Raising honeybees can be challenging and intimidating but very rewarding. I speak from experience when I tell you honey bees will make your gardening endeavors complete.
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The Advantages of Raising Honey Bees
Honey
Beeswax and propolis
Pollination for your garden plants and native species
Enjoyment
Nobody can outwork a bee
The Challenges of Raising Bees
Bees do get angry and can sting you
Allergies to bee stings can be serious
Honey bees can outcompete native bees in your area
Expense of supplies
Steep learning curve
Two of our past interns learning about honeybees. Finding a good mentor is important. Photo by Ame Vanorio
What Can You Produce With Bees?
Honey of course! However, we often overlook some of the other great things we can use from bees.
Beeswax forms the structure of the bee’s hive and is often seen as a leftover from extracting honey. You may remember when beeswax was sold in stores as a wood conditioner and car waxer. Its also used for making candles, preventing tools from rusting, and my favorite - making lip balm (my recipe below).
Propolis is the “glue” that holds the hives together. It also helps keep your bees healthy. Propolis is a natural anti-bacterial and anti-fungal. It is used to treat a number of health issues including diabetes, mouth sores, and inflammation.
You can chop the propolis and place it in capsules to take when you arnt’t well.
Fun Fact: Ancient Egyptians used propolis to embalm cadavers.
Honey bee on fleabane. Photo by Ame Vanorio
Pollination: Two Sides of the Coin
Pollination is a big plus when it comes to keeping bees. I saw an increase in tree fruit when I had bees as well as squashes and melons.
Honey bees are great pollinators however they are not native bees and do compete with other species. If you just want increased pollination you can encourage mason and bumblebee populations around your gardens.
Read our article on The Loss of Insects and How it Affects Your Garden
Both honeybees and native bees play a very important role in their ecosystems. By pollinating flowers and fruits they are a critical part of the food web.
Step One For Beekeeping - Know the Laws
The sad truth is that many communities have laws about keeping bees. If you are in a rural area you should be good to go.
However, if you are in a city, town, or sub-division you will need to check zoning regulations and/or your HMO. Some may allow bees but have rules about where you can place the hive ie: how close to a property line or if you need a screen near the entrance.
Screens can be fencing or tall plants that encourage the bees to get up higher in flight so as not to “run into” people or pets.
Talk to your neighbors to make sure they are good with bees. Your bees can not be trained to stay on your property. An offer of honey goes a long way.
You may also work with a local landowner to place your hives on their property. My friend Jake had a conflict with his hives and a particular neighbor so his bees came to stay at my farm.
Some states require you to register your hives as a way to monitor diseases among bees. Also if you plan to get into selling bee products there are laws about the labeling and distribution of your products.
Bees outside hive. Photo by Ame Vanorio
Step Two - Learning
Step Two is learning. Many people think you can put up the hives and let the bees go to town. It can be a bit more complex than that. Take some time to become familiar.
Find a local bee club! Your extension office or local gardening club may have a bee group. Attend meetings and talk to people.
If you are not near a face-to-face group there are several good bee groups online.
Bee Culture puts out a suburb magazine and podcast.
A great online course is taught by Master beekeeper, charlotte Anderson. I have not taken the course but I did hear Charlotte speak one time and it was a great presentation.
Step Three - Location, Location, Location
Bees can be picky about real estate locations! You will want to give some thought as to where you place your hive.
Bees like to face the rising sun. So east. The morning sun warms up the bees so they will leave the hive and gather pollen. Southern facing hives are also good.
Tips for hive location
Bees need sun and water just like plants
Near water such as a pond or gentle moving stream.
Bees don’t like marshlands or areas that may flood
Avoid the tops of hills that may be windy
Know What Flowering plants Are Near You
Before you set up your hives do a plant audit. These could be wild plants such as maple and locust trees, clover in yards, asters, or dandelions.
Your audit would also include your domestic garden plants such as fruit trees, summer squashes, cucumbers, and beans.
What plants do you have growing?
Do you have plants that flower at different times during the season - thus providing pollen from spring to fall?
Look around you. What plants do your neighbors have? Are you near a field or park with native grasses?
Lots of flowering plants are good for your bees.
Getting the smoker ready. Photo by Ame Vanorio
Step Four - Buying Equipment
Remember when I said beekeeping can get expensive? To get started you do need a number of supplies. You can start with the basics but you will need to purchase more supplies as you grow.
Clothing
At the minimum, you will need to buy a head covering or veil. Having angry bees swarming around your face is not fun.
Full body suits have come down in price and you can find less expensive ones for around $100.
Dressing in layers with long sleeves and pants that are tied at the cuffs (so bees can’t climb inside) and tucked into tall boots and gloves also offer some protection.
White or light colors are best.
Good sturdy gloves are a must.
You will need two essential tools for your hives.
Smoker: Smokers provide an area to burn dry materials such as pine needles or wood chips. The smoke helps to calm the bees. A small smoker is fine to start out with.
You can also purchase smoke You want to produce cool white smoke.
2. Hive tool: This is a crowbar-like device that is used as a lever to loosen the frames and boxes. It’s needed because the bees naturally glue everything together.
Some people also like Frame Grips which allow them to get a firm grasp on the frames when they are inspecting the hives.
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Purchasing The Hive
When I first started beekeeping, I didn’t realize there were so many styles of hives.
Langstroth
I started with the common Langstroth hive which is what I recommend for beginners. It is the classic hive made of boxes (supers) that stack on top of each other. Inside the boxes, you place the frames.
Expect to pay from $100 - $300 depending on the size (how many/what size boxes/type of wood)
Parts of a Langstroth Hive. Image from Maasai Honey, a nonprofit which donates hives and teaches rural women of Tanzania to be beekeepers.
Top Bar Hive
This horizontal hive is one of the oldest designs and is quite popular. It’s a great choice for beginners because there are no heavy boxes to lift and it is easy to inspect.
Top Bar Hive. Photo by Pierre Javaudin
Step Five Buying Bees
In America, we raise the European Honeybee, Apis mellifera, which is just one of over 20,000 known bee species.
As a new beekeeper, you will want to purchase bees. That way you know what you are getting and the process will be easier.
Your local bee group will be able to recommend persons in your area who sell bees. Or they may go in on a group order of a larger company.
Typically you place orders in the winter for spring delivery. Many companies sell out quickly!
A honey bee package contains an inseminated queen (she’s in her own container) and a screened cage of about 10,000 worker bees.
Breeds of Honeybee
Sometimes what breed of bee you get will depend on your area of the country and what’s available.
However, there are several popular breeds in the US
Italian - docile and good producers of honey, often recommended for beginners
Russian - hardy bees that can fight off varroa mites, a more advanced keeper
Buckfast - a hybrid developed in England to be resistant to mites and diseases
Carniolan - more cold tolerant, good for beginners
The Caste System
Honeybees have a social hierarchical system that benefits them as they work together.
Queen - the only bee mating and laying eggs. She only leaves the hive to mate or to swarm.
Worker bees - females that care for the young, forage, and make honey.
Drone - Males. Their job is to mate with the queen and if successful, they die.
Step Six Maintenance
Bees need checkups and regular maintenance to make sure they are healthy. You will want to periodically inspect your hives during the active season.
Is your queen alive and laying eggs?
Are the workers storing honey?
Do they have enough room?
Don’t inspect hives during the winter as you don’t want the heat to escape. The bees will be resting and eating their honey stores. During days that are above freezing, they will go fly around and eliminate waste.
Fun Fact: Bees don’t poop in their hives.
Step Seven Getting Honey
So you have your bees all settled in that new home. Now you want to know Where’s the honey?
Think of bees like perennials. You may get a harvest that second year but your bees need time to grow and make honey.
The average you can expect to harvest is about 50 pounds (4.2 gallons) of honey annually from a healthy hive in an area with abundant nectar.
It helps to go out with an experienced honey farm and participate in harvesting. This way you get an idea of how much honey you can take and how to deal with unhappy bees (they don’t willingly give up the goods!)
Examining the hive frames. Photo by Ame Vanorio
Is Your Honey Ready?
The bees send their honey through a process that involves ripening the nectar by removing moisture. When the honey is the right moisture content (about 18%) they cap it with bees wax.
How Much honey Should I Leave The Bees?
Remember the bees are making honey to feed themselves during cold weather. If you take too much honey they can starve. Thankfully your little worker bees will probably have honey to spare.
Extracting Honey
Make Lip Balm From Your Beeswax
I spend a lot of time outdoors even in cold windy winter. A good lip balm is a lifesaver for my comfort.
This recipe is quick and easy and makes one to two lip balms depending on the size of your containers.
Ingredients
2 Tbsp chopped beeswax
3 Tbsp olive oil
1 tsp raw honey
Materials
A one-quart stainless-steel or Pyrex baking container. It’s best to have a pot dedicated to your bee projects as they do get a tad messy.
A small wooden slotted spoon
Container to hold lip balm - A small glass jar ( I use baby food jars) or a tin made for cosmetics
Process
Place the beeswax and oil together in your baking pan
Put the pan in the oven on the lowest heat for an electric stove. If you have an older gas stove the pilot light works also.
You can also melt the beeswax with the oil over low heat in a double boiler
As soon as the wax has melted, remove the pot from the heat and add the honey. Stir them until they are combined.
Pour into your container and let set until firm.
Tips
You may have to work with it to get the consistency you want.
If the solidified balm feels too firm, remelt and stir in another tablespoon of olive oil.
For a firmer product, remelt and add a bit more beeswax.
Author, Ame Vanorio, is the director of Fox Run Environmental Education Center and thinks bees are the best!
Swiss chard is a beautiful plant to grow and cook. Both the stems and the leaves are delicious. Swiss Chard is a fast-growing crop. Baby leaves can be harvested at 30 days and 60 days for bunching.