Is Beekeeping The Right Choice For You?
Beekeeping is a popular hobby practiced all over. People in rural areas and in the city can keep bees, and it can be either a hobby with a little return (in the form of wax and honey) for the family, or it can be a profitable business. However, not everyone should keep bees. While it’s a fun and rewarding hobby for many, it’s not right for everyone. Let’s take a look at what goes into beekeeping to see if bees are the right choice for you! For the right person, this is a great opportunity to enjoy some real, homemade honey, and possibly even earn a little bit of money.
You’re going to need an acceptably sized space to keep your bees (a large back yard is a minimum for all but the most resourceful beekeepers), and food in the immediate area (a two mile radius) to help them survive and produce honey. You’ll need time to invest in keeping the hives in good shape and money to invest in hives and basic supplies for your beekeeping operation. You’re also going to need to be the kind of person who doesn’t mind being around bees! Make sure no one in your area or household is allergic to bees before you start your beekeeping operation, and remember that you might need to do a little bit of outreach to your neighbors. Many people don’t know the difference between a bee and a wasp, and might mistake your beekeeping operation for a hazard. Try explaining what it’ll do for their rosebushes and that bees sting infrequently, and things will be much easier.
If you know that you’re the kind of person for whom beekeeping will be fun and enjoyable, you can start looking at what you’ll need to do it. There are plenty of places online where you can order the equipment you’ll need, but don’t jump right in before you know what you’re going to need. Decide how many bees you want to keep (if you’re planning this as a business, you’ll need more than if you just want a couple of hives in the back yard) and what you’re going to do with their produce.
Honey and wax can be useful at home, or they can be sold off to local buyers for a profit, as long as you know what you’re doing and how to market them correctly. Just make sure that if you don’t feel ready for a business venture, you don’t rush into it. Poor planning has been the death of many great businesses, before they ever got off the ground. Remember, you can always stick to beekeeping as a hobby and enjoy some delicious honey while you decide how to turn your beekeeping into a money maker.
Basic beekeeping equipment will require hives, a smoker, a hive tool and a bee suit with veil. Don’t buy used hives, especially if you don’t know where they came from. Bee mites and other invasive pests have become a really problem, and can come along with a set of disused hives. Remember – you don’t know why a used hive is empty, and the things that come with it could seriously threaten your beekeeping. Mites, foulbrood, beetles and waxworms, diseases and all kinds of other issues can kill a hive, and they might still be there.
Once you’ve set up your hives, you’ll need to get some bees. For beekeeping purposes, they can be purchased by the pound, and will come with a caged queen. Place her in the hive before you shake the other bees in and they’ll eat the plug to release her into the colony. You’ll want to wait two weeks before disturbing your bees again, but then you should check to make sure the queen is laying and honey is being stored.
When it comes to using beekeeping as a business, make sure that you’ve got a business plan before you begin. Then, stick to that plan. It’ll keep you on track and help you make money, not lose it. You’ll know when to market and when to expand your operation if you take the time to put together a business plan. Remember that you’ll have to establish a market and produce an attractive product if you’re going to sell. A beekeeping business can be a really rewarding one if you know what you’re doing, however. Keeping bees is a profitable business, a fun hobby, and a public service, too. If you’re interested in finding out more, do a little beekeeping research, then enjoy your bees!
- Kevin Braun
Beekeeping Part 11, apiary, honey, homesteading, self reliance, bees
Part 11 of our Beekeeping series focuses on getting your colonies ready for winter. www.homesteadingandsurvival.com www.survivalreport.net
- SurvivalReport
Beekeeping, Honey Bees open feeding vs beehive top sugar syrup feed bottles.Corn feeders
Open feeding honey bees,pro and con. Beehive top feed bottles by Beekeeper John Pluta, Milledgeville Georgia. Beekeeping fall bee feeding ideas and variations. CLICK FOR OTHER IDEAS AT georgiabees.blogspot.com Sugar syrup honey bee hives top feeding inside and outside. Beekeeping ideas on fall buildup to prevent honeybees starving over winter.Use sugar or high fructose corn syrup for beekeepers honey bee hives over wintering.
- johnpluta
Making a wooden frame for a Bee hive – Beekeeping Tutorial
A detailed beekeeping tutorial on how to construct a wooden commercial frame with wax foundation for use in a honey bee hive by beekeepers. Also, how to use a plastic frame. From www.cornwallhoney.co.uk
- cornwallhoney
Beekeeping For Business and Hobby
Beekeeping is an exciting home business that almost anyone can get into.
It is fairly inexpensive to get started and all you need is just a few pieces of equipment.
Beekeeping is a suitable hobby for all ages however on some occassions heavy lifting of hives or other equipment may be required.
In addition to the joy of maintaining the hives, there is also the added bonus of beeswax and delicious honey.
Beekeeping is also very important to the environment. Bees are responsible for pollinating a large number of our crops.
As world bee populations decline, it has become more important that ever for humans to take an active role in maintaining bee populations.
If you are considering becoming a beekeeper, there are some basic things that you will need to learn.
You will have to learn exactly how to choose the location of your beekeeping operation.
Almost any place is a suitable place to keep bees as long as you have any adequate amount of space so that strangers do not run the risk of getting stung.
Also you need to make sure that you select quality equipment.
You should never use used equipment to begin a new beekeeping operation as the equipment may be contaminated with viruses and other toxins that could ruin your chances of success from the start.
If you are interested in learning more information on how to get started with beekeping visit http://www.thebeekeeper.info.
- Aaron Foreman
Beekeeping Pollination
Sweet as can Bee Honey Farm takes you on the road to their bee yards.
- sweetascanbeehoney