Backyard Beekeeping for Beginners

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Deep inside the beehive, worker bees are making comb. This comb will be used for storing brood, honey and pollen. The wax is put into place by mouth.
Deep inside the beehive, worker bees are making comb. This comb will be used for storing brood, honey and pollen. The wax is put into place by mouth.
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A package of bees typically consists of about three pounds of honey bees, including a queen. The queen is typically separated inside a tiny cage within a larger cage. There’s also a can of syrup to feed the bees but its contents only last a short while.
A package of bees typically consists of about three pounds of honey bees, including a queen. The queen is typically separated inside a tiny cage within a larger cage. There’s also a can of syrup to feed the bees but its contents only last a short while.
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Bees in packages are stacked up awaiting pickup by beekeepers. Each package contains about 10,000 worker bees and the queen. The queen will be in a tiny box within the bee package. You’ll want to be very careful with her.
Bees in packages are stacked up awaiting pickup by beekeepers. Each package contains about 10,000 worker bees and the queen. The queen will be in a tiny box within the bee package. You’ll want to be very careful with her.
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Some beekeepers recommend that you use black foundation frames in the bottom or brood box and natural-colored frames in the upper or honey supers, but many people use natural-colored frames throughout their hives.
Some beekeepers recommend that you use black foundation frames in the bottom or brood box and natural-colored frames in the upper or honey supers, but many people use natural-colored frames throughout their hives.
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“The Beginner’s Guide to Beekeeping” by Samantha Johnson and Daniel Johnson is full of helpful tips, strategies and information on backyard beekeeping.
“The Beginner’s Guide to Beekeeping” by Samantha Johnson and Daniel Johnson is full of helpful tips, strategies and information on backyard beekeeping.

The Beginner’s Guide to Beekeeping (Voyageur Press, 2013) can help you start your first beehive the right way. Veteran beekeepers and farming professionals Daniel and Samantha Johnson walk you through their tips on raising honey bees. Use this excerpt from chapter 2, “Starting Out as a Beekeeper,” to help you enter the world of backyard beekeeping.

Buy this book from the MOTHER EARTH NEWS store: The Beginner’s Guide to Beekeeping.

Finding Bee Breeders

Here’s a great question that probably has been bouncing around in your mind for a while, and perhaps you’ve even skipped ahead in the text to find the answer: Where exactly are your bees going to come from?

Well, unless you plan on tracking down and capturing a swarm of loose bees (possible, although challenging and beyond the scope of a beginner) or collecting them one by one off of dandelions and daisies (not practical), you will be purchasing your bees from someone else—either a bee breeder (who may live far from you) or a local beekeeper. And that’s a good idea, because this way you will be able to do your research and purchase from an established, reputable source—and besides, that wild bee roundup idea sounds a little too ambitious!

  • Published on Apr 23, 2014
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