Beekeeping Realities: 14 Valid Reasons to NOT Keep Bees

Previously few years, beekeeping has develop into a development. My household and I at the moment have seven hives with tentative plans to double that quantity over the following few years. Beekeeping isn’t for everybody, although. As a lot as I get pleasure from it, listed below are causes to think about earlier than you develop into a beekeeper your self.

I bear in mind the precise second I needed to develop into a beekeeper. I’d been looking by way of Groupon provides and located a beekeeping class for my husband and me, $35 per particular person. He had as soon as talked about being within the interest, so I believed it could be a cool date evening.

Little did I do know that a number of years later, we’d handle a rising apiary and that beekeeping would develop into my new interest and, sure, obsession.

Regardless of my love for beekeeping, I’ve realized causes to not maintain bees that you may also wish to contemplate.

Beekeeping as a New Development

Beekeeping is an interesting interest rising in recognition up to now few years. All-in-one kits are usually not solely available at stores like Tractor Supply and Sam’s Membership, however you see bee-themed house décor in all places – and it’s arduous to withstand. Bees are so darn cute!

As a stylish interest, it’s straightforward to see why it’s turning into fashionable. Individuals like the concept of caring for these tiny pollinators — a good way to contribute to the surroundings by selling biodiversity and serving to to make sure the continued development of our crops. We want these bees!

Nevertheless, earlier than you rush out to purchase a hive and begin your individual apiary, there are a number of causes to not maintain bees you may wish to contemplate earlier than taking up this difficult and generally costly interest.

14 Causes to NOT Maintain Bees

Listed here are fourteen causes to assume twice and what I want I might have identified earlier than taking place this path.

1. Foremost, beekeeping is animal husbandry.

Bees aren’t a pet. They’re extra like livestock within the quantity of data and coaching wanted to succeed and maintain them alive. In contrast to a cat or a canine, bees have a posh life cycle and require specialised care that may be time-consuming and costly.

2. Intensive and ongoing schooling is important.

One of the vital important challenges of beekeeping is the sheer quantity of data you want to know to succeed. There’s much more to know than you understand whenever you first get began, and what you DON’T know can rapidly kill your hive.

To date, I’ve attended a Bee College in Central Texas, am planning on going to attend a full-blown beekeeping convention, and have attended in-person, native beekeeping conferences. We’ve learn books, sought consultants with our questions, and people darn bees nonetheless outwit us! This book, Top Bar Beekeeping, and this one, Beekeeping for Dummies, are my favorites.

3. Bees can depart (abscond or swarm) for no motive.

Not less than, they will depart for no motive you or an skilled beekeeper can determine. Generally regardless of all of your coaching and expertise, you open up a hive to seek out it empty. Which means that you want to pay attention to issues like climate, pollen/nectar movement seasons, the well being of your queen bees, and pests and illness in your hives. By adjusting your administration strategies, together with ongoing studying, you’ll be able to reduce the possibilities of your bees taking off for elements unknown.

4. Restrictions, laws, and neighbors will be difficult.

One other doable problem is restrictions and laws that restrict the place you’ll be able to place your bees or when you can have them in any respect. Whereas there are beekeepers in cities, on prime of Notre Dame in Paris, and lots of feral swarms that may be discovered actually anyplace, neighbors could make it tough.

5. Chemical compounds, even used at different places, can decimate bees.

Using pesticides may also kill your bees, whether or not deliberately or not, and you want to watch out about the place you place your hives. Your bees might acquire pollen tainted by a pesticide miles away, and also you’ll solely learn about the issue whenever you see a whole bunch or hundreds of them useless.

6. Bees can inflict damage.

And people stings damage! Whereas most bees are usually not aggressive and can solely sting in the event that they really feel threatened, every sting is exclusive. Meaning you is probably not allergic to the primary 50 stings however may have a bad reaction to the 51st. I maintain a small medical bag with us that features an Epi-pen, Benadryl, a number of Prednisone tablets, and a few anti-itch lotions.

When you’ve been stung a few instances, you recognize what to anticipate. It doesn’t really feel nice, however the ache is momentary.

7. Beekeeping will be costly.

Whereas a starter package like those I discussed is probably not too costly, the worth of the bees themselves will be pricey. A Nuc (nuclear) bundle can run $200-300 or extra, and in case your hive dies, it’s possible you’ll want to purchase one other nuc and begin over. That is like shopping for an costly pet that solely lives for a number of months – not a fantastic funding.

A few of our bills embody:

• bee jackets
• bee “Tremendous Fits” (price each penny in case you have aggressive bees as we do)
• gloves
• hive instruments
• containers and frames
• a smoker, and extra.

General, we’re into our fifth yr of beekeeping, and though I’ve made a number of hundred {dollars} promoting honey, it comes nowhere near the practically $4,000 we’ve spent.

8. It’s tough, near unattainable, to recoup your funding.

Plus, you have to promote a LOT of honey to cowl the essential prices. A beekeeping enterprise that makes cash will earn it by way of promoting queen bees they elevate and breed, the sale of nucs and bee packages, providing courses, and selling products (not just honey). Right here in Texas, inserting hives on acreage permits the landowner to qualify for an agricultural exemption.

Hive elimination can be a giant money-maker when you develop into very assured with dealing with bees. Householders are sometimes charged a number of hundred {dollars} and extra to have bees faraway from ceilings, partitions, garages, and so forth.

Check out this graph to see how one firm earns the majority of its revenue.

9. Beekeeping companies face extra laws and restrictions.

When you’re contemplating beekeeping as a business, you additionally want to pay attention to the laws and restrictions which will apply. Metropolis, county, state, and HOA guidelines will be complicated and might restrict the place you’ll be able to place your hives, what number of you’ll be able to have, and how one can promote your honey.

10. Murphy’s Regulation additionally applies to beekeeping.

There are such a lot of issues that may go unsuitable, from weather-related points to pests and illnesses. To not point out a whole lot of beekeeping is guesswork and A/B testing.

One yr we had spring arrive a lot sooner than typical. This triggered our queens to start laying eggs like loopy! Briefly order, our hives had been filled with bees, and so they weren’t comfortable. We took many measures to maintain them content material till we might break up the hives into small ones and add mated queens. (Mated queens are solely obtainable starting late March/early April by way of late summer time.)

Wild animals can destroy hives, floods can drown your bees, varroa mites can inflict a number of viruses into the our bodies of your bees, the hive can kill the queen — simply so many points and issues can develop. Personally, we benefit from the problem, however not everybody has the time or endurance to seek out options. For some folks, this is without doubt one of the greatest causes to not maintain bees.

11. Some hive points should be solved ASAP.

There are some issues you’ll have with a hive that should be handled instantly.

For instance, when you order new, mated queens and so they arrive within the mail otherwise you decide them up, you could have a restricted period of time to put in them of their new hives. It’s raining? You’re leaving city? Irrespective of. These queens gained’t keep alive ceaselessly. You discover a swarm cell growing on a body? Meaning the hive has determined to develop a brand new queen and so they plan on swarming and leaving the hive. Once more, you could have a restricted period of time to cope with that.

12. Killing bees is, sadly, a part of the job.

This week, we bought a brand new queen with a calmer temperament to put in in our worst hive. Once we opened the hive, we noticed a queen/swarm cell with an nearly fully-developed queen inside. We had no selection however to “pinch” her as a result of to permit her to hatch meant that she would battle with the newly put in queen and certainly one of them would die. We positioned our cash on the bought queen with identified genetics and who was prepared to start laying eggs.

13. In-person assist is typically essential however may also be arduous to seek out.

Even in case you have entry to a mentor or a neighborhood beekeeping membership, generally, you want in-person assist, and on-line assist through Fb teams is proscribed in how a lot assist they will supply. I like to recommend discovering a neighborhood bee group after which additionally becoming a member of Fb or WeMe teams like Beekeeping for Beginners. When you can discover a web based group in your native space, that’s even higher since they will supply recommendation particular to your location.

14. It’s tough to get constant recommendation from consultants.

We’ve acquired conflicting recommendation for nearly each query we’ve requested. Once we had been first beginning out, this was fairly irritating. Now with a number of years underneath our belt, we’ve had time to study from our errors and experiences after which evaluate that with any recommendation we get.

Do We Remorse Out Resolution to Grow to be Beekeepers?

Regardless of these causes to not maintain bees, we’ve no regrets about pursuing this hobby. It advantages our bees by holding them wholesome and serving to them put together for the winter when little meals is on the market. Nevertheless, it’s helpful to us in so some ways.

Beekeeping offers us another excuse to get outdoors and revel in nature. It’s one thing our entire household is concerned with and provides us every kind of bonding experiences! We harvest honey and beeswax for things like natural remedies, and maybe at some point quickly I can promote sufficient honey to, not less than, cowl the price of certainly one of our Tremendous Fits.

When you’ve learn this far and still have an interest in bees, then I welcome you to this excellent world! This playlist of My Beekeeping Diaries on YouTube shares a few of the ups and downs of this interest. I’m additionally comfortable to reply your questions in Feedback.

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