Medium colored honey bottled for the county fair.
Services to Sell
Small farms and orchards need bees to pollinate their plants. Some beekeepers, even those with a modest number of hives, rent the hives to pollinate. This requires more equipment as you will need to be able to transport the hives to the various locations. Work out a contract in writing before agreeing to pollination work.
Other Benefits of Beekeeping
If you are a small farmer or garden, having bees will improve the yield of most every kind of crop. Many crops such as apples, squash, berries, and beans rely on pollinators like honeybees to set their fruit. It is important to remember that honeybees are insects so you will need to reduce or better yet eliminate the use of pesticides on your crops.
Neighbors
Your neighbors will be impacted by your beekeeping. Generally this will be better yields in their gardens and more fruit on their trees. Remember to keep up the old beekeeping tradition of giving your first jars of honey to your neighbors every year. This helps to keep relations sweet.
If your neighbors complain, listen carefully. Many times this can be a moment to educate others on the importance of bees. Sometimes they have a complaint that is really about wasps or insects other than bees. Help if you can. If it really is about your bees and the problem is serious, enlist the support of your state bee inspector. They can be a valuable ally when confronted by unhappy neighbors.
Before You Start with Beekeping
- Make sure you have enough time in your schedule to take care of the bees. The time commitment is much less as you become more experienced, but at the beginning you will need to be spending a fair amount of time in the hives and learning about bees to be successful.
- Check with your local health department to find out if there are any restrictions on numbers or locations of your hives.
- Go to beekeepers school. Check with your local beekeeping organization for locations and times. Generally they are offered for a nominal fee or free.
- Talk to experienced beekeepers in your area. They are a wealth of information, knowledge and often mentor newbees (a.k.a., new beekeepers).
- Join your local beekeeper organization. This is the very best way to stay informed about any changes in regulations regard the bees or selling products. Networking is a important part of community building.
Beekeeping Resources
Always check to see if there is a beekeeping supply company local to you. Build a relationship with these people and they will take great care of you.
If you cannot find a local company, there are a number of supply companies online. Some offer webinars to newbees as well.
My Beekeeping Story
I have been keeping bees for about four years now. I have three hives of Italian queened hives. Don’t worry if that doesn’t mean anything yet, it will! I have won awards for my honey and beekeeping skills and like all hobbies, what you get out of it depends a lot on what you put in to it.
Keep up with my bees and beekeeping adventures here.
All images copyright Michele B. Decoteau
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[...] honey is heavily tariffed because its low prices were putting American bee keepers out of business. This is why it is laundered, like a black market for [...]
Most amazing insect on Earth.