What things should be kept in mind during bee keeping ?
Answers
10 THINGS TO KNOW BEFORE YOU START BEEKEEPING
1 – WHY DO YOU WANT TO RAISE BEES
There are many reasons to raise bees. Like me maybe you want to have pollinators for your garden. Maybe you want to produce your own honey. Maybe you are interested in helping preserve the healthy bee population. Or maybe you want to make some money. Whatever your reason, think about why you are doing it, and make sure you know how to accomplish your goals. You may approach bee keeping in a different way, depending on your end goal.
2 – LEGAL
One of the important things the class will teach you is the law regarding your bees. It would not be a good thing to spend a lot of time and money on bee keeping, just to discover you can’t keep bees in your area or by the method you had planned on. Also, you need to know about liability issues.
So you want to start beekeeping. Here are 10 things to know before you begin. Like how much time it will take and how much your new apiary will cost. Before you get your first bee hive, check out this list. #10 is really something to think about.
3 – WHAT DOES IT COST
If you are not prepared to plunk down $300 to $500 I would forget about raising bees right now. This is not a ‘put out a box and they will come’ proposition. There is a lot of equipment to acquire if you wish to get off on the right foot. Getting the right equipment in the first place, will save you time and money and a lot of aggravation in the long run.
4 – WHERE ARE YOU GOING TO PUT THEM
As I mentioned above, I had picked out a spot already before I took the class. On the first day I learned that, for the health of my bees, and for legal reasons, the place I picked out would not be satisfactory at all. The class taught me how to correctly place my hive. It will save me from a lot of work fighting off pests.
5 – HOW MUCH TIME WILL THEY TAKE
Another misconception of mine. I figured bees would need a few hours a couple of times a year. Nope! You need to plan on checking them about once a week. And they will take about 1 hour of your time per hive. Do realize, that all of that time is not spent in the hive. It takes considerable time to suit up, start the smoker, clean things, fix things, keep records etc. That’s before you get to the honey extraction.
So you want to start raising bees. Here are 10 things to know before you begin. Like how much time it will take and how much your new apiary will cost. Before you get your first bee hive, check out this list. #10 is really something to think about.
6 – FAMILY SUPPORT
Make sure that everyone in your household is on board. This is an endeavor that you will need some help with from time to time. Some people have a visceral hatred to bees. And people do get stung once in a while. You don’t want animosity toward you because you brought ‘those horrible creatures’ into their yard.
7 – NEIGHBORHOOD SUPPORT
Once again, that visceral reaction I mentioned. It extends to the neighbors. Find out if you have any that are (actually) allergic or have that intense hatred towards bees. If they do, it will be aimed at you and you don’t want bees to come between you and your peaceful neighborhood. You don’t want a re-run of the Hatfields and McCoys.
8 – WHICH EQUIPMENT IS BEST FOR YOU?
By taking the class, I was able to see the equipment up close. I discovered the “normal” bee boxes are very large and will be heavy when full. I decided that a smaller version would be better for my needs. The class gave me a chance to see the equipment experienced beekeepers use, and why they like it better than other choices. What a young man might use, an older woman might not find satisfactory.
So you want to start beekeeping. Here are 10 things to know before you begin. Like how much time it will take and how much your new apiary will cost. Before you get your first bee hive, check out this list. #10 is really something to think about.
9 – LOCAL PEST MANAGEMENT
This is a very important part of taking a class and joining a local bee organization. Each locality has it’s unique pest problems. If I read a book or an article on pinterest from someone in Minnesota, it may not apply to the problems, and ways of combating them, in Florida where I live. Being able to bounce ideas off others in your area is a great advantage. You can also find out about new things that pop up and get ahead of things that might become a real problem before you even heard about it.
10 – WHAT TO DO WITH ALL THAT HONEY!
Believe it or not, one of the problems of raising bees is the honey. Extracting it is a large chore. And then what? You can make quite a lot of honey from just one hive. You probably can’t eat it all yourself. Are you going to give it away? Sell it? Make things out of it? That is something to think about before you begin as it may change the way you keep your bees and the equipment you use. Believe it or not, this is a major reason people stop raising bees. They find they are swimming in honey and can’t give it all away.
Things to be kept in mind during bee keeping are -
Bee keeping refers to rearing of bees, usually belonging to Apis mellifera.
During bee keeping, one must make sure-
- To know optimal weather conditions required.
- Requirement of pest control.
- Procedure for harvesting honey, without irritating bees.
- Diet requirements of species one is dealing with.
- Preferred equipments required for bee keeping.