Beekeeping For Beginners

Is Beekeeping for Me?

Beehives require management and good stewardship, which take both time and knowledge.

General maintenance requires periodic inspections during the warm months to make sure your queen is laying eggs, your workers are building up honey stores, and your colony has enough space to expand. In the cold months, the colony clusters and eats through their honey stores, only emerging when the temperature is above freezing to eliminate waste. Inspections are discouraged during this time to keep from releasing precious heat from the hive. Management time and style will depend on your climate, your hive style, and your particular bees. All colonies are unique, and each beekeeper will have a different experience.

All beekeepers get stung at some point. For example, a bee might end up in the fold of your clothing, go unnoticed, and be unable to get out. Honeybees are mostly very docile, and stinging is a last resort, since once they sting, they die.

Below are some subjects we consider important to understand as you begin as a beekeeper.

Beekeeping is local.

Bees are directly influenced by their environment, therefore, their behavior and success varies greatly across climates. For instance, the busy foraging season for bees will be much longer in the warmer south than it will be in the north.
Familiarize yourself with what beekeeping looks like in your neck of the woods. We recommend joining your local beekeepers club or association, and finding an experienced mentor in your area.

What are honeybees?

The first step to becoming a successful beekeeper is to learn as much as you can about the bees themselves. Considering all the variables that may affect your honeybees, you may see something different every time you get into your hive. In order to make appropriate management decisions, beekeepers must be flexible in their ability to figure out why bees are behaving a certain way, and how certain actions may impact their well being.

Send Inquiry