How To Beegin Beekeeping

Can I keep bees by myself?

You can keep bees by yourself or do it with your best friend.  
You probably want to know if the bees will want to be kept by you... 
You can keep bees almost anywhere that people can live.  
They won't always make a gazillion pounds of honey every year - 
that varies with climates and seasons.  But most of us keep the 
critters for the fun of it!

What if the Federal Marshall finds out about my passion?

Beekeeping is usually legal.  Like almost everything we do, there is 
always some measure of risk and liability which can be mitigated 
by judicious common sense.   

Some communities have banned beekeeping but this usually 
turns out to be a pretty dumb idea.  Vicious, angry, hostile, 
aggressive stinging insects such as wasps, hornets, and 
feral bees soon move in when nice, pleasant-mannered honey 
bees have been evicted (nature abhors a vacuum). 
 
An acquaintance has kept bees on Manhattan Island for years.  
The beehives sit on his balcony.  Other people keep bees in
Vancouver, British Columbia,  and Hootan Holler, Pennsylvania. 
Just be responsible about it!  

You might try to fight city hall, but in the meanwhile, set up a hive 
of bees on Uncle Willie's acreage.  His garden will love the 
pollination, Uncle Wille will love the free honey you'll give him,
and he might even enjoy your occasional visits.  Unless, of course, 
he doesn't like you.   

One more thing.... In most states and provinces, you need to 
register as a beekeeper.  This is really a pretty neat thing - they 
send you a number and an inspector comes by every now and then 
and gives you free advice (it's usually worth the cost!), so do 
follow the laws... they are always in place to help you!!

So, is there lots of money in the honey business?

Yes, there is lots of money in the honey business.  Unfortunately, you 
will probably discover that most of the money travels OUT of your
pocket.  Do beekeeping for the fun of it, you won't likely get rich at it, 
although a very small number of people have become millionaires 
by producing honey! 

If you are wondering about how much cash you'll need to get 
started, that depends... 

One hive of bees with supers (boxes) to hold comb honey and equipment 
        to take care of the bees (veil, gloves, smoker, feeding equipment) 
        will probably set you back three hundred dollars.   
Ten hives with an extractor to separate combs from honey and 
        all the other stuff required will be about three thousand bucks.   
Three thousand hives with big trucks, fork lifts and a couple of 
        twelve thousand square foot warehouses will run you at least 
        half a million dollars.  

Where can I spend some of these millions of dollars?

There are several "bee supply" places with excellent reputations.
I won't list them all here because I don't know all of them.  But for
starters, any of these companies will mail a catalog to you:


Alberta Honey Producers Co-op, Box 3909, Spruce Grove, Alberta, T7X 3B1

Dadant and Sons,   51 S. 2nd Street, Hamilton, IL 62341

A.I. Root Company  623 W. Liberty St., Medina, OH 44256

Mann Lake Bee Supplies,   1-800-880-7694 (in Minnesota)

Western Bee Supply,   P.O. Box 171, Polson, MT 59860

Walter T. Kelley Company,  P.O. Box 240, Clarkson, KY 42726

How could I ever be as bright and knowledgeable as you?

Being bright is a gift from God.
 
But you CAN be knowledgeable:
  1)  Read the Web Pages (I especially recommend the U of
          Florida's WWW site-  Go to the EXCELLENT APIS Web Site);  
  2)  You'll learn a lot from the bee journals (try American Bee Journal 
          from Dadant and Sons, use the address above AND/OR 
          subscribe to Bee Culture, from A.I. Root and Company, 
          also listed above);  
  3)  Buy a good book... Root's ABC and  XYZ in Bee Culture  and 
          Dadant's The Hive and the Honey Bee are excellent,  but so is 
          James Mitchner's The Source though it has nothing to do with bees;
  4) Bother a good local beekeeper.  You have a lot to learn from
          people in your neighbourhood who have bees... bees do different
          things in different climates and at different times of the year....
          A good beekeeper can tell you when to feed the bees, when to
          put honey boxes on, and how to get the bees ready for winter. 
          If you can't find a good beekeeper, listen to a bad one and 
          do the opposite. 

 Other great references for Beeginning Beekeepers include:
       University of Georgia's  How to Get Started in Beekeeping is probably the best,
       Penn State offers great beekeeping info from Mid-Atlantic USA;
       The University of North Carolina site, Insect Notes, includes 
                lots of practical help on pollination, honey plants, diseases;
       Go Beekeeping's beginner's page is great;
       The most popular beekeeping page on the net is our own, Beekeeping Web Links
                where you will find links to hundreds of other beekeeping sites;
       Finally, Tucson Bee Research Lab offers the excellent GEARS with lots 
                of basic information for hobby and professional beekeepers.