Why should one choose to be a beekeeper? Because they are essential! It is estimated that one-third of the food crops are pollinated through bees! It means that if not for bees, we will not have one-third of our crops.
And that is precisely why we should be fascinated and invest ourselves in farming bees. Bees are dangerous when they are offended but are profitable both financially and environmentally if they are kept peacefully.
The honey they give is the best natural sweetener you can have. And you are helping the environment through pollination and increasing the food crop. There are thousands of people that are farming bees, and it will be a proud decision if you have decided to join them.
It would help if you started farming bees. Let us look at the factors to keep bees and then jump to how to keep them.
Eligibility
No matter how profitable it is, bees are dangerous. Hence few countries and states have prohibited people from farming bees. If you are living in a densely populated neighbourhood, then it is advised to stay away from this.
It is for the well of people who reside around you. Bees might drift around and bother you, neighbours, if you live in small and proximity with neighbors. It is usually suggested to have an acre of land to start keeping bees.
Even if you have an acre of land, it is best to speak and let your neighbours know what you are farming. It is up to the health of bees and your neighbors to let them know.
Know the Right Kind!
Most of the bees are honeybees, but there are still different kinds of bees. Bees are a species that are related to ants and wasps. Not just bees, but there are different kinds in only honey bees. Few of them are quite dangerous, and few of them are less critical. There is always the chance of risk as they are stingy.
A bee is harmless, but a swarm of bees is always toxic! That’s precisely why you need to educate yourself on the type of bees that are good for farming and the kind that are dangerous. Choosing honeybees is better for they are also profitable in the honey business. You can use it for yourselves if you want.
Backyard!
If everything is done, the next step is making your backyard ready for bees! You need to purchase and set-up an artificial hive that is available in departmental stores, or you can always order them online.
The artificial hive arrives in pieces that need to arrange if you order it online. The parts also come with a manual, so that will not be a problem to arrange them. But in case the manual did not do the job, there are many videos available online to guide you in setting the hive up.
To make sure your bees are not exposed to chemicals, it is good to buy wooden or metal hives. Bees are excessively reproductive, and they double their population too quickly. You need to purchase a large hive to encourage their reproduction.
Preparing Yourself!
Not just the backyard, but even you need some preparation before you establish the bee colony! Firstly, you need to be mentally ready to do this because it takes a lot of patience and love to farm bees.
Not all neighbours will take it positively; some might always find a reason to complain. Of course, it is good for your neighbours if they have a garden, but still, bees are looked at as a danger by some. It would help if you were prepared to protect your colony of bees, keep them away from kids who wane throw stones at them.
After mentally preparing yourself, you need to be physically ready, that is, to purchase beekeeping suits. In the beginning, when bees take time to settle in the artificial hive, they are quite bothersome, and you need a suit to handle them.
You better watch the reviews and the features it provides if you choose to purchase it online. It would be best if you made sure the way to breathe is easy, and it has enough openings. The material should be lightweight and washable.
Bring the Bees On!
You can look-up for the nearest beekeepers and purchase a swarm of them directly. They will even give you off some real-life practical tips to farm bees. If you could not find any, you might order them online, and the nearest bee traders are informed and sell you some.
If your country allows beekeeping, you will not find it that difficult to find a nearby beekeeper. No matter how rare that does sound, they are widespread. How do you think we all get that much honey?
Let Them Settle In!
Now your duty is simple. It is to wait. You might have urges to check them frequently. But it is not advised to check them too often and disrupt their process of forming a colony. There is a Queen bee that lays eggs while all the other bees that are mere workers gather honey.
Queen bee needs to lay eggs, and that happens once they settle in. You might end up killing a few bees in the desire to check upon them.
Farming bees, unlike other types of agricultural ways, are less your work and more the bees work. Most of your work ends when you set things up and buy them. All you need to do is wait for them.
Maintaining Bees
You need not check them frequently, but you should check them occasionally, just a glance sometimes, not a thorough check. You should make sure they are not swarming around.
If they are swarming around, it means that the hive is not sufficient for their colonial growth, and they are looking to migrate or form a hive themselves.
If that is the case, you should help them expand by buying and setting up additional hives. Once you have enough, you can trade some bees to interested beekeepers too.
Honey and Money!
Now that the bees have settled in and are forming colonies, gathering honey, and laying eggs. It is up to you to extract honey. There are two ways you can do that. If you have purchased a sophisticated artificial hive, they have features to buy an automatic extractor. They automatically extract the honey and fill your drums.
If you think that they are expensive, you need to extract the honey yourself. For some beekeepers, it takes time for the bees to gather honey. It all depends on the environment and plants around your surroundings. There is also a vegan motive to farm bees and not use their honey. You can be a vegan, and yet be a beekeeper. It is up to you to decide to use or not use the honey.
No matter what you choose to do with the honey, it is still profitable for the environment.
