Beekeeper Guiding

Hi, Nora—as it happens, though I am a mentor located in Manhattan Beach and a HL member (I do a lot of the events for education outreach, such as what you mentioned in your other note) I helped a new beek out in Monterrey Park just a couple weeks ago. Pat Chin, at pachin@charter.net
626-576-7958 She is a former school teacher and very organized, intelligent, and patient. It would help you to hook up with her. Also, to widen your social group with other beeks of varying degrees of knowledge, I urge you to join HoneyLove. It can ONLY be positive help. (did someone in our group get the bees and “set you up”? Did he not offer to mentor you? it would be helpful to know the history of your management—how often the brood nest is inspected, how many deep or medium boxes they are in now, and other details)
You have had your hive quite awhile, in comparison to many in the group. I would be careful of getting bogged down with all the posts and blogs on the Internet—it can be very confusing, since the majority of beeks in the world are using package bees, treating with chemicals for pests and disease, monitoring constantly for these things, using wax or plastic foundation, using queen excluders and other heavy management. Also, most are living in temperate climates, very dissimilar to our own. In HoneyLove, we avoid these inputs as they can affect the health of the bees very negatively.
I would urge you to read a basic book that is in harmony with the style I advocate and it is listed on our website as the beginner’s guide—
“The Idiot’s Guide to Beekeeping” by Herboldsheimer and Stiglitz. Also, our go-to source for best practices is Michael Bush who wrote “The Practical Beekeeper—Beekeeping Naturally” His entire book does not need to be purchased as he has it all on-line at http://www.bushfarms.com/bees.htm

Finally, though it does seem there are lots of different ways of doing the same thing or finding a remedy for the same problem, these are all tools you assemble for the “toolbox” of your knowledge, to be used selectively when you want to solve a problem. In other words—there is often NOT just ONE right answer. Several things might work, and each might be a little more or less successful, depending on the circumstances!
call me if you need more information Susan, moderator for HL
310-374-4779