Do something different this holiday season. Check out
my list of 34 great gifts you can make yourself!


If you're new here, you may want to learn what this site is about. I encourage you to subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!

I accidentally posted this fun little entry for a couple hours last week; it was meant for today.

My wife and I grow vegetables, fruit, nuts, and berries. We’ve considered getting goats. And deep in my heart, I think it’d be fun to keep bees. (My dad kept bees for a time when I was a boy — I was awed by his white beekeeping outfit.)

The Make Blog points to several web resources on beekeeping basics.

This AskMetafilter question might also be of use: What do I need to know to become an amateur apiarist/beekeeper?

I’m curious about beekeeping costs. Most sites just call it a “low-cost hobby”. This page esitmates it takes about $300 to get started. A great PDF entitled Beekeeping in Kentucky: What’s the Buzz About? lists the startup costs at $266 and yearly maintenance costs at about $20. (The brochure also estimates that a typical hive can bring in $100-$150 a year if the honey is sold.)

Just for the fun of it, here’s a BBC story about an Irishman who tried (and failed) to set a new ‘bee record’ (for number of bees on his body simultaneously). He only managed 200,000 bees, which is just over half as many as he needed. He wasn’t stung during the stunt. Strange stuff.

You may also be interested to read:

8 Responses to “An Introduction to Beekeeping”

  1. Alan Cordle Says:

    Why not makes homes for bumble bees instead? They’re native, unlike the honeys, and they pollinate better too. More info here:

    http://www.xerces.org/Pollinator_Insect_Conservation/biology.htm#solitary
    and here:

    http://habitat.ms11.net/bee/beehome.htm#_Solitary_Bee_House

    I’ve been “keeping” them for about seven years now, and it’s really a great hobby without risk of sting nor fancy equipment.

  2. mapgirl Says:

    Please note in some states, keeping bees, even has a hobby is considered agricultural activity and you will have to register them with the state. It’s why a friend of mine in VA keeps his bees in MD at another friend’s house where there is no registration.

  3. prlinkbiz Says:

    I met a man who has bees that he actually “rents” out to a local orange grove. He does this with another tree grove as well. He said the honey is an amazing orange honey that he makes and gives as gifts to friends… I see some bigger money in bees, if you want to go after it, don’t you?

  4. J.D. Says:

    Alan, Kris used to keep a “humble bumble home” (which I believe may be a brand-name) at our old house, but never had much luck. We’ve put up a couple of mason bee nests, but I haven’t checked to see if they were used.

    I think prlinkbiz has the right idea: maybe I should “rent” some bees to test them out. :)

  5. jen Says:

    My husband and I considered bees, until we found out a neighbor two streets over has them. So, instead, I got chickens. (All hens, no roosters.) The initial investment isn’t expensive:

  6. blue southerner Says:

    We started keeping bees this year and have really enjoyed it. I plan on expanding our “operation” next year. You can’t beat the honey and the bees are a blast to be around. Our local botanical garden offered a 4 session class for $30 and it helped us tremendously. Especially on how to handle the bees and not get stung. Money well spent.

  7. Kimber Says:

    I’m a former beekeeper myself.
    Had two hives.
    Used to handle them without protection.
    Then got stung on the eyelid.
    After that I wore the gear.

    The hobby wasn’t that expensive
    as long as you can get access to the extraction equipment (which IS costly).

  8. Rokov Zhasa Says:

    Sir,
    I am intending to start bee keeping. It would be nice if nore on methods could be found. Thanks

    Yours sincerely
    Rokov

Leave a Reply

Subscribe without commenting

Subscribe to comments on this post via RSS feed.