Beekeeping Basics

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The members of a hive colony are one queen bee , thousands upon thousands of worker bees, and a random (but, in the most productive hives, small) number of drone bees. The queen, the most longlived member of the colony, resembles a worker bee with an enlarged abdomen. After her few youthful mating flights, she spends the rest of her life (as long as seven years) in the hive, performing one function: laying eggs . . . to the tune of more than 1,500 a day during the peak of each season!

The worker bees are all females that lack fully developed reproductive organs. These multitudes of industrious insects run the hive . . . feed and clean up after the queen . . . gather honey, pollen, and water . . . keep the internal temperature of the hive constant (they can both cool and heat their enclosed environment!) . . . feed the larvae . . . and build all the honey and brood comb! (No wonder they're called workers!)

In contrast, the drones--very large, very indolent male bees—never lift an antenna to help out around the place, but simply eat honey (that's why you don't want too many of them in your hive) while waiting for an opportunity to mate with a young queen (a fatal—but, one must hope fulfilling—experience).

HOW TO GET STARTED KEEPING BEES

In order to begin raising bees, you'll have to get some equipment. The two biggest U.S. suppliers of beekeeping gear are Dadant & Sons. Inc. (Dept. TMEN, Hamilton, Illinois 62341) and the A.I. Root Co. (Dept. TMEN, P.O. Box 706. Medina, Ohio 44256). Both can provide excellent equipment, including beginner's kits that consist of everything you need to get started—except bees and honey supers—and sell for around $75. (Some less expensive beekeeping supply companies run ads in the magazines listed in this article's sidebar.)

When it's time to obtain your "winged livestock", you can either [1] mail-order a nucleus of "package bees", [2] buy a working hive from a local beekeeper, or [3] catch a wild swarm.

Catching a swarm isn't really as difficult as you might imagine: The tight, homeless clusters of bees—usually seen hanging from tree limbs, posts, or shrubs—tend to be remarkably mild-mannered. Still, if you've never handled bees before (or if you don't want to depend on the chance occurrence of finding a swarm), you may prefer to start out by purchasing your honeymakers.

It's often possible to buy a strong established colony from a local beekeeper. Such a working community may cost around $100, but for that price you should get about 50,000 bees along with a complete hive (you'll still have to purchase such gear as a veil and smoker), and—if subsequent weather and honey flows permit—you ought to be able to harvest 50 to 100 pounds of honey your first season.

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