My Great Grandfather began as a hobby beekeeper in the 1930's . He mentored under a fellow named John G. Jessup. Mr. Jessup worked for A. I root company and also taught at Iowa State University. He told my Grandfather that he would teach him bees throughout the Summer every Saturday and Also promised him that if one day was to be missed then the deal was off. My Grandfather finished the course and soon grew to be one of the largest beekeepers in Nebraska.
Naturally my Great Grandfathers kids were also involved and soon the business would be passed down to my Grandpa who would move to California in the early 70's.
Like the man before him my Grandpa would pass down his knowledge and his bees to my Father and his Brother who would in turn train and groom my interest in these wonderful creatures.
Today , Like any business , there have been ups and downs , twists and turns . I've seen us down to maybe 20 hives and up over 1000. What are we at as I type this I have no idea - 400 ? 600 ? .
I decided to start my own business three years ago starting with zero hives at the beginning of a swarm season. By the fall season I was up to around 30. As of December 16th 2009 I have 84 , diminished from over 100 last summer.
So now you see, maybe 100 in 365 days isn't so much. What with splits and all. However we will see. So thats the short version of a long story . Where we were , Where we're at , and Where we're going.
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