Thinking about getting bees ...

[michickenwrangler]

My husband and I have been hemming & hawing for the past two years about getting a beehive. Now that we have fruit trees and a blueberry patch, we're thinking more seriously about getting one to help with pollination.

I've read a few rather short articles about the subject. I have come across "Italian bees" and "Caucasian bees." We do not plan to sell the honey commercially (for our own use, my mother will buy some and possibly the neighbors) I have been thinking more about Caucasian bees since they are supposed to be "mellower" than Italian though they do not make as much honey.

I would appreciate hearing about others small scale set ups, links to good "getting-started" articles and websites of good suppliers or any of the Michiganiacs out there that can help get bees or let us check stuff out

Thanks a bunch

 

[trilyn]

Ohmigosh! You're so lucky to be able to do this! I am going to wait until I get all of my gardens in and my fruit trees. We're still in the planning and tweaking stage. Good for you and I hope you get the info you need!

 

[texasbartrambaby]

I've thought about bees and even got a catalog but DH may not be willing to go THAT far .... lol

Good luck and I am green with envy!!!

 

[Reinbeau]

Do it, you won't regret it. First find your local bee association and join it, they will help you along the way. Here is a listing of the beekeeping organizations in Michigan. There are lots of books and websites devoted to beekeeping, get a few, one of the best books published recently is Beekeeping for Dummies, believe it or not. Good luck with your adventure and if you any any questions ask away!

 

[michickenwrangler]

Thanks,

So long as it is better than "Canning & Preserving For Dummies" (THAT was a disappointment)

We spoke more about it today, and my husband gave our daughter a lecture on bee safety, so we'll be working on it.

 

[sgtmom52]

Go for it! Beekeeping is a lot of fun and very interesting too! We started out with 1 hive 3 years ago and now have 5 hives & are looking to expand next year.

We raise Russian honey bees. They are a cold hardy, mite resistant honeybee. We find them very easy to work with.
http://www.cals.ncsu.edu/entomology/apiculture/PDF files/2.16.pdf

Beekeeping For Dummies is a good basic book for "nu-bees" to start with. Your best resource will probably be your local beekeeping club. Our local club www.ycbk.org is very active and assigns mentors to all "nu-bees" as long as they need one.

 

[Reinbeau]

There is an excellent forum, Beemaster.com] where you can ask beekeepers all over the world questions, and join a beekeeping community that's every bit as good as what we've got here on BYC. The Learning Center is a great place to browse all things beekeeping, too. There are other web resources, if you'd like I'd be happy to send you a little word doc that I hand out every year at bee school to the new students.

 

[Brindlebtch]

You are so lucky! I would love to get a bee hive and have often thought of it but we live in the 'burbs.

 

[kikescove.com]

Seems like I just read this someplace on here about someone else thinking about beekeeping. Either that or I thougth I posted and I didn't. LOL

I did it growing up until I graduated from College and I moved on away from the farm. My Dad then took it over for awhile. We froze out a couple winters ago. My daughter had a special research project this year for one of her advanced classes (shes 9). She chose beekeeping. I am excited to get her back into it