Permies Poll: Do you keep honey bees?

I currently do not keep bees. I have thought about it and live very close to a business that specializes in beekeeping and teaches classes frequently.

I think once I have my different gardens established, that will be the next project.


(Source)

I clicked yes because I have a hive. And it has fifteen frames, five of which already have cells started on them. It's open for habitation, I'm just waiting for a swarm to find it. And bees are starting to swarm, so...

j

Don't make the mistake I did when I first got this crazy idea in my head and bought a setup from the interwebs.

There are beekeeping clubs and groups everywhere. Near you. They meet. They do beekeeping stuff. They talk about beekeeping stuff. Some people have multiple hives spread out over considerable distances. One person could have dozens of hives. Hundreds of hives. And buckets and buckets of honey in reserve. And used equipment. And frames. And brood boxes. They have everything that you'll need to get started.

If you go to a few of their meetings and sound enthusiastic, and ask a hundred noob questions, they'll take pity on you and give you stuff. And sell you stuff really cheap. And come and check out your hive and show you how to do things.

They're really REALLY great people. With decades of experience.

One guy might sell you a suit and smoker for a few bucks. Another one will send you home with a brood box and five frames. Another may even give you a nuc.

Google it.

Meet beekeepers. Let them take you under their wings. Take it from there.


j

Timothy Norton wrote:I currently do not keep bees. I have thought about it and live very close to a business that specializes in beekeeping and teaches classes frequently.

I think once I have my different gardens established, that will be the next project.


(Source)

I have a couple of hives.   I check them 3 or 4 times a year. I really don’t consider myself a bee keeper.

I do. Am a newbee... and am doing it with the Layens system. No chemicals or sugar water involved. The best honey ever!

I have a thread I have been doing about it to share my experiences....
Long story short... I am expanding slowly and am setup to start selling honey this year. This method makes keeping bees The Easiest thing I have on the homestead.


https://permies.com/t/179108/Layens-hive-story

I'd love to keep bees (I love honey and it would be nice to have our own source of sweetness), but suspect I never will. A couple of reasons - my husband is very against the idea, he's very nervous about being stung. I used to be less nervous, but when I went to see someone's bees and see what it all might involve, I did get stung. I looked like a character from Star trek for a couple of weeks! I read you can get a more severe reaction the second time you are stung, and carrying an epi-pen for evermore did not appeal.
We're also not an ideal climate for honey bees, being so windy and wet. I decided to make do with our local bees for pollination. We have lots of happy bumble bees from March through to November, as well as tiny black native bees, and I hope to improve the variety of bee friendly plants we have anyhow. There are some rarer British bees that don't live far away, that maybe may move in if the habitat is right.

I  have bees but they died. I have tried to set up swarm boxes to get a wild hive but I am having no luck.

Sorry that happened to you. I guess it is quite common with all of the threats bees face these days. See my post a bit further up the thread. You can get a nuc from the established beekeepers in your area. If someone is splitting hives they may sell you one really cheap or just give it to you. Most beekeepers are keen on getting more people into the game and may go out of their way to help. But for now, I'm with you... waiting for a swarm to find my setup. The established frames in my brood box should help because it already smells like bees and will most likely attract a swarm. Fingers crossed.

If not, I already have a guy who is willing to gift me a nuc. Either way, I'll bee in buzzness soon.  ;)

j

T Blankinship wrote:I  have bees but they died. I have tried to set up swarm boxes to get a wild hive but I am having no luck.

Former bee haver here.
Self-taught, unfortunately.
Had a hive for years. Langstroth. Plenty of honey to use and give away. Nice flight path where they didn't bother anyone, even nearby neighbors.
Built a Kenyan-style top-bar hive. Bees never settled in. Caught swarms. Nope.
I like having them around but I'm afraid of them, and pretty much left them alone except for harvest.
They improved the yield of my fruit trees.
Bees left when I moved house.
New house I had some difficulty establishing them, though I usually had a hive for several years.
Flight path too close to my garden, didn't want to sit and weed too close.
Caught swarm but they died off.
Was gifted split.
Tried Warre hive. Not ideal. Don't know why the bees weren't happy.
Back to langstroth, but 8-frame mediums. OK with help from friends.
Next time they died I decided I had enough honey and was getting too old to lift boxes.
Was finally able to weed that part of the garden. Happy about that. Don't miss them - they come to visit from someone else's hives.
I keep hoping they will set up housekeeping in a hollow in a tree, but I think it's too low to the ground for their taste.
Nice companions for a long time, but I think gradually my fear overcame my enthusiasm.
Probably would have had better success with a mentor.

I do not have any hives and don't plan to in the near future.
I might change my mind. In the last couple of years of my BSc. I took several apiary courses so have handled bees. Friends also have hives and I don't have much reaction to stings and have found them very easy to deal with.
In our old place, the property was so small and close to neighbors that I didn't feel comfortable with a hive. I also had lots of honeybees visiting, so knew there were hives around. I mainly stuck to supporting the bumblebees and other native pollinators. ( honeybees do important work but they are not native)
Here at the new place, I again have seen lots of honeybees around so pollination seems to be covered. It's a farming area and I often see hive boxes in the field edges. I'm planning to stay with my general support plan of trying to get as many different nectar/pollen sources growing as I can so that there are food options for the whole season on our land.
It's going to take a few years before the trees/shrubs and perennials are all established so I have some time. I'll keep a close eye out for all bees and am ready to eventually set up hives if it looks like there isn't enough coverage here. ( or I really want the honey)

I started last year with 5 hives 1 package 1 swarm and 3 local nucs  I very much enjoyed working with them and watching them!
I was able to harvest some honey which was very exciting
mysteriously 4 of them died out in the fall before it even got cold and they still had plenty of food
not sure if it was mites or pesticide or some other reason
but the good news is 1 of them is still going strong and I am looking forward to another season

stephen zimmerman wrote:
mysteriously 4 of them died out in the fall before it even got cold and they still had plenty of food
not sure if it was mites or pesticide or some other reason
but the good news is 1 of them is still going strong and I am looking forward to another season

Most common reason is mites. Did you attempt any mite treatments?

I have a sad bee story.

I decided to become a bee sanctuary. I had seven rescued swarms that were thriving.  My beekeeper friend in Phoenix would rescue problem swarms, re-queen  them, quarantine them, and then bring them to my sanctuary.  Then a guy from the area that had a crush on me got jealous of my beekeeper friend. I left town for a week and this guy left a drunken ranting message on my phone, telling me how hated my bees. When I returned home, all of my bees were dead.  Poisoned.  I have no neighbors for about 40 miles, so no other suspects. But I had no way to prove it was him.  Even worse, because I did not discover the poison until I got home, he ended up killing not only my bees, but all of the local wild bees that came to grab the honey from my hives.  After two years of no bees in the area, I am finally seeing them come back.

I have one hive box that was donated by a friend who was as sad as I was over the tragedy.  I want to start again.  I will try this spring.  My property is now gated with cameras, so no more sneaking in on my bees!

If anyone else has bee boxes they are not using and would like to donate one to my non-profit.  I can give you a tax deductible receipt.