Getting started in bee keeping is a rewarding and fulfilling experience while helping solve a serious environmental problem— the decline of these pollinators! From gathering information to the right supplies, the following steps will help you get started!
Step 1: Educate Yourself
The first step to becoming a successful beekeeper is learning all you can about it by educating yourself. There are a large number of blogs and online resources that help you get in touch with other beekeepers.
Step 2: Gather Equipment
You will need to purchase a hive and proper equipment for beekeeping. Bear in mind, you need to commit quite a bit of money to achieve this as supplies aren’t cheap!
Step 3: Order The Bees
It’s always advisable to order your bees in the winter as most places sell out quickly. Look online to find local distributors you can get in touch with.
Step 4: Establish Your Hive
After having properly educated yourself, make sure you find the perfect spot for your hive. It will need to stay there for a long time as moving it is not advisable and also difficult.
Step 5: Introduce The Queen First
It’s time to release your thousands of new friends! However, you need to ensure that the queen is alive and healthy as the hive won’t function without her.
Step 6: Place The Lid On The Hive
You can now safely enclose the hive with the top and hope for a positive outcome for all of your efforts. If you’ve done everything well as advised, your honeybees will produce plenty of delicious honey because they’ll thrive in their new environment.
Step 7: Leave Sugar Water
When it’s still fairly cold out and flowers aren’t in bloom, you will need to leave a sugar water solution out for your bees for feeding. Once you notice that the bees are leaving the sugar behind, stop feeding them!
Step 8: Check Progress
Check on your hive regularly about every week or two. If the queen is constantly laying new eggs, it’s a good sign she is content.
Getting started in bee keeping is all possible thanks to the wide availability of reliable sources online and offline! Bees are dying by the millions every year, and as such, we have to do what we can to replenish nature’s supply of these winged insects. With the right steps, you can, too, enjoy the process of keeping bees and reaping the benefits.