Hello from Round Mountain, TX - first timer

[RockyKnollFarm]

Hello everyone. First time bee keeper here. My family of five has our Flow Hive set up, painted and ready for our first nuc coming 4/28.

Been watching Cedar and learning a lot. Very excited for our bees and building a strong hive.

Our family’s goal is to keep working for a sec-sufficient property, maybe off grid one day.

We have a small flock of chickens that we have had for just over a year. Sheep coming later this year or next hopefully.

Looking for a bee mentor in the Texas area to help us with the ins and outs of TX bee keeping.

Thank you all ahead of time as I’ve read these forums for awhile prior to posting. Learned a ton already.

[aussiemike]

Welcome to the forum and to the world of bees, Mike. Join a local club to tap into experienced beekeepers. Clubs often run Beginning in Bees classes and have informative meetings with guest speakers. You’ll probably find your mentor there too. Definitely do a hands on class before your bees arrive. There’s much to learn and mistakes to make, but it’s a wonderful process.
Off grid! I’m envious.
Cheers,
Mike

[Eva]

Hiya Mike! Welcome to the forum. I hear Texas is a pretty big state - what region/town are you in? There are a few other Texans on here, but the one who comes to mind hasn’t posted in awhile is @Martydallas. If he’s still around and keeping bees, he is a great guy to talk to with lots of Flow experience. Plug Texas into the search area and you’ll find more.

A bunch of members here are also chicken-keepers too, me included! There are also others here doing some very cool off-grid things like @skeggley and @JeffH. Be sure to check out

Woodworking and Other Hobbies. Also Stuff we Grow to Eat, Etc

I have noticed that many beeks are into other things. Many of us seem to be dabblers, Craftswomen/Craftsmen, Artists, etc. I’d guess that gardening, woodworking, and cooking are all common areas of adventure for us folk. I thought it would be nice to share some of our experiences with each other. Specifically, I’m interested in learning more about what @Gerald_Nickel is up too and other’s like him. I’ll keep this intro post short and share my stuff in a followup post.

[JeffH]

Hi Eva, thanks for mentioning me.
I should be more “off-grid” than what I am now. We still rely on electricity, not to mention my gas guzzling v8 car.

I’ve been looking for an opportunity to share my latest, I think personal record of my latest rat tally. Counting the first one (in quite a while) a few months ago, the total is 17. A lot were juveniles, however all the older females, 4 in total were pregnant with a total of 27 embryos. It just goes to show how quickly they multiply.

I thought I kept them out of my sweet corn & sweet potatoes until I noticed some corn stripped almost bare. That was when I upped the ante & caught the last 7, 2 of which were pregnant.

The sweet corn is all harvested with sweet potatoes remaining, which I’ll keep an eye on over the next couple of months. It looks like I’ve caught the last one for the time being, fingers crossed.