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I'm probably considered late.  But I've got all my bee supply catalogs out looking at what I want to buy.  It's fun to shop for bee stuff.  My first year, I needed hive parts, so it wasn't quite as much fun.  There are not as many variables to pick from.  Buy 2 Hive bodies and call me in the morning!  Pretty simple.

This year, I'm looking at all kind of gadgets.  I attended Dadant's 150 year Anniversay event this past weekend.  It was great, and got me to thinking about my basic bee problems.  Yes, I have bee problems.  One big problem, is that I can't ever see my queen.  Three years of bees, and I can't find her.  It's worse than a Where's Waldo print.  I look at the frames and I'm pretty sure she sees me and jumps on another one.

How can I see my Queen?  How can I ever catch her?  First, I should probably mark her.  Most bee keepers mark their queens with special pens.  They recommend a color system so at one glance we know how old she is.  Or, if while the beekeeper was not looking, the hive superseeded her and made a new queen.  Sounds good, but I'm going to need a marking pen and some patience to find her.

Then I saw some interesting Queen restriction tools.  One was just a regular old Queen Excluder, you check a frame and by process of elimination narrow down where the queen is located.  I may need that kind of help.  Then I saw a kind of cool press in Queen trap.  It allows worker bees in and out, but traps the queen so there is no threat of me accidentally smashing her.  That sounds like a great idea.  I can just see me spending hours to find the queen just to smash her.

Then my next issues are hands and feet.  My gloves suck.  They are awful.  Plus at some point I tore a hole in them and have one whole finger covered with duct tape.  I need something new.  I know what I want.  I want gloves that are like my garden gloves.  That thick covered glove that is rubbery and still gives good dexterity.  I read several forums and have decided to try the extra thick Nitrile gloves.  I ordered some 8mil thickness.  I'll let you know. 

We all know about my feet.  So I also have on my list, "Get some shoes!"  so I am looking for some rain boots to cover my feet and ankles that do not attract the bees.  Seems like most rain boots have flowers painted on them.  That seems like a trick for the bees.  I can just see them trying to pollinate my boots.

I'm off to shop, I'll post my purchases and reviews for you.  Maybe we can solve some ongoing bee issues together!