subject: No Beekeeping Guide Equals Lots of Stings AND Very Little to NO Honey [print this page] No Beekeeping Guide Equals Lots of Stings AND Very Little to NO Honey
You are just beginning in beekeeping and you have wonderful dreams of sweet honey and extremely productive bees. Do your dreams include angry neighbors, too many stings to think about, and your bees "wandering" off? I'm guessing "Not!"What you need is a beekeeping guide. A beekeeping what? Similar to an excellent guide that will take you for the first time through the wilds of Alaska, an excellent beekeeping guide will lead you step-by-step through the beekeeping process. As you might well have imagined, there is a lot to learn about this new venture called beekeeping.To start with, what do you really know about the bee. What are its habits? How do all of those bees stay together in that one home called a hive? Are they all the same? A good guide will help you learn all you need to know about the queen, the drones, the larvae and everything in between so you will know the bee.What comes next is knowing the bee's honey-making process. How does the bee take something off of a flower, fly back to its hive, deposit its cargo, and turn the process over to other fellow bees? What roles does the hive play? What is the science that is involved from pollen collection to wax formation to honey conversion. A good guide will teach you the nuances of the flower to bee to hive to wax to honey process.A big part of successful beekeeping is being in good graces with your neighbors, especially if you live in a fairly busy part of town and decide to put a new beehive in your back yard. Should you talk to your neighbors before you even start this new venture?" Is there a better direction to place the opening of your beehive or does it even matter? Did you know that the height of your fence could make a difference? Your beekeeping guide will walk you step-by-step down the path to successful beekeeping in a happy neighborhood.Hey, it is a free country and freedom of choice is wonderful. You can certainly choose to go it alone and learn from your experiences---good or bad. My advice is to get a good guide. Why not insure your success; go there with someone who knows what it takes to be an excellent beekeeper.Here's to you hearing the sweet humming sounds of your very own bees; and tasting the sweet golden nectar of your very own efforts --- golden honey!
