@MyHomeAmongTheHills.com
You blog and the pictures are great. It is good to see a blog from Charleston. I am in Scott Depot and also have a blog. I love your Blogroll.
Happy New Year
Forgot my site address.
i was wantting to make my own cookie tin banjo and i am trying to find the instrutions on how to do it but i cant find any i wa wondering if you knew of anyone that has the blue prints
Hey Daren, I used the foxfire books for most of my info. I also found some good measurements here:
http://www.deeringbanjos.com/DimSize.htm
Holler if you would like more pics or more info. I am no expert but I had fun nonetheless!
I enjoyed reading your blog, although I haven’t finished it yet. I also live among the hills a little north of you in lovely Pennsylvania. I’m a librarian and for some reason, I thought I’d recommend a book to you that I read recently, a novel, entitled American Rust. I thought you might enjoy it!
Thanks for visiting Miss Sheila. I am a PA boy myself so I know the NW part of PA pretty well. I’ll have a look at American Rust. It gets good reviews on Amazon and your recommendation confirms them. I’ll get it when we get home from vacation!
Hi Warren and Emily,
We are sadly without any bees this summer. Only the rare one or two do we see in our garden.
I have been fascinated by bees since our neighbor shared his beekeeping with me as a little girl.
My dear hubby isn’t too keen on the idea of keeping them, but I’m hanging right on the edge of it.
What do you figure getting properly started costs? Bee suit, hive, bees, books, honey equipments, etc……
I am now paying $8 for 2 lbs. of local honey—which we go through rather quickly. Just wondering if the bees could ever pay for themselves in honey money I’d save.
Thanks,
CeeCee
Hey Ceecee,
About costs…it depends. I started without a bee suit or proper extractor. My only investments were in bees, hive boxes, and a cheap veil. To buy a complete hive, you will probably spend $100-$200 depending on who is selling. If you can find a swarm or a nice nearby beekeeper, you can get bees for free. The wooden pieces are fairly inexpensive…maybe $75-$100 depending on things. I sometimes make my own boxes but always buy the frames inside. It’s usually cheaper to buy everything though. I guess, what I am trying to say is that you don’t have to spend a lot to get into keeping bees, but if you aren’t careful, you can be led to believe you need lots of stuff and that can get expensive.
You can get away w/o books if you don’t mind searching the internet. I like http://www.beesource.com a lot. It has tons of info. I never use a smoker though you may want to. It’s pretty much a religious debate among beekeepers. I find that if I work slowly and carefully (not THAT slowly) that I don’t need smoke at all and I can manage the bees very well.
You can do cut comb honey (honey in the comb) or you can remove honey comb and crush the comb to extract the honey though you will get less honey over time as the bees have to eat a lot of honey to produce wax to replenish what you cut and crush. I built a homemade extractor that was pretty cheap (see pics on my site). You can also buy hobbyist level extractors for $150 or so. The other way to get started is get involved in a bee club and ask around. Most beekeepers can come up with someone who is selling equipment…
Anyhow, I hope that helps. Holler if you have more questions!
The price you are paying for honey is pretty typical by the way.
Hey there. Glad you ended up at my blog & made a comment. I have enjoyed reading some of your stuff here — the pot post made me laugh out loud. I’m sure I’ll be back — it’ll be like visiting my home-state every now and then.
So glad you came by also. For some reason, I just searched for My Home Among The Hills and saw your post. I love that song you posted…beautiful!
Hi there
I must have visited your blog at some point because it is in my “Fav Blogs” folder. Whilst looking for something to read tonight, I clicked on your link and have really enjoyed your posts.
I have friends who live in your city (here is his blog: http://www.appalachianlifestyles.blogspot.com/) — met them when I moved to live in Morgantown for a few years.
back home in Brisbane, Australia and loving being able to read your blog.
Cheers
Kim