Becoming a Beekeeper (what am I getting into)?

Our third year Apiary, protected by an electric fence and ratchet strapping.

Backyard Beekeeping is very much like any hobby, requiring both commitment, and of course, a monetary investment. There are very large apiaries requiring staff, complex business systems, and significant capital investments, but I am speaking to the newbie (should be spelled "newbee", don't you think?) backyard Beekeeper, those considering taking that first plunge into keeping Bees.

Keeping Honeybees alive is a challenge these days, and the media certainly has gotten the word out, albeit sometimes with its usual exaggerated flair. But we Beekeepers very much do appreciate the spotlight on pollinators, clearly an important part in maintaining a stable food supply for our burgeoning populations. It is well known that nearly 35% of the food that reaches our tables is at some point touched by pollinators. Many birds, bats, bumblebees, Honeybees, and several other wild species of insects are feeling the pressures of habitat loss, insecticide use, and invasive parasites harboring diseases that weren't as prevalent 30-50 years ago. These stressors create a real challenge so don't be surprised or discouraged if you lose a hive or two nowadays; it's all a part of keeping Bees today.

As an example, our first year started with just one hive because we wanted to make sure this was really what we wanted to do. That hive did extremely well but of course (as you'll read later), it didn't survive its first winter. As a rule of thumb if you plan to keep Bees, it is recommended that you keep at least three hives because it gives you a platform to compare the health and welfare of one hive against another. You might think one hive is doing well with sufficient Bees until you open the next box and find that hive is exploding with Bees. Why the difference? Well, that's part of the adventure!

Undaunted after unsuccessfully ending our first year, we decided to move forward, adding two more hives in our second year, all of which did surprisingly well by surviving that second winter. Thinking that we had this hive-loss thing licked, our third summer found us struggling mightily to reach that year’s goal of a total of 5 hives, and we found ourselves starting our fourth year with only four. In that third summer we had lost another three hives, in spite of successfully surviving two bear attacks in March. Bears are a very real threat and by the way, bears aren't interested in Honey like Pooh might be, they're after the protein found in the brood! Years 4, 5, & 6 saw a few more hive losses, re-queening attempts, and unsuccessful splits as we worked our way up our new goal of 10 hives. But in spite of our losses and frustrations, we statistically have done much better than most! For example, the winter of 2019 saw New Hampshire's worst recorded year for hive loses, having 51% of the hives fail that year. Fortunately we didn't lose a single one of our 10 hives that winter, however we did lose two more in the summer of 2020! The point being as with any hobby, be prepared to invest in upgrades, reinvest in broken, damaged, or worn equipment, and experiencing the “joy” of lost hives.

Before heading out to the back yard with a Beehive and package of Bees, there are several things one should consider prior to spending $dollar-one, first of which is looking into local & state regulations, restrictions, and ordinances. Thankfully, most communities have no desire to dip their hands into regulating apiaries, but there are a few that feel the need to have rules about everything! No sense setting up what someone else wants you to tear down. But most communities, even ones as large as New York City openly welcome Beekeeping, so your chances are good that your efforts will be positively received!

Secondly, do some research on Beekeeping itself. There are some terrific books out there, and Web-searching topics like Beekeeping or Honeybees is a good start, as well as a multitude of videos on virtually anything having to do with Beekeeping. My wife and I spent nearly a year reading, surfing, and attending Beekeeper meetings about this "scary" thing we wanted to do, before we jumped in.

Third on my list is to understand where spending $dollar-one is going to take you! Hobbies like skiing, kayaking, even hiking, can require hundreds if not thousands of dollars of investment. Beekeeping is no different, and I'll address this in more detail later as well.

Fourth on my "before keeping bees" list, is to join a Beekeeping Association, club, or group. Any group will enthusiastically welcome future Beekeepers as guests, most waiving annual membership fees until you decide to actively start keeping Bees. Just walk in to a meeting and say "I want to become a Beekeeper!", and watch the reactions. If you're not swarmed by eager Beekeepers offering encouragement and advice, well... I'd be stunned to hear about that. My wife & I joined the Hampden County Beekeepers Association four months before purchasing our first hive, and this final step gave us the courage to make that giant leap into Beekeeping. Another added bonus to joining a group is that most Associations offer the free use of a club’s Honey Extractor. This little perk alone can save you hundreds of dollars.

Fifth, and maybe most important, get a Mentor before keeping your own bees! We had a Mentor that provided invaluable tips during our startup, and I highly recommend it. In my seventh year of Beekeeping, and still feeling so woefully inadequate as a Beekeeper, I took a wannabee Beekeeper under my wing. Why inadequate? Well, I feel like every time I open a Beehive I find something new going on in the hive, something I don't understand, something I've never encountered before, and I have to reach out to another more experienced Beekeeper to explain what I’m seeing, this occurring two times in the 4 months prior to writing this article!

Next, surrounding resources should be considered as well. Although Beekeeping in a desert is possible, that environment understandably may not have nearly the resources that say, an apple orchard in the Northeast or pecan orchard out West might have. Apiaries could have as many as 20 or 30 hives in one location before resource competition becomes an issue, so carefully consider your potential future growth. Likely you'll start with a single hive, maybe even 2 or 3, and we've had as many as 10 hives here in New Hampshire, which is still considered a small apiary. Having moved to a farm in New Hampshire in 2016, I suspect our first Apiary in Massachusetts may not have fully supported the number of hives we have today. It was a heavily forested area with little if any agriculture within the 3 mile Bee foraging range, and though five hives seemed to do very well, I wonder if we were already reaching our potential resource limit.

Another good tip is to keep a journal, take notes, record expenses, track sales, and in general develop a healthy case of OCD (Obsessive Compulsive Disorder)! I am constantly going back to see what I paid for something before, how much Honey did I pull last year, who’s buying my Honey, or when did I put in that last treatment in. It may feel unnecessary to keep a journal today, but that day of recollection is coming (or should I say, “Lack thereof”)!

Let us not forget that Bee-sting allergies can be serious or even fatal to some people, and hefting a well-established hive box requires a strong back and a firm grip, so it’s best to assess and be aware of one’s limitations in all aspects of one’s health.

And finally, just as it is with real estate, its location, location, location! Bees love the sun so consider facing the opening of the hive towards the south, maybe a little southeast, to let them catch those very first rays of morning sunlight. And Bees like it hot... but not too hot! They maintain temperatures between 90-95 degrees inside the hive year round, but as the day goes on, temperatures can become oppressively hot in some areas, especially in the blazing sun! Bees can compensate for a good amount of overheating by "bearding" (web-search that one) and "fanning their wings", but they have their limit and I don't recommend relying on that. Avoid heat stressors if possible, so find a spot that gets the first morning sun, but later receives some midday shading. And they certainly don't like the cold either. Just as with areas of high heat, some locales alternately have bone-chilling winters, and a steady winter wind can chill-kill even the healthiest of hives. So consider what might act as a natural wind-break when temperatures dip below freezing, or at least consider installing a temporary artificial wind-break, or winter-wrap the hives.

So, ok, maybe you have bears. Most Beekeepers recommend electric fencing, as do I. Baiting the fence with a piece of bacon wrapped around a wire may be enough to deter a bear from any future curiosities, but hungry enough a bear may muscle its way through electric fencing, and the resulting carnage can be devastating! Web search images of "Beehive bear attack", and you'll see what I mean. Even a raccoon can wreak havoc so invest in a level of tamper-proofing appropriate to the wildlife in your area.

The remains of a fellow Beekeepers bear attack;

Note the lack of an electric fence or the use of ratchet strapping.

Ratchet strapping may be your absolute last defense against predators and may not even work if a bear is persistent enough. Ratcheting the hive box front to back and side to side may make the difference between setting right an overturned hive or sweeping up the pieces! Finding an intact hive slightly askew on its supporting foundation with unmistakable bear-claw gouges, is truly an unnerving sight to behold!

This hive frustrated a bear’s assault, thankfully as a result of just a single strapping. Note the claw & bite marks, AND the electric fence post in the background that did not deter the hungry bear this time!

Of course, one should always expect the unexpected; with bees, it's guaranteed!!! Remember that I had mentioned our extremely successful albeit unsuccessful first year? Confidently armed with our well researched expertise, we thrilled at the sight of a fully packed hive at the end of August of our first year. Plenty of Bees, tons of Bees, hive jamming, lid popping, mountains of Bees!!! We though successful over-wintering was guaranteed (not)! Not fully understand that a hive is really considered an organism and how Bees actually procreate, we experience a late-in-the-year "swarm" (web-search that too). But it wasn’t just one swarm we witnessed. Oh no, we marveled at the glory of that single hive swarming 3 times in 17 days!!! So many times in fact, that they were not able to re-queen themselves and yes, we had to buy a new queen by the end of September. And because those swarms left us with what we now know was an insufficient number of winter Bees, the hive was lost anyway. Lesson learned!

Just one of the three swarms that landed in the same spot that first year,

uncatchable at 120 Ft. up the tree.

In the end (before you begin), give some consideration to your long range goal. Why do you want to become a Beekeeper? Is it to pollinate your garden or orchard? Provide your own supply of local Honey, supplement your income, get rich, or because it's "cool"? We've always loved Honey, and Honey went into everything, so we started doing this mostly for ourselves, while planning to sell our excess to at least cover some of our investment costs. As we got into it though, we found that almost everyone we knew preferred "real" Honey as opposed to that fake (expletive) you get in many of the discount stores. "Honey Adulteration" (web-search time again) is a very real and lucrative business, so a lot of Honey out there doesn't even contain a drop of Honey! Sad, but true. As a result, almost from the beginning we saw our goals change slightly as our friends & family voiced interest in the desire to get their hands on real local Honey. Our focus became more than merely covering out expenses, and by the end of our fifth year we broke even on our total investment.

A journal you say… I have OCD... I track, record, chart, and summarize EVERYTHING! I can't help it... I said, I have OCD!!! Speaking only in terms of actual out-of-pocket expenses and not counting the hours we've invested (maybe I'm not that OCD?), our first Bee expenditure of $3.55 was recorded on May 15th, 2014. I bought a 24"x24" grey patio block. The plan was to set up a short tower of cinder blocks and place the patio block on that to ensure a flat surface to set our first hive on, as well as to discourage rodent nesting in the cinder block holes. But that’s how we started, and of course more purchases followed. Keep in mind that not everything listed below is required, and there were other things we didn't do, and maybe some things could have been done differently. For example, we chose to buy inexpensive one-piece paper dust, or grease-monkey suits, you know, the kind used by those guys that changes your oil. Surely, a Bee suit will last years longer, but the one-piece paper suits are far less expensive, especially if your initial Beekeeping journey is fraught with trepidation. A good Bee suit can easily add another $150 to your expenses, but we continue to use those paper dust suits just because we do! No special reason.

Alright then, let's talk brass tacks; what can someone expect to spend in their first year? Fortunately (because of my afore mentioned OCD), I can provide a detailed list of every expenditure incurred that first year. Keep in mind these are 2014 prices so today's prices may vary, and your choices may vary.

For example, if you're handy with woodworking, you can find plans on the internet to make your own Beehive, or conversely, you may dive right in and start with 3 hives in your first year, which we did not. Our second year saw another $1,633.41 invested, and our third year added another $1,706.67 out of pocket. Our seventh year ended all-in at $9,175.33 with enough equipment to field up to 12 hives if we desire. The choice as to how & when to invest is, of course, yours.

To what end you might ask? For us, we average 50 to 75 pounds of Honey a year per hive, some yielding as little as 25 pounds while others consistently over 100 pounds. We call the latter our "Super-Hives"! Disclaimer; "Your results will vary", count on it! All in all though, we're very happy with our Bees, and of course for other reasons than just the Honey. We render a little Beeswax now & then, enjoy working the hives, and marvel at the hive community. I’m retired now, but on particularly stressful days, I’ve been known to sit just inches in front of the hive, and de-stress listening to the hum of the bees as the flit in and out of the hive, occasionally bounces off both the front & back of my head! Generally my Italian Bees are not aggressive, and hardly notice me if they’re busy harvesting Honey or Pollen. There are no guarantees that a Beekeeper gets away without a sting or two, and of course the same cannot be said for Bee temperament in the Fall when foraging is minimal, and hive raiding becomes their favorite pastime. That is NOT the time of year to test the Bees mood!

In closing, after having done your homework you'll have a much better understanding as to what it takes to provide your girls (all worker Bees are female by the way) with an environment they'll need to succeed. You may decide not to treat, or provide supplements, or maybe even feed your hives, because after all there are arguments for or against many aspects of Beekeeping, but making informed choices on how you manage your Apiary will make the difference between your being a true Beekeeper or just becoming another Bee-Haver!

Thank you, your valuable time is much appreciated.