Bee Anniversary Day

In January 2007, I started researching about beekeeping. I had purchased an Introduction to Beekeeping book ten years prior which I had not read. At the time I purchased the book my life seemed to be very much in the control of other influences - financial and work related--in fact maybe it still is today! Either way, I put off getting into beekeeping at that time. I do recall that the presence of the mite which I now know is the Varroa Mite was first making its entrance on the North American scene and was devastating the bees. It was not really a great time to consider beekeeping. And now is much more difficult. As I read the book last year I learned that the bees are still battling the mite, and a variety of other viruses and diseases.

I forged ahead with my plans and found a beekeeping course at the University of Guelph. Something else was happening at this time. The more I read about the life and biology of bees the more fascinating they became. At the time I was wanting to write a children's story and was considering a couple of story topics, none of which was really taking off. The bees did it though. As I researched I realized I had found the most amazing topic for my book. Shortly after that the Bee Magic Chronicles were born. I started writing on 10 Feb 2008, so today is the anniversary of when I started writing.

I took the Introductory Beekeeping course in Guelph. It was fantastic. I'll blog on that shortly. I also ordered two hive boxes, a bee hat and veil and a smoker. Over the next few months I concentrated mostly on my writing and illustrating and research for the book.

I kept planning to start with my hives and now I wait for winter to end and spring to come so I can officially become a beekeeper instead of a wanna-beekeeper.