Anyone with Honey bees?

[crrakcrrak]

I have always wanted to keep bees, Don't know where to start.

 

[GoatPackr]

I have always wanted to keep bees, Don't know where to start.

Start with your local bee keeping club.

Get a good mentor and help them for the first year before spending money on your equipment.

Kris

 

[ZDR]

1 hive and as most have mentioned, it is more work than expected. But, it is a really good hobby for retirement and the honey makes good gifts for friends and neighbors. I lost my hive to mites last fall so starting early with the treatments this year…

 

[Jbxl20]

I have always wanted to keep bees, Don't know where to start.

YouTube, and Yes check around with local bee keepers. I just went all in and bought 2 complete hive setups. After talking with friends about my future hobby, I ended up meeting some other bee keepers and they gave me some stuff to help get started and let me know what tools they use and what works for them. Someone I know also gave me 2 complete hive setups minus the frames.

 

[GoatPackr]

I also recommend a minimum of 2 hives. If 1 starts to get in trouble you can useb the the healthy hive in a couple different ways to boost it. If you loose one over winter you can split the other in the spring and be back with 2 hives easily.

 

[WBrim]

I bought a hive and some gear for my wife for Mother’s Day. Bees are ordered (3 lbs) and she is very excited. It’s good to read some experiences from others. Thanks.

 

[sharkhunter]

I have 12 hives and have been up to 25. They can be a lot of work but it’s fun work. I did it for my agriculture exemption on my property.

 

[Boarmaster]

When I was a kid Dad bought a neighboring farm. In the woods of that farm there where bee Boxes Stacked 3 high And about 12 of those. Dad posted a note on them trying to determine who owned them. After a year no-one claimed them or serviced them. We didnt know anything about honey production but Dad ran into a an old guy who did. He came out and helped us harvest the cones as well as helped us process it. I dont remember how exactly but it involved panty hose and some pots and jars.

We processed the honey for a few years until a guy showed up an said that those were his hives. He said he had been very sick and had to move to his sisters out of state to recuperate but was ok and back. I remember Dad telling him he should put his name and info on his hives. I don't recall it being a heated exchange or anything but they couldnt arrive at an agreement so the beekeeper came and removed the hives.

 

[Rich M]

We plant plants for the bees. Red basil is the main draw in our yard, gotta push the bush as you walk by and they cloud out around us and back in. Neat sensation, the noise, the wings against you, and back to the flowers.

Saw bee suits at tractor supply the other day…

 

[Durran87]

I’ve run up to 130 for the past 20 years. It’s a lot of work but also very rewarding. Now I mostly just catch swarms. It’s a great way to meet landowners!

 

[stump06]

I started with 10 and want to get to 50 and just sell queens and nucs. I do some pollination now (lots of blueberries where we are). I put honey in my coffee every morning so that is a big benefit to having them. It is work but I enjoy it except when they want to act out. I have turned it into a pretty good little side business that helps me have a little extra money to spend on hunting!

 

[crrakcrrak]

I started with 10 and want to get to 50 and just sell queens and nucs. I do some pollination now (lots of blueberries where we are). I put honey in my coffee every morning so that is a big benefit to having them. It is work but I enjoy it except when they want to act out. I have turned it into a pretty good little side business that helps me have a little extra money to spend on hunting!

This right here is what i would like to do. Do you work all by yourself or you use help sometimes.

 

[stump06]

This right here is what i would like to do. Do you work all by yourself or you use help sometimes.

I work them myself. Depending on how much time you have I think you can work around 100 hives but that's a lot. I think 50 is a good number for me to have and if you sell nucs, queens, & pollinate you have enough to keep you busy. I would also go to your local FSA office an inquire about apiculture programs. I am in a program that pays for any colonies lost and has helped quite a bit when I lose colonies. Also you can insure them through a crop insurance company and possibly do well with that. Theres a lot of ways they can be profitable but it does take work and time!

 

[Stache Attack]

I have 12 hives and have been up to 25. They can be a lot of work but it’s fun work. I did it for my agriculture exemption on my property.

That’s very smart! Same as the fellow below you. I have farmers with hives I help brand and we get free honey. It’s nice of them watching the apiary move hives seems like a task and I don’t know if they would survive 3-4 zone well. I think there’s a reason big apiaries here (besides money sends them to cali to pollinate). Known a lot of farmers with personal hives that have suffered a lot of loss, sad to see.

 

[GSPHUNTER]

My friend has been doing it for about three years. He enjoys it and gets far more honey than he could ever possible use, as much as 70 pounds at a time. He has given me several jars, which I seldom touch, I just don't have that much use for it. I use it in my coffee instead of sugar or artificial sweetener. About the only other time I use it is when I make smoked tuna or homemade jerky, and very little even then. Seems like a lot of work.

 

[Elk97]

This right here is what i would like to do. Do you work all by yourself or you use help sometimes.

I had about 1300 hives and usually had one employee to help work the bees. Had an extracting crew of 2-3 in the fall. Moved each hive about 10-12 times per year, pollinate almonds in CA then pollinate fruit in WA, honey production during summer in WA. It was intense during WA pollination, 18 hour days were the norm.

 

[gonhunting247]

I run between 100-200 hives as a side job. When I get close to 200 I try and sell about half of them after pollinating in CA, then sell starts/nucs from the excess splits after pollinating locally in the pears/apples/cherries.
If things work right in about 2 years I sell half again and work my way back up towards 200.
100 is a nice number to handle by myself, with 200 hundred pushing my limits without getting behind!
Fell behind one year and let the mite count get too high and lost about half by winters end. That is not very productive, so I stick to my 200-220 max then sell at least half of what I come through winter and CA with.
I'm lucky to have a brother who is a full time beekeeper running over 3000 hives, so I can pay him for transport and set in CA while I stay home and work my first job

 

[crrakcrrak]

We like pictures, lets see what you are working with and how you get your honey.

 

[Elk97]

This is the only pic I have on the puter. About 1980? Harvesting honey in the Okanogan valley WA. I built that forklift out of an old 1966 Dodge pick up I had. I'm on the left and that's my brother in the white. We used a gas engine blower to blow the bees out of the supers, that's why there are so many flying.

 

[WBrim]

Got our first hive set up today, and the wife is so excited. Pretty cool getting all the bees set in there. I have a lot to figure to make sure I’m doing it right, but it’s really cool this far.