This weekend we had our first Intro to Beekeeping class for the new year and we had a blast. It felt like forever since we had taught our last class (it was actually just last month!) and we felt a little rusty setting up the night before but we got everything together. Even Smokey kicked it into high gear as students mingled in the yard before and after class. Here we are on the back deck by the bamboo and the gate. He knows that’s where the students enter the yard and you can find him around that area most Saturday mornings if we are out there. He does this hilarious though weird dash through the crowd at least once each class. I call it the Psycho Monkey Run and it cracks me up. See the fun we have during class? No wonder we love having folks over to the Bee Ranch.
We had fifteen students this round, including two kids who did great. They were already over by the hives within inches, not suited up, before we started class! Fearless I tell you. It was a gorgeous day, slightly chilly but luckily it warmed up enough to go into the hives for a while. Everyone had a chance to hold a frame of bees, we spotted the queen and we think everyone had a good time and learned some things along the way. We had a treat this class – a couple of the students make mead and they brought samples for everyone AND they also let us sample Cranberry and Saw Palmetto honeys from their personal stash. What a nice treat! It was super fun and now we can’t wait for our next class on February 4. 🙂
We have a full set of pictures at Flickr if you would like to check out
what the class did January 21.
By the way – tomorrow is Lunar New Year, also known as Tết to Vietnamese people or Chinese New Year to other people. Year of the Dragon this time. Here’s to a prosperous, fun and happiness-filled, healthy year for all of us and all the bees! Chúc mừng năm mới!!
Gretchen Bee Ranch 
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