Anyone here keep bees?
Anyone here keep bees?
“If ye love wealth better than liberty, the tranquility of servitude better than the animating contest of freedom, go home from us in peace. We ask not your counsels or arms. Crouch down and lick the hands which feed you. May your chains set lightly upon you, and may posterity forget that ye were our countrymen.”
-Samuel Adams
Son is a NC State Certified Master Bee Keeper. He wont say how many hive he owns but ends up with couple hundred gallons of honey a year. He does wild flower honey and Sourwood honey.
I just started this year.... We shall see
Following for any tips from experienced keepers
I've looked into it before, and currently my youngest brother and I are considering it again. I have no valuable info to give you right now, but there are many on here that have hives.
County bee club has a bee school for beginners.
I joined sc/midlands club, took the intro class. Started with two nucs. I did it to make my own honey and help add pollinators for my garden. I didn't realize I'd like it as much as I do.
Just looking for other who are in it to swap info and best practices.
“If ye love wealth better than liberty, the tranquility of servitude better than the animating contest of freedom, go home from us in peace. We ask not your counsels or arms. Crouch down and lick the hands which feed you. May your chains set lightly upon you, and may posterity forget that ye were our countrymen.”
-Samuel Adams
Not experienced but can say that Beekeeping for Dummies is recommended by everyone. That's and this podcast really gave me a jumpstart. Getting hands on with local club is huge.
https://open.spotify.com/show/3FGveT...RUyz6dNRTpUr4g
Last edited by everlast; 04-24-2023 at 10:55 AM.
“If ye love wealth better than liberty, the tranquility of servitude better than the animating contest of freedom, go home from us in peace. We ask not your counsels or arms. Crouch down and lick the hands which feed you. May your chains set lightly upon you, and may posterity forget that ye were our countrymen.”
-Samuel Adams
Documentary one Netflix called "Pollinators" is pretty insightful as to why it's such an uphill battle.
“If ye love wealth better than liberty, the tranquility of servitude better than the animating contest of freedom, go home from us in peace. We ask not your counsels or arms. Crouch down and lick the hands which feed you. May your chains set lightly upon you, and may posterity forget that ye were our countrymen.”
-Samuel Adams
I am about to start one
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Fwiw, people say if you're going to do one, do two, if you're new. Gives a frames of reference and you can borrow resources if needed. I got two, one was missing a queen. Had I not had a pair I wouldn't have known so early on that something was off and was an able to address within a week. Would've lost a lot of valuable time.
“If ye love wealth better than liberty, the tranquility of servitude better than the animating contest of freedom, go home from us in peace. We ask not your counsels or arms. Crouch down and lick the hands which feed you. May your chains set lightly upon you, and may posterity forget that ye were our countrymen.”
-Samuel Adams
I have one hive now, never had more than two.
Best advice that I can offer is to treat the varroa mites with oxalic acid. It is easy to do and it is effective.
I had a swarm in my yard and called a beekeeper. He came and got them.
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My Dad has been beekeeping for 8+ years now. He loves it and has a good many hives now and is trying to get me into it.
I wish I could breathe life back in him, if I could I'd hunt him again tomorrow. - Ben Rodgers Lee
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I used to, got a fair amount of honey. Queen left and I called it a day. It’s an interesting hobby. Can’t say it was interesting enough to start over again.
I'm not bashing it at all, this really is a question of curiosity.
What is so interesting about bee keeping (not doing it for money)? Real honey isn't cheap, but it's not outrageously expensive either. I think we bought a jar for around $8 a while back, it lasts a long time around our house. On the surface it doesn't seem worth the effort strictly for honey. Is it a hands on hobby, or is it just set it and forget it?
I can relate to random hobbies, I have pigeons. They started as a tool to use for dog training, now I'm to the point I'd probably have pigeons even if I didn't have bird dogs. I enjoy watching them fly around the yard (reminds me of ducks working timber), they're interesting to drop off a mile + away and have them find their way back, and just peck around the drive way.
Last edited by huntinghagen#12; 04-24-2023 at 12:15 PM.
ive got a few hives.
If it aint got 8 toes & a green head,it aint a duck.
For me, it's a lot of things.
I'm not the type that can be unproductive. There are those that can go to the beach or lake, lay around, drink beer, or whatever. I have to be fishing, diving, surfing, or something engaging. Tending bees is another excuse to be outdoors while feeling like I'm accomplishing something.
I love learning new things. If I'm not learning or improving on something, I get bored and unsatisfied.
The ability to start with something and multiply excites me (pigs, rabbits, goats, chickens). Starting with a set amount, growing, splitting, growing, splitting is just cool to me.
Local honey has medicinal benefits. Treatment for allergies is one. Apitherapy (BST) has been used as treatments for various things including MS, Arthritis, Lyme disease ,etc.
Big farms hire beekeepers to travel across the country to pollinate their crops. What that means to me, on a smaller scale, having bees typically results in a much higher pollination rate and higher yield (from garden).
Hum of the hive = Zen
I also want to give my kids the opportunity for a modest income stream at a young age (even if it's actually costing me money) to teach them to work for what they want. My just turned 13-year-old has been the primary caretaker of all of our livestock since he was 11 and gets the proceeds when we sell eggs, piglets, rabbits, etc. This will be another avenue for that.
Its hands on for sure, but periodically. You can't be in hives too often, so depending on how many hives, there are stretches of weeks (maybe months in winter, not sure yet) where you won't do anything with them.
Last edited by everlast; 04-24-2023 at 01:06 PM.
“If ye love wealth better than liberty, the tranquility of servitude better than the animating contest of freedom, go home from us in peace. We ask not your counsels or arms. Crouch down and lick the hands which feed you. May your chains set lightly upon you, and may posterity forget that ye were our countrymen.”
-Samuel Adams
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