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Honey Bees?
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I am wondering if anyone here has honey bees? We were thinking this would be a somewhat easy, cheap (after the 1st investment) and in the end fullfilling thing for the kids to do. Does anyone else have bees or have had them that could offer suggestions or advice.
My husband is a beekeeper. I think he has been doing it now for 5 years. He became very passionate about beekeeping and we ventured into giving library talks. We do this as a family. I have one son who is great with tech stuff. He runs the projector for the slides and videos that my hubby shares. My other son doesn’t mind getting up in front so he talks about the smoker and then he and I lead the crafting of rolled candles with the children. In the last two years my hubby has been teaching beginning beekeeping classes. We did one in February with about 30 new beekeepers and we have one coming up with about 10 more new beekeepers. God has provided more and more in this venture. We had almost 20 hives last year. Bees are the most amazing creatures — you can keep learning more all the time.
We have an observation hive in our house and you can watch everything they do from the Queen laying eggs, the workers gathering pollen, to the workers doing the dance to tell the others where to go for the nectar. Fascinating!
It is not cheap to start out with bees. My husband recommends beginning with 3 hives, so to start out with 3 hives and all your other equipment can run you about $1000. You probably won’t get too much honey your first year either. But after that you should be able to sell enough honey to keep up your hobby. Each year there is the cost of getting bees. For example, we lost most of our hives this winter which is very depressing so we will need to buy new bees to get going again. I don’t know if we will have 20 again this year. What state are you located in? They probably have a State Beekeeping board. Also you can check the National honey board website too. I am not certain of it’s URL but maybe nationalhoneyboard.com or something like that.
You definitely can learn a ton! It is as I said a most fascinating subject. You can check out our website that my son set up at http://www.thornapplewoodlands.com . Feel free to ask any questions and I will do my best to answer. I guess I went on a bit too long. Sorry about that.
Blessings,
Suzq
I guess my main question would be what would I need at the least to start with? I knwo where to get the bees that’s not the problem. Also, is bears which we have here and see often a problem? How much honey would you say you’d get from 3 hives a year? thanks
The amount of honey you’d get is first determined by what part of the country you’re in. As an example on the higher end of production – hives in the Dakotas can produce two hundred pounds (or more) of honey per colony. Other factors that impact the amount of honey produced are the weather, amount of nectar available and the hive’s size & health.
Yes, bears can be a real problem. I am assuming it’s black bears you have? Bears love to eat brood (bees in the larvae stage) as well as honey. Beekeeping with bears usually means an electric fence.
I’d second the recommendation above about looking up your state’s beekeeping assocation – oftentimes they can direct you to a local group or club. Beekeeping has been growing in popularity and more clubs spring up all the time. Another thing to do is check for beginner beekeeping books at your library. Unfourtnately, beekeeping is not as easy as it used to be. A slew of diseases and parasites make it much more complicated than it was. To say nothing about pesticides.
I agree with Morgrace in everything she said. In MI the average honey production per hive is around 70 pounds. But sometimes they produce much more or less depending on all the things said above.
Yes those people who have bears around usually use an electric fence to keep them away from their hives.
Beekeeping in our area has almost tripled since we began five years ago, if you go by how many people come to the Michigan beekeeper’s conference. So I suspect there are people in your area that could help you out. You could also try the Beemaster http://forum.beemaster.com/index.php or the Beesource http://www.beesource.com/forums/ forum for information. If you do a search on any question, I am sure it has been asked before. Just remember it is the internet and you don’t really know who is answering you.
The book we give to our new beekeeper’s class members is called “The New Starting Right with Bees.” Maybe your library has it or it may be under the title “Starting Right with Bees.” Also try “Beekeeping for Dummies.”
As far as the least that you need to get started, we had one lady try just one hive last year and it became difficult for her because she needed some support from the other hives to get things going. You could try it but it would be difficult especially without a mentor nearby.
Blessings,
Suzq
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