Become a beekeeper and support the pollination of your community’s food supply. It’s easier than you think! Try setting up your own bee hive in your backyard this year. The rewards can be global.
Honeybee populations are declining across the globe. According to the United States National Agricultural Statistics, the honeybee declined from about six million hives in 1947 to 2.4 million in 2008—a 60 percent reduction. This is especially alarming in light of the fact that honeybees perform about 80 percent of all pollination worldwide. Another way to look at it is 2 out of 3 bites of food you eat are thanks to the pollination performed by bees.
Beekeepers have reported annual losses of 30 to 70 percent of their bee populations, a phenomenon known as “colony collapse disorder.” Efforts to spread the word about the significant drop in bee populations, and the importance of honeybees have increased such that those who have never considered beekeeping have set up hives in their suburban backyards or even on urban rooftops. Others have invited local beekeepers to install hives on their rural properties. Do you know someone who is a beekeeper? Have you ever considered beekeeping?
How To Start Beekeeping In Your Backyard
The first step is education. Although beekeeping is not difficult, it requires learning new skills. The best place to start is by reading a book on the topic for beginners and attending any events at your local Beekeepers Association. Most associations hold monthly or quarterly meetings to discuss important topics specific to their region, learn new skills, and introduce new members to beekeeping. Not only will you learn a lot from seasoned beekeepers, but you’ll also make new friends and hopefully find a mentor who can help you along the way.
If there isn’t a local Beekeepers Association nearby, there are several courses you can take online. You can also find online communities for beekeepers.
Once you have learned the basics, you will want to research your community’s laws and ordinances about backyard beekeeping. These can vary significantly from one community to the next and it’s important to know what you can and cannot do within your province/state, city, etc. before investing in the equipment and bees. Most often a quick visit or phone call to your city hall will provide you with answers about local regulations related to beekeeping.
With the knowledge and permission to keep bees in your backyard, the next step is finding a reputable beekeeping hardware supplier and bees. If you joined the local Beekeepers Association, you’ll want to get references from the members. They can give good recommendations for which suppliers to go with and which to avoid.
Beekeeping Equipment
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Beekeeping suit with veil
- Pair of gloves
- Smoker
- Hive tool
- Bee brush
- Screened bottom board
- Two deep brood boxes w/10 frames in each
- Two honey supers w/10 frames in each
- Inner lid
- Telescoping cover
- Entrance reducer
- Sugar syrup feeder
- Queen excluder
- Hive stand (or you can build your own)
- Uncapping knife
- Stainless steel mesh strainer
- Food-grade plastic bucket with honey gate
- Mason jars with lids to store honey
Now that you’re all suited up and have the proper tools, you’ll want to plan for getting the bees themselves to their new backyard home. Most bee suppliers provide a few options, which include packaged bees (need to order a queen as well), nucleus colony, or full hive. As a first-time beekeeper, it’s strongly recommended that you begin with a nucleus colony or full hive. A nucleus colony is typically five frames full of brood, pollen, honey, a laying queen, and lots of bees—a great start for a new hive. The nucleus colony is generally less expensive than the full hive since it doesn’t come with additional boxes or frames. Considering it takes about six to eight pounds of honey to make 1 pound of wax, having full frames of wax, brood, honey, and pollen gives your bees a head start. The full hive typically comes with the bottom board, the brood box, 10 frames (up to eight frames already full of wax, brood, honey, pollen, and bees), the inner cover, and the top lid.
The best time of year to get your bees is early spring, when colonies are most active and multiply rapidly. Most bee suppliers will start to take orders in the fall, so they know how many bees to raise for the beekeeping community the following year.
Your first year is full of learning. Each season requires monitoring for different bee behaviours and looking for certain signs of a healthy or declining colony while inspecting the hive. You’ll likely make mistakes along the way, and possibly get stung a time or two, but don’t be discouraged! It takes time and practice to really get into the swing of things. This is why having a mentor or a group of beekeepers to run questions by is so important.
One common misconception is that by the end of your first year you’ll have hundreds of pounds of honey to harvest. While in some cases a small colony can produce a good amount of extra honey in its first year, it’s much more common for beekeepers to not take a significant amount at first so that this new colony has a chance to “overwinter”—which means they are of sufficient strength (healthy population) and have at least 30 pounds of surplus honey (in more moderate climates) in the second box. But not to worry, you can still give it a taste to motivate you towards a bountiful harvest the next year!
Benefits of Local Honey
We know that the honeybee is a super insect due to its vital role in pollinating the world’s food supply, but did you know that the honey they make is also a superfood? Raw honey has antibacterial and antiviral properties that can help boost your immune system and fight sickness. Honey also contains flavonoids, which are antioxidants that can help reduce the risk of cancer and heart disease. These are just a few benefits of local honey.
Certain types of honey are used to treat wounds, skin ulcers and sores. Pure and raw honey is the best for health, containing vitamins, minerals, and enzymes you won’t find in pasteurized honey. Many people find that consuming locally produced honey lessens their seasonal allergies. On top of that, honey doesn’t expire! Did you know that ancient Egyptians would bury jars of honey with deceased royalty to give them a sweet transition into the afterlife? Honey was so important that it was even found in King Tut's golden tomb—still edible after 3,000 years! As you can see, when stored in a tightly sealed container away from light and extreme temperatures, you can keep honey for a very long time. Nevertheless, after a while, your honey may start to crystallize. This is completely normal but can make it look grainy and sugary. You can warm the container gently in hot water to melt the crystals, but understand that higher temperatures can pasteurize the honey, removing its raw properties and causing it to darken in colour.
If you are unable to keep bees but still want to support local beekeepers, try visiting the nearest farmers’ market. You’ll likely run into a honey stand with a friendly beekeeper who would love to tell you all about their hives and the benefits of local honey while you enjoy a little snack.
