Starting Beekeeping

Beekeeping can be a fascinating and frustrating hobby.

The fascination is as a backyard beekeeper, you are part of the hive itself and part of nature. You are working for nature, not against it. The frustration is the loss of hives to parasites, diseases and chemicals. You can not take 40,000 bees into a veterinarian to diagnose and treat every single bee. You can not open up the hive in winter to work on it, and there are no food sources for the bees from October to April.

To those interested in starting beekeeping: In my years of beekeeping, I have seen a lot of people start beekeeping, only to quit after three years or less. Things to think about -

1. Stings hurt, itch, and cause swelling. I don't like getting stung, but deal with it.

2. It requires heavy lifting.

3. Money and storage space is needed for beekeeping equipment.

4. Getting honey and having bees survive is not assured.

5. Relatives, neighbors and friends expect free honey, and don't return jars.

The first issue is, is it legal in your area? Many major cities allow beekeeping with restrictions, but some suburbs do not allow bees or chickens under any conditions (the idiots). Check your city animal ordinances and nuisance ordinances first.  As a last resort, call your city government. Remember, anything you don’t have in writing is worthless.

Minnetonka does not restrict beekeeping at all, and Eden Prairie allows beekeeping with some reasonable  restrictions.

Cost can be another factor. A rough estimate on what to expect starting out, with one hive:

Year 1 -  For bees, tools, one hive - $500   Honey produced: 0 pounds

Year 2 - Possible replacement bees, additional hive parts and equipment - $250   Honey produced: 25 pounds

Year 3 and after - Possible replacement bees, other supplies - $140 yearly average   Honey produced: 60 pounds average in Minnesota.

The costs above do NOT include renting or buying an extractor.

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2016 update:  A number of new beekeepers have expressed problems being able to lift a hive box. If you think that might be an issue for you, meet with a beekeeper and try lifting a full hive body. A full hive body can weigh over 75 pounds. An alternate to the standard 10 frame hive is the 8 frame hive, or a top bar hive. Top bar hives are growing in popularity, but there are no standards established. You may need to be able to build what you need. Another new beekeeper this year had to give it up because of allergic reactions to stings.

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Consider the possibility that the honey may taste bad too. The June honey I get from basswood and black locust trees tastes great, but the late summer honey may not taste as good. Depending on where you live and what plants there are, your honey may not taste good at all. Many dark honeys are comparable in taste to eating a spoonful of molasses.

The beekeeping book that I recommend most is “Beekeeping for Dummies”. Your local library system may have a copy. A word of caution: none of the beekeeping books warn you about the sticky mess, or the amount of space needed to store equipment and unused hives, jars, honey. With equipment just two hives, the total storage space I have in the garage and house would almost fill a small bedroom. Read as many beekeeping books as you can find, and look online for information. When extracting honey, with friends or relative's help, it may only take a day, but clean up lasts for weeks. Cleaning up is the job that takes the biggest part of my time.

In Minnesota, the University of Minnesota has a three day beekeeping class. Try to find a local beekeeping mentor if you can. Plan ahead-bees usually need to be ordered around January. Waiting until spring doesn’t work, and suggests you have not really thought it through.

In regards to neighbors, I am of the opinion that you don’t tell them beforehand them unless required by law. Most people have an irrational fear of bees. I have never had a neighbor ask my permission to have dogs or kids, so there. Use some good judgment in regards to the placement of your hives. A fence is recommended, to keep kids and animals away from your hives.

Many commercial beekeeping practices may increase honey yields, but may not be respectful of the bees, or in their best interest.

This is the final paragraph from Quinby's New Beekeeping, published in 1888 - "Although the amateur may not be able to keep bees on a small scale as profitably as the specialist with all conveniences at his command, yet there is ample argument in favor of small ventures in this direction. The gain is not altogether pecuniary (monetary), or in the gratification of the palate. To those engaged in sedentary pursuits, a chance for healthful exercise and diversion is often more than these. Beyond all these there is yet a higher good. All intimacy with the operations of nature has a silent but beneficent influence. Whatever tends to develop our perceptions of the wonders of creation, even as manifest in the mission of a tiny bee, can but cause us to "look beyond these results to their Divine Author."

Remember when people could actually write? This was written by a beekeeper, not a professional writer.

Dumping a package of bees into a new hive. the bees will not sting until they are established in their hive. This was my very first day of beekeeping. It's the type of camera I have that makes me look bald.

It was a hot day, and the bees just out of the package were looking for a place to cool off - on my back and the fence. I did not get stung.

Getting the bees out of the honey supers with a stinky board. Bergamot, or bee balm flowers directly in front of the hive. I normally wear just the mosquito net when working with the bees.

An uncapped frame of honey, ready to go into the extractor. Friends and relatives come in handy during extracting time.