experience Archives - Backyard Beekeeping

Bee Bucks – The Cost of Beekeeping

September 23, 2021 · Countryside Magazine Contributor · Hives & Equipment

Keeping bees isn’t free and so I’m often asked, “What is the cost of beekeeping? If I’m looking to start a honey bee farm, what is the expected initial investment?” Let’s find out together!

Wax Moth Treatment to Help Your Bees Win the Battle

August 12, 2021 · Angi Schneider · Health & Pests

Add to Favorites All hives, even healthy ones, will have wax moths. I didn’t understand this when we first started beekeeping. I thought that if we were good beekeepers our …

Starting Beekeeping: Find a Beekeeping Mentor

February 13, 2021 · Countryside Magazine Contributor · Beekeeping 101

Mentoring is a traditional way for beekeepers to teach people starting beekeeping about tending bees. However, finding a mentor, someone who is both knowledgeable about hive management and interested in teaching you, can feel difficult, especially if you don’t know anyone who keeps bees in your area.

Natural Bees Comb Building: Boon or Bust?

December 9, 2020 · Countryside Magazine Contributor · Hives & Equipment

The construction of natural bee’s comb is a wonder to behold. Festooning bees clasp legs to form hanging chains, a behavior many beekeepers describe as measuring, and set to work building hexagonal cells using wax flakes they excrete from abdominal glands and shape with their jaws. Each bee appears to work independently, yet somehow cells built by many bees working on different areas of comb come together seamlessly.

5 Tips for Starting Beekeeping

December 14, 2019 · Countryside Magazine Contributor · Beekeeping 101

Will you utilize the most commonly used hive style, the Langstroth beehive or do you fancy yourself a top bar or Warre beekeeper? For protective equipment, you could use a veil, a jacket with vail, or a full body bee suit – which works for you? Location of your hive can impact your bees based on sun exposure (summer v. winter), wind exposure, accessibility, proximity to neighbors, and so on.

How to Talk to Vegans About Honey & Bees

August 25, 2019 · Backyard Beekeeping Contributor · Honey & Beeswax

I have yet to meet a beekeeper—commercial or hobbyist—who doesn’t adore his or her bees. There is a beauty and a romance to beekeeping that begins with the sun, and, if you are lucky, ends in a bonanza of the best tasting honey you have ever known.

Let’s Talk About Losing Bees

February 5, 2019 · Countryside Magazine Contributor · Health & Pests

Like many beekeepers, we lost bees this winter. New packages failed to build up in a normal way last summer and were unusually slow to build comb and put away stores into fall. In September, aggressive yellow jacket predation weakened them further leaving them unable to carry themselves through the cold.

What To Know As Spring Unfolds Into Summer

February 5, 2019 · Countryside Magazine Contributor · Beekeeping 101

If April is the beekeeping equivalent of planting time, then May is when our efforts start to germinate.

Propolis: Bee Glue that Heals

February 5, 2019 · Countryside Magazine Contributor · Honey & Beeswax

Honeybee propolis is a brown or reddish resinous substance made by bees to protect the hive against animal and bacterial invaders. The word “propolis” is a compound of the Greek words “pro” and “polis” and translates to, “Before the city.” Bees use propolis as a building material to fill gaps and crevices, varnish combs and shape entrances, sometimes creating fantastic gobs that supposedly aid ventilation in the hive.

It’s Harvest Time

February 5, 2019 · Countryside Magazine Contributor · Honey & Beeswax

Extracting, or the honey harvest, is going to befall almost every beekeeper if their efforts are successful and the site of those activities can vary from a garage or the family kitchen to large facilities specifically designed and built for handling the harvest. Many of the new hobbyists may quickly find that harvesting honey in the kitchen can be a test of spousal relations.