Boy is there a lot to learn...

These past months I've learned there's A LOT to learn about beekeeping...

What kind of hive do I want -- Longstroth or Top-Bar? What's the differences? What size boxes do I want? How many hives do I want? How many box frames do I think I can lift by myself? Do I want to chemically treat if there are problems?

I've decided I want to go as 'organic' as possible...

See, ultimately there's really no such thing as 'organic honey' I've come to learn... Pesticides are used everywhere & unless you're controlling all of your bees movements, it's impossible to know if they're bringing 'non-organic' pollen into the hive...

Anyway, I've decided I'm going to use the Langstroth hive, but will be using all 8-frame, Medium-Supers so all parts are inter-changeable -- and much lighter when full of honey! Hey, I ain't no spring chicken anymore!

I've also decided to not white-wash paint the hive bodies, and will be using a 'frameless' system which allows bees to create their own comb, 'naturally'... If what I saw in that old speaker is any indication, and from what I've been reading, they really don't need beeswax foundation to build.

A site I've found really helpful is Michael Bush's :
http://www.bushfarms.com/beesnewbees.htm