Bee Keeping

Does anyone have any experience with bee keeping? If so, what are the major problems & would you do it again?

[Chuck52]

Froggy,

I don't keep bees yet, but it is a future project for me. My best buddy has 5-6 hives right now and I've helped him a bit with them. As with many of these things, you don't get into it to make or even save money, unless you really get into it big time, or you really use a lot of honey. However, I think I'd enjoy having a couple of hives, and they will help pollinate any crops or fruits you might have. Bill has always mail-ordered his bees and supplies, but there's a local bee keeper who sells bees, and that's probably fairly common in many places. There are diseases and parasites to deal with, but if you're doing it as a hobby and not as a cash crop, that's just another detail. Bill's honey is usually very tasty, though he seldom has much idea of the nectar source. He gets so much he's into making mead, which can use a few gallons quickly. If I get into it I'll probably give away most of the honey. I like it, but I'd rather have fruit preserves on my biscuits, if I hadf my choice.

Chuck

[Ches]

I have been keeping bees for about four years. Started with two hives (recommended so if one goes bad you have something to compare to) and now have nine. Major problems you will encounter are pests and diseases. I got started after a year when my garden essentially produced no cucumbers. I made some inquires and learned that some years before, about 80% of the wild colonies and the beekeepers colonies were lost to a little mite called a varroa mite, so there were few bees around to provide adequate polination. No one knew at the time what was killing off the bees. Some treatments were developed (basically installing chemical miticide strips in the hives {when the bees are not making honey for human consumption}. We continue to fight those mites to this day as the varroa mite quickly (over a few years or so) become resistant to the treatment. There is now a new pest, called the African Small Hive Beetle, that is more destructive than the varroa mite, but it is not as wide spread. They too are developing a resistance to available treatments. There is a new approach to fighting these pests, called Integrated Pest Management (IPM), that uses non chemical means to control these pests. From what I am reading, research shows real promise for this approach, although, I have yet to purchase the equipment necessary for IPM. Diseases are also a problem, but there are treatments for them that are quite effective. Keeping bees is a lot of work, but in my opinion is well worth the effort and cost. In addition to benefiting from harvesting honey, I am helping mother nature. Two recommendations I would make: 1) Join your local beekeeping organization (if there is one near you) and take a beeginning beekeeping class (or find a mentor to help you). 2) Buy your bees in what are called "nukes" from a source closest to you, rather than buying "package bees" from a mail order source. When you buy a nuke, you get a real good head start with developing a colony and more than likely will be able to get some honey the first year. If you need any more info, just e-mail me. Don't want to take up more time on this forum. Best of luck!

[gauthier]

I've had bees for about 9 years now. Last fall I had 5 good hives with two weaker ones,I did everything as in past falls,[feed,aspain strips for mites,terrimician etc. and they had plenty of honey.All were dead this spring except 1 hive.I would say that they became immune to the aspain [not spelled right,which is for mites.There is a new mite medicine out now called checmite I beleave.Iguess I am ready for that. I plan on making a trip to brushy mt. or at least ordering a couple more to start next spring.I like the honey,you can get 4 or 5 gal. off one good hive in a year,and they are good for your garden and fruit but it gets pretty disheartening when you think you have it down pretty good and do all you can to keep them alive and they die.My grandpa never spent apenny on his 3 or 4 hives back in the good ole days and always had bees,he would just get what honey he needed each year.New dieases,pests,resistant viririous is what modern times have brought us. But like I said, I plan on getting more for next spring,and at least give it one more try before I quit. RICHARD GAUTHIER

[Hakim]

There was another pretty good thread a couple of months on beekeeping, called Making Honey

Thanks for all the inputs.

[brosil]

We've been keeping bees for about 7 yrs. We do almost everything wrong, use old wood and such. We've done fair until last year. We lost all four hives. We were'nt alone. Even Lenard, the 98yr. old beekeeper in our group lost every hive. Sometimes, it's just a bad year.
Join a group if you can. Just jump in with a starter hive and maybe fail a couple of times. It's worth it.

[wasabi]

I have no experience with this but it is definately on my homestead to-do list. Since your bee keeping topic was not specific as to which type of bee, I would like to know if anyone has experince to share with Mason Bees. They sound to me like one of the best ways to boost polination with minimal hassles....I would also like some conventional hives and honey, but may go with the Mason Bees approach first. Any suggestions, caveats, sources of supply, etc?

[brosil]

Mason Bee kits are readily available and not much more is required than putting them up in a protected spot and changing the liners to their holes as needed. There are some good books available but I don't have a list in front of me right now. The larger beekeeping suppliers are handling the kits now.

[BrianP]

I'm gonna start this year. I bought my hive & ordered my bees, which I should get at the end of May. We seem to have it a little easier in Ontario than 'down south' because a number of the nasty diseases haven't arrived yet.

As much as it embarasses me to say, the best book I've read on the subject is a 'for dummies'. Lots of pictures, etc..

Good luck - I'll keep y'all posted.