Bee Keeping and How to Start
Backyard Beekeeping

Beekeeping for beginners can develop quite quickly into an unusual and rewarding hobby and those who do, enjoy this immensely, quite often turning their hobby into a profitable business venture.

There are of course professionals who are bee keepers and it is not a task they take lightly. You will need to be prepared for a lot of commitment. If you do then your honey bees will reward with a huge amount of pleasure.

Because they are social insects with fantastic team working skills, you will need to work with them closely. Once they recognise you as part of their sophisticated team you are on your way. Team-work, involving your beekeeping and the bees.

Raising honeybees involves keeping large amounts of them, a colony of bees can amount to anything between 20,000 to 60,000 bees! I know this sounds like a lot so be prepared for the amount of bees you will need to buy.

Once you have purchased your new colonies you will need to feed them for a while until they have produced their own honey to eat. Most beekeepers will have a ready supply of sugar which they mix together with water.

This will keep them going for a couple of weeks or so however, when you harvest their honey, please be kind to them and leave them enough of their own product to eat throughout the winter months.

Look after your bees, honey bee keeping means more than just placing a couple of hives in your backyard.

Monitor them regularly, keep an eye on the queen to ensure she is laying eggs and have a supply of bee medicine to hand if you ever need it.

Beekeeping for beginners doesn't mean you have to have a backyard, many are successful with roof top hives and some even place them on local farm land.

Please be aware that the use of pesticides on farmers crops are killing our bees, these are responsible for many honey bee deaths.

Be very cautious of this and check out the local land beforehand to ensure this is a safe place for your hives. Have you ever thought to build your own bee hive? I am told these are great fun, please check out the instructions if this is what interests you.

After all, if you are spending good money on your new hobby you need to start off the correct way.

It is perhaps wise when learning how to start beekeeping to have the correct and necessary equipment and more than one bee hive if this is possible.

Check out the latest honey bee homes, the revolutionary beehaus, I met the developer of this home for bees and very charming he was whilst showing me how this modern honey bee hang-out works.

This is highly recommended by established beekeepers because they know that beginners can sometimes lose a few of their honey bees before they become experts.

I have a friend Geoff who runs a brilliant website which he has dedicated to all aspects of beekeeping,. if you are looking for even more help as a beginner in backyard beekeeping he will answer all your questions for you.

And over at my forum you can read an interview I had with an expert beekeeper, his name is Phil Chandler and he has written many books. He gives a lot of answers which I think you will also find very useful.

As the bees raise their young, they are busily pollinating the plants in their surroundings, helping to spread our beautiful flowers.

It isn't just flowers of course that we have the bees to thank for, there are our vegetables too. What would we do without them!

Cyril has an informative website I discovered on organic gardening and how to grow a successful vegetable garden. Without our honey bees pollination efforts this would be very hard work for us! Cyril helps you with lots of tips; these will keep you and your bees happy.

They live their daily lives as part of a fairly sophisticated social system you are very likely to become quite attached and in total awe of them. Just one of the pleasures of bee keeping

If you have a ready supply of plants and flowers in your own gardens this is fantastic as they will never have to stray too far to collect the nectar and pollen they need to complete the jobs they are made for.

It is also very important they have a source of drinking water, this is something although very simple can be overlooked. Just a bucket of water nearby is sufficient as bees like to drink too.

Bee keeping is a very detailed task, but one that is rewarding with season after season of satisfaction while watching bee colonies grow.

Those who have invested heavily in this as a business generally do so for the much needed pollination that honey bees contribute to our environment and for the production of their own delicious honey.

Others do it to simply observe the different castes of bees that live and work within a colony and their ways of communication which is facinating such as their very own bee dance.

With serious dedication to the hard work involved with even backyard bee keeping, most people find that they are capable of doing so successfully.

However, bee careful as this activity or hobby goes far beyond merely feeding and sheltering the insects.

There is a lot to know, whether you enjoy backyard bee keeping or are into professional beekeeping and a lot of things to do on behalf of the bees to ensure their good health and reproduction.

It is recommended that anyone who is interested in this as a hobby, first spends some time observing an expert, maybe watching an established bee keeper in action.

Having a mentor experienced in this activity offers an opportunity to ask a lot of questions and they will be able to explain to you about the best and specialized equipment you will need and also to receive a type of hands on training that can't be found in a book or in a beginner's honey bee keeping kit.

Whilst studying printed materials is also recommended, doing so while learning from a mentor can significantly reduce the amount of mistakes made, many of which can result in dead or sick bee colonies.

The cost for man-made hives, protective gear and equipment may vary. Second-hand items are sometimes available, but a beginner should always start with new equipment.

Equipment that is home-made or that has already been used may be infected with diseases harmful to bees or otherwise cause problems that a person new to this may not immediately recognize or be prepared to solve.

After becoming educated about how to start beekeeping and installing all of the necessary equipment, it is finally time to begin stocking the empty hives. This is best done with packaged bees, which tend to be non-aggressive and are much easier for a new bee keeper to handle.

These bees do not only produce large amounts of honey, but should be viewed as an opportunity to train with live insects that are less dangerous than other varieties.

Some established keepers are able to catch swarms of bees although this is not reasonable for a beginner.

The reason for this is not only is it dangerous to you but because you must choose your queen bee wisely for a successful colony.

In raising honey bees it is important to provide them with the right pollen and nectar sources so that they can produce enough raw honey to nurture their queen, feed their young and enough for their keeper to harvest.

Therefore, food sources like buckwheat, sunflowers, berries and nectar fruits should be readily available for bees to regularly forage.

The bee keeping industry for organic honey farming is especially picky about their plants and the hobbyist takes great care with his or her honey bee gardens.

A very important fact involves keeping colonies healthy and well protected against bacteria, viral infections, mites and fungi that can be harmful and even deadly to the bees. This involves a careful eye and regular strict monitoring of the hives.

And, if bees do become sick, this also entails providing them the right medications in an attempt to restore their good health.

Whilst this is a highly rewarding task, it is one that should not be taken lightly. While many believe that this merely involves sheltering bees and collecting honey, there is much more to know and to do in order to ensure the bee's healthy survival and to avoid injury to both the bees and their keeper.

Still, honey bee keeping is a unique hobby and one that brings a sense of satisfaction to those who are most successful at performing it. Enjoy yourself, have fun, grow beautiful flowers and vegetables, "make your own honey" and please let me know how you get on.

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