honey bees

[pg55]

I got this bright idea of taking the plunge into honey bees. I have been doing research on the internet and now I will be going to meetings to meet people that are into bee keeping. I won't start in 2014 but plan on a couple of hives in 2015. This will give me a lot of time to do some actual bee work, build my hives and gather any tools/gear that I need. The wife likes the idea of fresh honey and I like the idea of making mead. Any wine makers here into bees?

 

[Deezil]

There's a small handful of us..

Like you, I dont have hives yet but I've been reading on it for about 6-8 months now and plan to get some this spring, if all goes right.

Hopefully some of the others will chime in as well; it's a pretty interesting hobby, thats for sure.. Lots to learn, like winemaking..

 

[WVMountaineerJack]

Its not so hard you have to put it off, if you are joining a beekeepers group someone in there should have some nucs for sale, thats a very easy way to get started and learn while you are doing. Then next year you can get really serious and start expanding. Making a mead with your own honey of course tastes much better. WVMJ

I got this bright idea of taking the plunge into honey bees. I have been doing research on the internet and now I will be going to meetings to meet people that are into bee keeping. I won't start in 2014 but plan on a couple of hives in 2015. This will give me a lot of time to do some actual bee work, build my hives and gather any tools/gear that I need. The wife likes the idea of fresh honey and I like the idea of making mead. Any wine makers here into bees?

 

[Norske]

We keep 4-6 hives of bees mainly for pollinating our berries. We do not make mead with it because we sell every drop retail at $20/pound.
You are starting off right. Also check with your coop-extension service. Sometimes they put on beginner bee keeping classes. One suggestion is to always keep an epipen handy. You never know if you or someone else may be, or become allergic to bee stings. Your doctor can give you a script for one.

 

[J-Gee]

I've been to a couple meetings and was going to start in February,but I think current circumstances are going to prevent that.I've read up on it for years.

 

[Snafflebit]

$20 a pound. That seems like a lot of money but is it, after labor and equipment?

Can one set out the hives and hope that bees show up? There are a lot of wild bees in Missouri.

 

[Deezil]

I'd heard a lot about wineries and vineyards - they all say 'To make a small fortune, start with a large one"... And I never thought I'd come along something that I'd hear that more-frequently..

I was wrong, when I joined a bee forum.
They say it more than we do.

Then there's the 'Beekeeper Back'...

(they all have bad backs after years of picking up hive bodies that weigh 60-90lbs)


Soooooo.... Don't do it for the money

 

[Wiz]

Before we retired to Costa Rica in 2003, I was a beekeeper with about 50 hives. I wasn't bigger because I had a business that I was in full time and physically could not handle any more. I did pollination for farmers, produced honey and beeswax products and both retailed and wholesaled. We spent Fall, early winter and Spring doing craft fairs. It is very labor and equipment intense. After about 8 years of doing this we were able to retire 2 years before reaching retirement age of 62 and moving to Costa Rica.

 

[pg55]

I will be retiring in a couple of weeks so this is something I always wanted to do with the bees. According to state law I can have 6 hives but 2 hives should give me way more for personal use. If later I feel like I can break even with sales than I would get more hives but I think 2 would be good enough. I plan on making my own boxes now that I will have the time. I would like to go with medium boxes, 8 frames.

 

[Wiz]

pg55, I experimented with hives smaller than the norm. Not knowing where you are from tends me to ask. if you are from the colder regions you should use full 10 frame boxes as this will allow a larger honey buildup so the bees may survive through the winter. Also, the 10 frame honey supers will simply give you a heavier honey crop.

I've read the pros and cons, tried them and this is my recommendation.

 

[WVMountaineerJack]

If you are going to build your own and dont want a lot of honey it might be easier and more fun to build some top bar hives, much easier to build and not so much lifting. Just make the top bars standard length so you can get frames from others if you need them and while you are making your 2 big hives make a couple nucs, these can be used to replace a lost or failing queens, the nucs are sort of like insurance if something happens to your big hive you can instantly fix it. WVMJ

I will be retiring in a couple of weeks so this is something I always wanted to do with the bees. According to state law I can have 6 hives but 2 hives should give me way more for personal use. If later I feel like I can break even with sales than I would get more hives but I think 2 would be good enough. I plan on making my own boxes now that I will have the time. I would like to go with medium boxes, 8 frames.