New bee keeper considerations

Your thinking about becoming a bee keeper. You've always liked the idea. It would be great to have your own honey! It would be fun to sell some honey and make money too. Where do you begin?

This is probably how most of us started thinking about bee keeping or something close to this. All of this is true but realistically there are some things to consider in addition to your excitement if you dont want to find yourself a year or two down the road with empty bee keeping equipment in your shed sitting beside the treadmill and the 5 other gizmos you thought would be a good idea at one point.

1. Bee keeping is a long term hobby.

There is a significant learning curve to becoming a seasoned bee keeper. It's unlikely that you will ever get to a point where you aren't suprised by something in your apiary. But that in and of itself is something to be learned and become comfortable with. Bees are never totally predictable. You can glean valuable information from a host of really good books available on the subject of bee keeping. But, even these can't fully prepare you for all the variables.

Helpful hints and early steps:

• Find a local bee keeping association to join.

• Take a new bee keeper class offered by the association.

• Identify a seasoned mentor who is willing to guide you. (Seasoned bee keepers understand this struggle)

• Read widely.

2. Wait to start until you can afford 3 hives.

Yes, you can start with just one, I did. The confusion and frustration level you will heap upon yourself though is unnecessary. Having 3 hives provides these key benefits:

• Mental leg room. You will make uneducated decisions that will hinder your hives or may even make it unfavorable for them to stay. It's part of the learning process. But because bees are very resilient some will thrive in spite of you!

• Freedom. With only one or two hives you will be much less brave when it comes to making hard choices like requeening (which sometimes involves killing your queen) or combining a weak hive. In short, it gives you a great petrie dish to learn in and a high chance of success.

• Success. Nothing is more motivating than accomplishing a foundational goal in your first year. Goals like having a hive or two survive/thrive after their first winter under your management. Having a honey crop. Did you know that 50-75 lbs is a good average yield on a healthy hive?

• Confidence. When you work or inspect a hive you disrupt their normal daily activity. In the early days your desire to learn will be astounding. If you tear apart your 1 hive every few days it will significantly slow down the hives "normal" activities as they have to reseal the hive and clean up after you. It also increases the potential that you will damage or kill your queen. Having 3 hives will allow you to get your "fix" on but not in a way that sets your bees back or increases the risk to your queen quite so much.

In my opinion there is nothing quite so engaging and fun in the Ag world like bee keeping. But, like learning to play golf well, successful bee keeping is a never ending pursuit. We want to help. Please check back often for more articles and helpful advice.