Honey Bees
Where do I even begin with honey bees?! There is so much to beekeeping alone I decided to talk about honey bees as livestock, and also build a beekeeping category for all the extra sub categories that this website is full of.
Always be sure to check with your local counties extension office before getting hives, even if you don’t care, it’s always good to know what you’re up against just in case. Many cities and counties also have a local beekeeping association, and connecting with them at least on a sociable level can come in handy if you ever need a mentor or advice, as well as equipment to harvest honey or local resources for all your bees needs.
Honey bees are technically imported livestock, and need to be considered as such, its incredibly beneficial to know, that honey bees are not native to the Americas, therefore needs to be imported here from eastern, and southern countries. Many people confuse ‘save the bees’ with honey bees when in fact that slogan should be specified more towards our native species of bees, like the bumble bee that is actually on the rise from being on the endangered species list just a few years ago. This is why it is of utmost importance to keep our native plants thriving, honey bees adapt quickly to their environment, and don’t need any special treatment, however it is pertinent to maintain availability to crops within a 5 mile radius of your hives. You need to be absolute sure that your community surrounding your homestead can and will provide for your bees, often times people rent a small piece of land just to have their bees in a high pollination spot for more active hives that draw out honey much quicker than your average backyard hives. But if you’re in a populated area chances are your bees will do just fine.
Any amount of hives that are more than one single hive is considered an apiary. We got our first hive in 2016, and this year for the first time we are officially an apiary with two hives. It’s always good to start with two, but money and resources can be an issue, we were actually given the extra hive box we are using this year, so sometimes you can only do so much, and I am beyond grateful for this opportunity. Patience will prevail, remain humble and frugal in your growth and experiences. There is nothing wrong with letting things fall into place the way they should without causing any added stress or unpreparedness. I can tell you one thing for sure, I am glad we didn’t have a double loss in the past which would have been the case with two hives, so just start at your pace, and go from there.
Always put up signage in and around your homestead to let everyone know there are bees, I keep a caution cone in front of the hives, but it’s not really needed, our backyard is fenced in all the way around, and my neighbors are awesome about our homestead, we’ve never had an issue, and I don’t see us ever having one. They all are just as grateful as we are for our natural ecosystem we have on this block, as well as in this community. I am one of many other beekeepers not just in this city, and county, but right here in my neighborhood, and it’s such an overwhelmingly awesome feeling at times when you realize you’re a part of something much bigger than all of us. I am certainly grateful and thankful for this entire experience.
Definitely take a class if you can. They are available online, and in most places in person locally. I was fortunate enough to go right over the river to Kentucky and take a full 4 hour class in 2015, and although I was already pretty certain I wanted to venture into beekeeping, the class just pushed it all into full force. Meeting other keepers was an amazing experience as well, there is just so much knowledge, and hour long conversations go by in a matter of what feels like just a few minutes. On the contrary, we have a little joke that says,
‘if you ask 10 different beekeepers the same question, you’ll get 10 different answers’
Which couldn’t be more true….and it’s just because we’re all so passionate about what we do, we’ve all had so many different experiences that you never know what to expect, and we all have a different way of teaching things, or different learning processes ourselves. Listen to all of them, and find the common ground.
Always take the time to educate those around you, including your neighbors, especially if they have kids. Bees are busy working their whole lives, they travel to and from the hive all day long. The bees in your hive, hit that front landing and immediately take off, depending on the size of your plot they don’t stay very long. On farms or more commonly orchards with acres and acres of land, then yes, your bees will actually pollinate your crops. On a tenth of an acre plot in the city, my bees rarely stay here if at all. The glorious thing about honey bees however, is colonies that are within the same 3-5 mile radius ours are foraging in, are likely the bees that are coming into our yard and pollinating our crops for our homestead. It is literally an exchange system, and one of the most beautiful that I think exists on all the planet. They literally have the ability to communicate with nature.
Do a little research on what’s native in your area and also what all pollinating insects like to forage on, plant as much as you can in abundance to be a part of that natural path of nectars and pollens!
