Hey there friends! You may remember a few weeks ago when I posted about my brother-in-law bringing his backyard bees to our property. I’m happy to report that they have settled in and are happily pollinating away.
After reading some of the comments that were left on that post, my brother-in-law (who we’ll now call “Zack The Bee Man”) thought it would be good to write a guest post to clear up some misconceptions or myths about beekeeping and list some of the amazing benefits of keeping bees as well as some fun facts about honey bees. He might be a fairly new beekeeper, but he knows his stuff! Take it away, Zack The Bee Man:
The Bee Man with my adorable nephew, all suited up!
First let me say that I subscribe to An Oregon Cottage and have been a follower for many years (ahh, thanks, Zack!) When my hives were mentioned here a few weeks ago, I enjoyed reading all the comments and wanted to give more information about keeping bees:
7 important considerations if you are interested in keeping bee hives of your own:
1. Many people commented on how much time it would take to be a beekeeper. In reality, the less you open the beehive and disturb the bees, the better off and more productive they will be. Hive inspection should last between 10 and 15 minutes and be done no more than 6 to 8 times a year. Obviously a couple hours will be spent harvesting all the honey on a hot day towards the end of August (in the Willamette Valley). But the harvest time is exciting and time seems to fly by with every frame of honey that is “spun out” in a honey extractor and collected in jars to be enjoyed all year long.
2. Another myth about bees is that they are dangerous. People unfortunately often group honeybees in the same category as wasps, hornets and yellow jackets. Honey bees are inherently a docile insect. Their last intention is to sting someone. They sting out of defense and will not “attack” an innocent bystander.
3. Honeybees are vital to our food supply. Roughly 60% of the fruits and vegetables we rely on to feed our families need honey bee pollination.
4. Honeybees need our help. In recent years, millions of colonies of wild honeybees have been wiped out by urbanization, pesticides, parasitic mites and a recent phenomenon called “Colony Collapse Disorder.” Backyard beekeeping has become vital in our efforts to reestablish lost colonies of bees and offset the natural decrease in pollination by wild bees.
5. The pollen and honey have medicinal properties: bee pollen is high in protein and can be used as a homeopathic remedy for seasonal pollen allergies. And for centuries, honey has been used as an antibacterial medicine and is still used throughout the world in burn units for healing.
6. The financial benefits of being a backyard beekeeper can be significant. Initial investment can be around $200 to $400 per hive, but each hive can produce up to 60 to 90 pounds of honey every year. Raw honey can be sold for $5 to $7 per pound (60 x 5 = $300, which makes up the cost of the hive in the first year).
7. Beekeeping is a great learning tool for children. My son, age 5, loves taking care of “his girls”. He has his own bee suit and looks forward to inspecting the hives and watching the bees build honeycomb and examining all the capped brood and honey in the frames.
A Few More Fun Facts About Honeybees
- The honey bee’s image became a symbol of kings and religious leaders and was honored on ancient coins and in mythology
- The Romans used honey to pay for their taxes
- Honey found in the tombs of the Egyptian Pharaohs was still edible after 5,000 + years
- To produce 1 lb of honey, the bees must visit 2 million flowers
- Bees fly in about a 3 mile radius to collect pollen and nectar to bring back to the hive
- The average worker bee produces about 1/12th teaspoon of honey in her lifetime
- A honey bee visits 50 to 100 flowers during a collection trip
- The Queen Bee will live from 3 to 5 years and lays up to 2500 eggs a day (more than her body weight)
- The term “honeymoon” was coined when newlyweds were encouraged to drink mead (honey wine) for one month (one phase of the moon) to assure the birth of a son
Thanks, Zack – wow, that is a lot of information! Anyone want to become a beekeeper, now? Oh, and if you have any questions for Zack The Bee Man, leave a comment below for him and he’ll be sure to answer.
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Rachel Davis says
I read somewhere that we had to feed the bees and do hours and hours of maintenance in order to keep bees… so since we don’t have time for another project of that scope, we have not pursued beekeeping. I have put the Beekeeping for Dummies on hold at the library… do you know if there is an inexpensive or creative way to get ourselves a few hives? Maybe care for somebody else’s hives for a year and they’d give us the hives and keep the honey after a year? Probably not???
Jami says
Well, my brother-in-law did a follow-up post after the hives he paid for didn’t make it through the winter, so he harvested wild bees from an old barn being torn down: https://anoregoncottage.com/bee-update-harvesing-wild-bees/
Not for the faint of heart though, Rachel! He does feed the bees occasionally, and there are times he’s here for a while, but it definitely isn’t hours and hours – you want the bees to do their own thing. 🙂
Barb @ Frugal Local Kitchen says
I’ve never seen a beehive. A local blogger has been talking about setting up a visit with a friend of hers. I hope it works out because I would love to go see them.
I hope you have a great 4th of July!
Anonymous says
Barb, I hope you are able to visit the beehive. Those bees are fascinating to watch flying in and out of the hive.
One interesting little fact you might want to know. All the bees you see flying around landing on flowers are female. The male bees (drones) typically do not leave the hive.
-Zack The Bee Man
Susan Zentmyer says
I’ve been wanting to keep bees for a while, and our city just recently changed their ordinance so that we could. This makes me even more interested! Thanks for sharing!
Anonymous says
Susan, Go for it!!! Start with 2 hives your first year. That way you can compare the hives and get a good understanding of what it’s like to be a bee keeper your first year. I highly encourage you to look for a local bee keeping club that might be able to mentor you or give you local knowledge about plants in your area that might be beneficial to honey bees.
A great book to read this Fall and Winter would be Beekeeping for Dummies.
Have fun!
-Zack The Bee Man
Athena at Minerva's Garden says
Hi Jami: Wow, another fascinating post–you’re really making me want to get some bees! Have a happy Fourth of July!
Anonymous says
Athena, I definitely encourage you to look into a local bee keeping club and try starting a hive next year. A great book to read is Beekeeping for Dummies. I borrowed a couple hives from a friend of mine just to get started so I wouldn’t have a lot of out of pocket expenses my first year. Bee keepers are typically very excited to share their tools and mentor you when you have questions.
Best of luck!
-Zack The Bee Man
Diana says
That was a great post and makes me want to look into keeping bees. I wonder if they could survive here. I have watched the numbers of both bees and butterflies (as well as other insects, toads, etc) really decline in our immediate neighborhood over the past 5 years and I’m sure it’s due to everyone around here (except us!) using lawn services with chemical sprays, fertilizers, etc. I wonder, can honey bees forage over a typical urban/suburban territory where most people use conventional lawn care? Or would they just stick closer to home in our standard size lot that is well planted with nectar plants? Anyway, your brother’s post made it all sound quite doable!
Anonymous says
Diana, yes, keeping bees in an urban setting is definitely doable, even if your immediate neighborhood has increased its use of chemical sprays and fertilizers.
You can plant as many nectar plants in your yard as possible, but you will not be able to stop the all mighty honey bee from flying up to 3 miles to get nectar and pollen from other flowers. Towards the end of July when the nectar flow is at the peak, a strong hive can have up to 60,000 bees in it. They are busy, busy, busy. A lot of those bees will die off during the winter months, but hopefully the hive will survive the winter and the process will start all over again.
The only places on earth that honey bees do not live are Antarctica and The North Pole.
I would definitely encourage you to check and see if you have a local bee keeping club in your area. Typically one starts a new hive in early April.
Good luck!!
-Zack The Bee Man
Jennifer says
We got bees this spring and I love watching them. I can definitely see where the phrase “busy as a bee” comes from.
Anonymous says
Jennifer, that’s awesome you started bee keeping this last spring. My son and I will sit for a half hour or more watching our girls come in and out of the hive. It’s relaxing and very entertaining. It’s fun to watch them land at the entrance loaded with pollen then make their way inside.
I hope you are able to harvest some honey this year. Good luck!!
-Zack The Bee Man
debra says
That was extremely interesting!
I know that when I was a little girl one of my uncles kept bees and my mom used to help him with the ‘smoking’ sometimes, she said, but that is the extent of my knowledge.
Anonymous says
Debra, I hope your uncle shared some of his honey with you. There is nothing better than raw local honey!
-Zack The Bee Man
bj says
Bet this is a lot of fun…and those beekeepers are both adorable…from what I can see.:)))
xo bj
Yael at Home Garden Diggers says
Thank you for all the great bee information. We have lots of different kinds of bees and bum my bumblers back yard because of all the flowers, including oregano (which they love). I go out into the garden, often brushing up against the flowers and have never been stung. I have seen quite a few hives in rural parts of our area, not sure whether the city allows it within city limits.
Yael from Home Garden Diggers
Anonymous says
Yael, thanks for taking the time to comment on this blog. I too have been around a lot of bees in our yard and have yet to be stung.
I believe most cities will allow up to 2 bee hives per household in city limits. Rule of thumb for backyard bee keepers is to keep the hives out of site. For example, placing your hives on the roof of your house when a neighbor is not comfortable having a lot of bees in their yard is probably not the best idea. Before placing my hives in the backyard I talked to each neighbor in person about the hives and the benefits they would receive from having my bees in the neighborhood. Every neighbor as excited to have my bees move in and some even planted flowers for them and came over to see the hives for themselves.
-Zack The Bee Man
[email protected] says
I LOVE all this bee information! I am severely allergic to bee stings but fear wasps and other stinging critters way before honey bees. I (sadly) do not see many honeybees around my garden but do have beneficial parasitic wasps and praying mantis that I love. I also have an occasional visit from humming birds who help with pollination. I also have a lot of bumble bees and butterflies.
Would like more honey bees would come visit. I intend to have a whole area of wild flowers next year to help draw them to my little area more.
Thanks for the info! Wish I could keep bee’s myself but I think it would be too risky for someone like me to even try. Hehe…
Take care!
Dee
Anonymous says
Sorry to hear about your severe reactions to bee stings. praying mantis and parasitic wasps might help a little bit in the garden, but honey bees are the workhorses in the pollination arena.
In your neighborhood gardening store you can probably find an adequate variety packet of good flowers to attract bees. Some favorites are catnip, lemon mint, purple coneflower, Bachelor’s Button, cilantro, lemon balm, borage and others. These are all good bee attractors, but one flower stands head and shoulders above the rest as far as nectar production is concerned. Anise Hyssop is the wonder honey plant as nectar flows all day even in cold weather. Honey bees absolutely love it.
thanks for your comment and good luck next year in attracting honey bees to your garden.
-Zack The Bee Man