I’ve been thinking about keeping bees again. Although I’m allergic to bees, I still think it would be pretty darn cool to harvest our own honey. I mean after all, we already have chickens and a large vegetable garden, wouldn’t bees seem like the next step?
Plus, I’d get to wear a rather stylish bee keepers costume too. You know how I love my costumes.
Clearly honey bees would be much cheaper than getting a goat, or a cow {not that we’d ever get one of those but still, I could use those as examples while trying to convince the HH to let me have a few {thousand} bees… right?
I could give honey away as gifts. Maybe even sell it at the Farmer’s Market.
If I raised my own bees I could probably even stop buying sugar.
So I’m wondering, have YOU had any experiences with raising bees? Is it hard? Easy? Rewarding? Have you ever been stung?
How many bees would I need to get 2 gallons of honey each year?
I just picked up the book Keeping Bees by Ashley English. Amazon currently has it for only $11.17 and the reviews rock. I think I could seriously become a bee farmer. Do you think that’s crazy?
Chela says
We got bees for the first time this year, and joined the West Sound Bee Keepers Association along with taking begining bee keeper classes in Silverdale. We started with 2 hives and love it! There is a lot of info out there and it can be confusing because everyone has a different opinion. There is some trial and error with figuring out the best way for yourself. I was told that one good hive can get 5 gallons of honey a year. It is awesone to see the bees flying around the garden and they are always in the strawberries and raspberries. It is looking like we are going to have some bumper crops this year
Mavis says
5 gallons? Holy cow!
darlene says
We have kept bees for years and I have never been stung. I walk right through them when they are entering and leaving the hive. Honey bees are not aggressive and won’t sting you unprovoked. They are fascinating and your whole neighborhood would benefit from them.
Mavis says
Thank you Darlene. 🙂
Kate in NY says
Funny, I was not able to convince my husband that we should get bees – but he went along with us getting 2 Alpine dairy goats for our (2 acre) suburban backyard! I very sneakily had him come pick me up from the goat cheese farm I was volunteering at. When he saw all the adorable goat kids running around, I knew I had him hook, line and sinker. That probably wouldn’t work with bees, though. We haven’t bred the doe yet (not till the fall), so I cannot report on all the money I am saving from not buying milk and all the delicious goat cheese we’re having. But I wouldn’t totally discount a goat for your little homestead if you have any interest. They are so much fun – totally mischievous, of course, and the fencing – don’t even get me started on that! Still, I looooove my goats – they are definitely more friendly than bees! If only eglu made a “goathaus.” Now that would be stylish!
Mavis says
A goathaus. I love it!
m says
mavis, if anyone can raise bees and make it look totally easy, it’s YOU.
Aubre says
I am intrigued by bee-keeping, but it is strictly prohibited in my subdivision. Of course, so are chickens, but we’re brooding three hens and working on a backyard coop right now. 🙂
One of my clients keeps bees. It’s actually quite the booming hobby in rural south Louisiana. We have bee clubs and everything! My client chronicles her bee adventures on her blog: http://loveblessedlight.blogspot.com/. I like reading her observations on bee behavior – it is so interesting the way they operate and communicate.
Lucky L says
My grandfather had lots of hives on his 1/2 acre ‘farm.’ What I remember most about it is that my brothers all had to help out at harvest time. There is a big, silver centrifuge thing that you hang the frames of honeycomb on. My brothers provided the muscle to turn the crank to have the honey spin out. I think each frame holds about 4-5 lbs of honey. It was hot, sticky work to get it to start spinning. But I loved seeing the big silver canisters of honey when they were done.
Helen in Meridian says
DH and siblings ordered bees by mail for their dad for his birthday. He innocently went to PO to get his package. They didn’t know he was scared of bees. The good doctor got his friend to teach him how to keep them and they had hives on some other property for years. My MIL molded some of the wax and sold it at the church bazaar to wax you cookie sheets (before we had silpats). We have some 20 year old honey in buckets that seems to still be good.
Michelle says
From what I understand honey never goes bad. Ever. Everything I’ve read says it’s good forever…amazing, really.
Kory says
Oh I want bees… we’re getting chickens next year so it’ll be a couple years, so… How ’bout you go ahead and get bees now so I can learn from you later, k? 😉
Mavis says
Ha Ha Ha! I really want them!!!
Lisa says
We started 2 hives this year. Unfortunately, we have already lost one due to an infestation of beetles. Our hive just wasn’t strong enough to fight them off. Its been a tough year for beekeepers due to the high number of insects because of our mild winter. At any rate, its my husbands hobby–chickens are mine. He has only been stung once & that was by accident, as a bee got up in his pantleg. We don’t see that many bees in our yard, which surprised me..but the ones we do see are very docile. When my husband was taking out the supers from our hive that had the beetles, some honey dripped on his hand. Naturally, he ate it and said it was the best honey he’d ever had. So we are looking forward to seeing what our living hive does this year!
alliegator says
We harvested our honey by cutting the comb off the top bar, mashing it with a potato masher, and putting it in quart jars. Then we duct taped a second jar to the top of the first, with a piece of tulle netting in between, invert, and put in a warm place, and the next day the honey is in jars ready to go. (for the most part)
You Can Call Me Jane says
Jamey built a top bar hive and we set it out this spring. We’re waiting for a swarm to move in on it’s own (wishful thinking huh?). If that doesn’t happen, we’re going to call some pest control folks and ask to be put on the list to be called if a swarm is reported. Jamey plans on going out and getting it. The kids and I will watch from the windows when he attempts to make the transfer. But I can’t wait to have honey!
Michelle says
I don’t think it’s crazy at all…I would LOVE To have bees. My husband is definitely NOT down with it…YET. 🙂 I’m still working on it…hard. Someday I will have bees. Maybe just not in town…maybe down the line when we have an acre or two. But you never know…my hubby wasn’t sure about chickens either. And we all know how THAT turned out, right? 🙂