Things You Should Know To Be a Successful Beekeeper

Like many other hobbies and occupations, beekeeping comes with loads of contradictory advice. These conflicting opinions can make it incredibly difficult for a new beekeeper to know what’s quality advice and what’s not. Although you’ll learn a lot as you dive deeper into this hobby, you shouldn’t start out completely in the dark. Whether or not you have prior knowledge of honeybees, here are a few things you should know to be a successful beekeeper.

Keep Them Close to Home

Although it may seem like a good idea to keep your hives on a larger property away from your home, it puts unnecessary distance between you and your bees. It’s important for bees to have ample space to grow and work, but keeping them close to home is the best way to ensure their health. If you house your bees somewhere else, you might not check on them as often as you should.

Understand That Bees Are Relatively Self-Sufficient

While you should check on your bees every 10 days or so, they are relatively self-sufficient. In fact, honeybees will work to care for themselves, grow their colony’s population, and make honey efficiently. With that said, you don’t need to check on them multiple times each day or even each week to ensure they’re doing what they should. Also, knowing the basics of hive splitting is a great way to stay involved in your bees’ productivity and growth, but you don’t need to do a whole lot to keep them in check.

Notify Your Neighbors

Even if you believe beekeeping is a harmless hobby, your neighbors may not view it the same way. Honeybees aren’t naturally aggressive insects, but they will protect themselves if they feel threatened. If you don’t notify your neighbors about your little honey-making friends, seeing a large volume of bees might catch them off guard. Although they may not agree with your decision to keep bees, warning your neighbors is the least you can do to prevent conflicts.

Give Your Bees Plenty of Water

It’s no secret that humans need water to survive, but you may not know that bees do too. In fact, they drink water and use it to regulate the temperature in their hives. Bees will even travel for miles just to find water. This practice puts them at risk for injury or death, which can diminish your hive population, so consider putting a small water source in your yard to ensure your bees don’t have to go far.

Hopefully, these things you should know to be a successful beekeeper will help you start a new hobby you love. Honeybees are fascinating creatures, making them an excellent way to boost your feminine spirit and help Mother Earth.