Beekeeping For Fun And Profit

 My Dad collects stamps! My Brother collects World War II memorabilia! My Mom doesn't collect anything. Her hobby is Beekeeping.

There are millions of people around the world, however that are excited about their particularly sweet hobby – bee keeping!

Mom's hobby, however, has taken on the appearance of a full-time business which started out as a hobby which seemed to go with her hobby of gardening.

And it did not seem to involve much start-up money in the beginning. As she got more hives (and honey) she had to invest in a business-like way but she never spent more than se could recover from the sale of honey - we love honey, anyway.


Think deeply before you take on Beekeeping.

You are going to get stung no matter how careful you are and how much you think the bees love you. It would be madness to contemplate beekeeping if you are in anyway allergic to bee stings.

That applies to your partner, children and the grandkids too!

There will be some heavy lifting, too. You can handle most of it on your own but you will bless having a partner or friend who is willing to give you a hand.

Some study is required

A beehive is a living entity like a cat or a dog and just as there are tasks you must do for your domestic in season when the time is right, so too, with beehives

And beehives must be attended to come hail, rain or shine, whether you feel like it or not. If you have the flu, the bees don't know or care, and they certainly will not understand your going on holiday, so it would be best if you had an understudy.

Ask a friendly Beekeeper if you can work alongside of him for twelve months to learn some of the tasks you will be doing on your own. He will certainly be glad of the help.

When one of our Grandchildren was visiting we told her that the honey she had on her toast was our own.

"Do you keep a bee, Grandma?" she asked. I think we kept our amusement at this logical question hidden, but of course one bee on its own cannot produce honey. It needs a few mates to do that.

So, you'll need to have a working knowledge of drones, workers, and queen bees. The role of each is vital, one cannot survive without the others.

Learn what the frames are for, why you smoke some hives out and how to harvest honey and the comb produced.

Luckily, bee keeping equipment is not expensive. It isn't huge and unwieldy and can be maintained by the most petite person or her husband, but you must be diligent in your research to know what you absolutely must buy.

A bee smoker, a bee suit and veil and a hive tool are the minimum bee keeping requirements necessary to get the job done.

But be assured you will not run out of equipment and books to buy as you pursue your hobby and gradually go into business.

One thing is certain bee keeping is fun and never boring.

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