I am new to beekeeping and I have been conducting a fair amount of research through reading, watching videos and attending bee classes in my area but I believe I would greatly benefit from having a mentor. Any beekeepers in the Clark County area that would be willing to mentor a novice such as myself? Mainly looking for someone to supervise me while I conduct my hive inspections. Eventually would like to take the OSU beekeeping course and I would require a mentor to log my hours.
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This is great that you’re reaching out on the forum, Austin. Good luck, I hope you find a great mentor 
nothing compares for learning as a beginner if you ask me.
Hi!
I’m a member of the Portland Metro Beekeeping Association which would be relatively close to you. The group has been great so far with plenty of expert beekeepers in it as well as club events and bulk purchasing. Hope that helps!
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Thanks Mateo. I will check it out!
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Hey! I’m in Vancouver Washington too! Did you have luck with finding a mentor in Portland? I just bought a Flow hive and ordered a queen (for spring 2023) but know nothing else.
To quote Dwight Schrute: “Would you like to form an alliance with me?”
-Betsey
Hi Betsey, welcome to the forum! Check this out for possible local resources who understand how to adapt regular beekeeping to the Flow system:
If nothing is close enough and you want hands on experience, it’s still very useful to join a ‘traditional’ beekeeping club and just pop in here to get the tips you’ll need. Keep in mind that some non-Flow beeks don’t look kindly upon us, at least until we’ve proven a respectable level of know-how with bees first. Plus there are some misconceptions out there that Flow hives themselves are bad for bees, when actually the issues they cite may have more to do with inexperience and common learning-curve errors. Lots of newbeeks to contend with since Flow emerged, and I imagine it’s made some of the old guard a little grumpy 
As for me, I took a class with the local club and then, along with plenty of trial and error in my own apiary, I immersed myself here to develop the nuances needed for using a Flow hive.
By the way, if you did truly order just a queen, you’ll need to cancel that order and look for a package or nucleus colony instead. A queen alone will die.
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Eva! Thank you so much!
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