Everything You Need to Know About Beekeeping and Producing Your Own Honey

Beekeeping is a fascinating endeavor that may not have been on your radar initially, but it offers a world of possibilities. Whether you have a rooftop, a backyard, or ample acreage, the allure of keeping bees and harvesting your own honey is undeniable.

Some might assume that beekeeping is a straightforward hobby, given that bees can independently produce honey. However, the reality is that it’s a substantial responsibility. It took years of dedication for one enthusiast to learn the ins and outs of maintaining healthy and thriving bee colonies. Neglecting the care of hives can lead to weakness, infestations, and swarming, which poses risks to both nearby residents and your honey production.

When a bee colony is well-maintained—protected from predators, provided with adequate space for honey production, and ensured enough honey for the winter—it can thrive. A healthy colony performs essential tasks like pollinating vegetable gardens and producing anywhere from 50 to 250 pounds of honey annually.

Now, if you’re considering taking the leap and acquiring one or more bee colonies, you’re probably wondering what it takes to be a responsible beekeeper. What equipment will you need, how much should you budget, and how much time will you need to invest once your hives are up and running? If you’re ready to turn this aspiration into reality, let this be your starting point.

Join a Beekeeping Community

In the pursuit of beekeeping knowledge, enthusiasts often find value in joining a local beekeeping community. These gatherings serve as invaluable hubs of shared wisdom and experience. Prior to embarking on their beekeeping journeys, many individuals participate in such gatherings, immersing themselves in the world of beekeeping. At these meetings, attendees learn about hive growth and production, engage in hive inspections alongside experienced beekeepers, and access educational materials crucial for acquiring the necessary expertise. If you’ve heard claims suggesting that beekeeping requires minimal maintenance, it’s vital to approach such assertions with caution. Caring for a bee colony, including safely relocating a queen and her hive, protecting them from environmental threats, and skillfully harvesting honey, is a substantial responsibility. There’s no better way to prepare for these tasks than by engaging with a supportive beekeeping community.

Consider Your Environment

A critical factor in successful beekeeping is assessing your local environment. Honeybees typically travel up to three miles from their hive in search of nectar, pollen, and propolis—a resin collected from trees and flowers. Nectar is converted into honey, pollen serves as nourishment for the young bees, and propolis aids in hive maintenance. These resources are essential for a hive’s health and productivity. However, not all environments naturally provide an abundance of these resources.

For instance, in urban areas like New York City, where beekeeping has seen a resurgence, the availability of these resources varies widely. When determining whether your location is suitable for beekeeping, take a close look at your surroundings. Do you live near a park teeming with flowers, similar to New York’s Prospect, Central, or Fort Tryon parks? Are you observing abundant bee activity in these parks? If your urban environment lacks such floral diversity and you only see concrete and steel, you should reconsider your aspiration to keep bees.

While honeybees can travel for resources, extensive commutes can tire them out and lead to competition with other bee colonies. Subjecting bees to such strenuous foraging conditions isn’t conducive to their well-being. In densely populated urban areas with limited floral resources, beekeepers have observed a decrease in honey production.

On the other hand, if you’ve cultivated a rooftop garden with flowering plants or reside in a suburban or rural area with abundant flora, you’re on the right track to support a healthy hive. Additionally, providing access to a small water source, such as a birdbath or bee-friendly buckets, and having propolis-producing trees available for hive maintenance, along with a clear ten-foot flight path for bee ingress and egress, will further enhance your beekeeping prospects.

Be Equipped

Beekeeping may not require an extensive array of equipment, but it’s essential to have the right tools for the job. Simply purchasing a box of bees won’t suffice. To get started, you’ll need:

1. A Hive: The Langstroth Hive is the preferred choice for most beekeepers today. It resembles a wooden filing cabinet and contains frames that shape hexagonal wax cells. Bees utilize these frames to construct brood nests and store honey.
2. A Smoker: Bees need some gentle persuasion during hive inspections, frame removal for honey extraction, and when moving to new homes. A small smoker is commonly used for this purpose. It’s a small can with attached bellows that ignites newspaper, dried leaves, or twigs and emits a calming smoke into the hive.
3. Protective Gear: Ensuring minimal stinging is essential, so you’ll require a hat with a veil, a protective jacket, and long gloves. These suits offer both protection and flexibility.
4. Hive Tool: Similar to a crowbar, the hive tool is handy for delicately separating hive lids or frames sealed with propolis.

Starter kits containing these essential items can be found on websites like BetterBee and Bee Thinking. Additionally, your local beekeeping club members are likely to recommend specific brands and provide catalogues and preferred online sources for your equipment needs.

Pick Your Bee Family

Honeybees come in various breeds, each with its unique characteristics. Some produce more honey, while others exhibit greater resistance to diseases. For instance:

• Italian honeybees, like those favored by Marchese, are the most common in the United States. They are renowned for their robust bodies and prolific honey production.
• Carniolan honeybees, the second most popular choice, although slightly slower in production and prone to swarming, are known for their gentle disposition.

Other honeybee breeds, such as German Black honeybees, Caucasian honeybees, and Russian honeybees, are also readily available in the United States.

Bee farms typically offer complete colonies for around $125, comprising one queen and 18,000 to 20,000 drones and worker bees. This colony size resembles the average winter family when honey production slows down. Interestingly, bees are shipped by the United States Postal Service in three-pound packages that resemble small shoeboxes. Due to limited colony availability, it’s advisable to inquire with your bee club or a trusted farm about ordering in advance.

Year-Round Responsibilities

Beekeeping isn’t a “set it and forget it” endeavor. It’s a year-round commitment that involves regular care and attention to ensure the well-being of your hive and the quality of your honey harvest. Here are some of the ongoing responsibilities that beekeepers must undertake:

1. Regular Hive Inspections: Beekeepers must conduct weekly hive inspections to monitor the health and progress of the colony. During these inspections, they check for healthy egg production, assess for pest infestations, and watch out for signs of small burrowing animals.

2. Predators: Beehives can attract various predators, including:

• Bears: Bears are particularly fond of bee larvae and honey. They can be destructive, toppling hive boxes to access the frames. Beekeepers in bear-prone areas often employ measures like electric fences to protect their hives.
• Opossums and Skunks: Small mammals like opossums and skunks may attempt to scratch their way into hives, potentially depleting moisture from the colony. Elevating hives with top-opening designs and surrounding them with chicken wire on the ground can deter these creatures.
• Birds: Certain bird species such as martins, swallows, woodpeckers, and sparrows have a taste for bees. To prevent attracting them, beekeepers should avoid hanging bird feeders nearby if these birds are common in the area.
• Mice: During winter, mice may seek refuge in hives, damaging frames and leaving behind droppings. Beekeepers can use “mouse guards” to reduce the entrance space to 1/4 inch, preventing mice from entering.
• Other Bees: Honeybees typically protect their hive from foreign bees, but wasps and yellow jackets can pose threats. Strengthening the hive’s overall health is the best defense against these predators. Additionally, providing distractions like sugar water or meat traps elsewhere on your property can divert their attention.
• Beetles, Moths, Mites, and Fungus: These invasive pests can enter a hive unnoticed and cause significant harm. Strategies to combat these threats are diverse and should be learned from resources like beekeeping books or local beekeeping communities.

3. Space Management: Beekeepers need to ensure their hives have sufficient space, especially during honey-producing summer months. When bees run out of room, they may swarm to find more space. Beekeepers can add shallows to the hive, providing extra storage space for honey without allowing the queen to lay more eggs.

4. Winter Preparation: Beekeepers must prepare their hives for the winter months. After harvesting honey, they must ensure the bees have enough honey left for their winter sustenance. This can involve feeding bees with a 1:1 sugar water solution through various types of feeders.

5. Ventilation and Protection: As cold weather approaches, beekeepers must ensure proper hive ventilation to prevent moisture buildup and hive rot. They should also ensure that hive covers are secure to prevent rain and snow from entering. Some beekeepers tilt their hives to allow excess water to drain away or insulate them in extremely cold climates.

All these responsibilities are essential for maintaining a thriving and healthy hive throughout the year.

Harvesting Honey Already!

A single colony has the potential to yield up to 250 pounds of honey during a healthy season. However, before you can enjoy this sweet reward, you’ll need to extract it from the hive. Harvesting honey is an exciting but sticky process. The simplest method involves slicing the honeycombs off their frames, cutting them into bricks, and storing them in their entirety for easy consumption.

For those who wish to extract liquid honey from the comb, a few additional pieces of equipment are necessary:

• Heated Uncapping Knife: This tool is used to slice off the wax cappings from the honeycomb.
• Uncapping Tank: Frames are placed in this tank while they are being uncapped, and any excess honey that drips off is collected and stored.
• Extractor: The extractor is a device that can spin several uncapped frames simultaneously, effectively separating the liquid honey from the intact combs.
• Mesh Strainer: To ensure the honey is free of leftover wax or bee parts, a mesh strainer is used in the extraction process.

Once the honey has been extracted, it can be bottled for storage, selling, or gifting. An additional advantage of participating in a honey club, as pointed out by Marchese, is the opportunity to use shared equipment instead of purchasing your own. Harvesting an entire hive is a labor-intensive task that often involves multiple individuals working together, sharing equipment, and enjoying the chance to sample the honey produced by their neighbors’ bees.

And If You’re an Accidental Beekeeper?

Bees have a natural tendency to nest in dry places with ample space and access to various flowering plants. However, if you find that they have chosen a less-than-ideal location, such as a tree in your yard or the eave of your garage, it’s important to address the situation responsibly.

First and foremost, it is illegal to kill the bees. Instead, consider contacting an exterminator or a bee-removal company. Many exterminators will pass the bees on to established beekeepers, providing them with new colonies. The key is to avoid unnecessary harm to these important pollinators.

When it comes to removing honey from a natural hive, traditional honey extractors designed for framed hives won’t work for the free-form shape of a natural hive. In this case, Marchese offers a straightforward solution: “Eat the honey in the comb; there’s no need to invest in expensive equipment. Alternatively, you can hand crush the beeswax to separate the liquid honey, using an old-fashioned method.”

In the end, you’ll have a pure and natural product that, when extracted at the right time, is shelf-stable indefinitely. You can savor it straight from the comb without any concerns about contamination. Delicious!