Any beekeepers here? What can you tell me about beekeeping as a hobby?
CH here. We have about 10 colonies, each of which lives in one of pic related (which we have a own little hut for on the farm, immensely useful, can keep tools and stuff in it). I guess it's kinda fun to do as a hobby, but you need to know what you're doing (= visit some courses and read a book), and there are a few points around the year when you have to actually do things (treatment against varoa etc.).
The by far best part is actually getting your own honey. Commercial honey is like dog poop, I've no idea what the hell they're doing wrong.
My dad's a large scale bee keeper. Last time I checked, he was running about 100 hives. He does not do it as a hobby, but as a career. Honey sells really well, but he makes more from the hives and frames he makes. I help him sometimes. It's a lot of work if you are going to do it right, so much can wrong from the weather, to pest, and more importantly, neighbors. Most people are afraid of bees and put out traps and poison to get rid of them.
>>2112259
If you are going to start bee keeping, make sure you do it in a location away from people who aren't understanding. Ask more specific questions and I'll answer if i can. As for bad tasting store bought honey, it's because they mix it with syrup to stretch out they honey. Even if it says 100% real honey, they are still legally allowed to mix so much syrup in it.
>>2112259
How much money do you make from beekeeping?
I'm currently running an organization that's losing its most vital fundraiser next year, and we need a way to continue fundraising.
We're a biology based organization, so I thought beekeeping would be a decent shop. What are the dangers, pros, and cons?
We already keep a greenhouse too, for an annual plant sale.
There's a pretty good beekeeping thread on /diy/:
>>>/diy/982340
>>2112273
Sorry for delay. I dont do much with the sales side of the business. I know there are a lot of ways to make money from a full scale bee farm. A few examples:
We sale queen's for $50
A fully functioning hive for around $300
mite killer and nutrient packs for about $30
Honey last time I checked is 6 dollars a quart, but I think its went up.
The pro's is honey is always in demand, and if you learn to make your own hives, frames, and other misc items, you really cant loose. Oh, we also get calls to remove bees from homes and trees when they swarm, which is like free money.
The cons are that honey bees are susceptible to a lot of things that kill them. There are mites that can kill of an entire colony. Extreme heat and cold can not only kill of the bees, but also the plants they polonate with. Also as I said, people will put out traps and poisons that the bees can get into. The only real danger is if you are allergic to their stings. Fun fact, the more you get stung, the more tolerance you build up. My dad used to get stung once, and be put in the hospital (yeah, allergic to bee's and still a bee keeper, smart I know) but know he can be stung a dozen times and be ok.
>>2112712
Now im feeling all Nostalgic.
Most people use bee suits when working. For what ever reason, my father refused to use one. Naturally, I wasn't allowed to use one either. Over time, you get used to not wearing one and you and the bees ignore each other.
One of my favorite memories was moving a swarm from a tree to a hive. The swarm was high up in a tree, and the plan was for my dad to climb up the tree and shake them down to the ground, where I waited with the container to put them in. Well he shakes them loose and thousands of bees come falling down on top of me. They were every where. It was scary, but it was great. I shook off as many as I could into the bucket, but we had to look for the queen to make sure we had her. Eventually he got her boxed up, and the rest of the hive followed.
The number of bee keepers in our area is declining, so almost all supplies come through us. Sometimes we go to the mountains and pick up bees to sell. We usually pay $100 per batch, and resell them for $150. Of all the things we do, my favorite part is cleaning frames. Its boring. Its dirty. Its relaxing. The smell of the old wax and honey just mellows me out.
>>2112718
This is the life I want ;-;
Someday I'll make bee money.
>>2112718
>The swarm was high up in a tree, and the plan was for my dad to climb up the tree and shake them down to the ground, where I waited with the container to put them in.
we do it like that as well, and I find that so retarded. wouldn't it be better to take a long stick (roof lath or so), screw/nail a bag or box at the end, hold it under the swarm and give the branch a good whack with a hook or a second long stick?
>>2112155
I'm a professorial bee keeper, op.
As someone with years of experience i can tell you that you need to be prepared to say "ouch" hundreds of times a day. Sometimes more.
>>2112919
Actually they do make buckets on long poles and we had one at them time, but the swarm was to high up, and it would have been hard to balance in tree and hold the bucket stick ( dont know the proper name for the tool haha)
>>2112923
Not being a dick, but if you know what you are doing, there is no reason to get stung at all, let alone "Hundreds of times a day." We open hives and remove frames all the time without getting stung. The only real time you get stung is when you accidentally squash one, and you cant really blame them for stinging you for that. Throw on a proper bee suit and you wont get stung at all if your worried about it.
>>2113016
This. It really depends on the colony you're working with but if you know them you can usually predict when you're going to get stung by their activity, and just wear a suit if you think it's coming. Some hives you can hit with a baseball bat and not aggrevate them but others I wouldn't shuffle frames around without a suit. Africanization is everywhere and wild bees I catch can be quick to get mean, but ones I've purchased from breeders are hard to get stung by.
>>2112712
Thanks for the reply, anon
How easy is it to start and handle a hive without any training? Our organization members would have no experience with these sorts of things.
>>2112509
Good thread, thanks.
>>2113046
It's not something you want to start without any knowledge. Read all you can, and if possible, go visit a bee keeper. You'll need a lot to get started. Besides the bees and hives, you need the tools to change out the wax in the frames, a way to extract the honey, a smoker, suits, stuff to treat for mites, etc etc. Most places sell kits though. Once the colony is established in an area, they pretty well are self sustaining.
I'm currently an apprentice in beekeeping, and so far I'm really enjoying it. Bees are so cool.
>>2113652
How long does it usually take to start up a colony?
>>2114274
If you go buy a hive already colonized, they're good to go from the start. If you buy the hive and bees separately, we usually keep them secured in the hive for about a day so that they can get the Queen hidden, and learn that " this is my home, I must protect it. " Then they have to learn where the best plants are, and then come back and tell the rest of the colony. Not too long really, a few days and everything should be up and running
>>2112155
I kinda wish I was staying in North Australia because we have sting less bees. It would be amazing to grow some colonies and try and get the native numbers back up a bit, but moving down south soon and they don't do well in the cold.
>>2114765
Hey, do the stingless bees produce honey? We have some here, but they don't.
>>2114855
they do but it's only in minute amounts and as such is fucking expensive.
some people will espouse the benefits of stingless bee honey over regular stuff, but i'm no expert.
>>2115017
I feel like there should be some effort to produce sting less bees that make more honey through selective breeding. If nothing else, it would be fantastic for people living in suburbs that want to have a colony.
I don't know anything about bees except that I fucking love them and they're dying. How can non-beekeepers help bees? Especially those big fluffy bumble fellas.
>>2115047
>they're dying
if you go to the library and check out a copy of "Silent Spring" you'll see that environmentalists have been predicting mass bee death since the 1940's.
of course bee populations have steadily grown since the 1940's and continue to.
it's just a meme. Bees are certainly dying, but they're also being bred faster than they die.
I'd like to have a beehive, but apparently the people in my town are retarded
http://www.mailtribune.com/article/20160405/NEWS/160409789
What's the income of an average bee manager?
Just enjoy the botulism matey. That is all.
>>2115094
It depends on how many times you get honey in an year and more importantly on the weather
I'm learning this hobby from my grandpa here in North Italy, we have around 40 families
At least here, you never know the income of the season, you can take a guess using the weather
I wish I knew more English terms of the field to write more, but other anons will do I hope
>was talking with my sister yesterday
>she's a hippie liberal
>topic got on bees
>She goes off on a tangent
>"We need to stop profiting off of the bees, and give them a chance to repopulate!"
>mfw
If people weren't able to make some kind of profit off of bees, would we put as much effort into their conservation?
>>2115144
Why are all hippies liberals and all liberals retards?
>>2115058
Okay, even if they're not dying, I don't care. I haven't seen a bee on my property for three years. How do I get bees?
>>2115144
but she's right tho.
The flowering plants and bees system is a very important part of the biocycle we live off of, and we are exhausting it
>>2115137
Well, what did you make last year? I'm just wondering how it's sustainable to be a professional beekeeper, because I can't imagine you'd make much more than $30k unless it's on a really industrial scale, but I don't know anything about it really.
>>2115268
But she's wrong.
Feral honey bee colonies don't survive for very long due to pests and disease. Managed colonies actually increases the local population through swarming.
Good beekeepers are good for the environment. I couldn't sing high enough praise to the BBKA and to my mentors. Whom heavily encourage full IPM and don't just throw chemicals and drugs around like the hives are full of Vietcong.
>>2115288
And that's not even mentioning Brother Adam, who did a huge amount of work, helping the British Honey Bee populations to survive the onslaught of Isle of Wight disease.
>>2115290
Brother HDR
>>2115047
Get some mason or leafcutter bees. They are really good for pollination, cheap as chips and can scale to whatever kind of garden you have.
For a garden get a bee hotel. Or build one, they're easy. Lots of species of solo need.
>>2115268
You are an idiot.
>>2115105
>going out
>ever
Just enoy getting hit by a car, a stray bullet or a meteorite, that's all.
I'd love to keep bees, but it seems a nightmare to get started. What sort of expenditure are we looking at? Equipment, hives, actual bees etc.
>>2117416
Couple hundred dollars for the boxes, frames, smoker, suit, etc. The going price for the bees themselves seems to be around 125 for a queen with three pounds of workers.
The general consensus seems to be that bees are dying and that we have to save them to help the environment, but arent most massive bee losses taking place in large scale commercial pollination operations, and aren't human agricultural products the only thing that would suffer from their absence? Honey bees arent even native to north america right?
>>2117567
Begin with a good reference book, two colonies in a wind protected area away from children and cattle. It is one of the most fascinating things a person can do. Apis M is known as the Italian bee and it is mild tempered on the comb if you pick your time. IE not raining, windy... good beeswax is worth about double price of honey but don't begin with expectation of big bucks...
but expect to learn a lot and about nectar bearing plants as well. Best of luck! The more we learn about bees the better
My father and I will be starting 2 honeybee hives and 4 bumblebee hives this season.
You are doing a good thing for the ecosystem, pollinators have taken a serious blow in the last few decades.
>>2115268
Her heart's in the right place but she's very wrong.
I was a beekeeper for years and met plenty of others over that time. Bees are our lifeblood. Keeping them safe and free of disease is of the utmost importance. With colony collapse and pesticides and all the other problems plaguing the midwest, along with the almond growers in california and the like; beekeepers are already and always have been working towards a more sustainable future for bees.
To call them bought out and corporatist and what have you is downright insulting to thousands of people who likely work a lot harder than you do for a lot less recognition.
I'm still surprised by how often I go to some urban cultural event with something related to fundraising and buying products "for the bees!" and I'm met with instant silence the second I get into real talk about bees and beekeeping. They aren't uneducated as much as they are just ideologues and I don't blame them.
