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THE APIARIST


BEEKEEPING, SO MUCH MORE THAN HONEY

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WELCOME

An apiarist:

> One who keeps an apiary; a bee-keeper, a bee-master 1.


BEEKEEPING, SO MUCH MORE THAN HONEY

Many people start beekeeping because they like honey and, with care and
reasonable weather, you really cannot fail to produce at least some honey if you
keep bees. However, it’s not as simple as just leaving a hive at the bottom of
the garden and removing honey in late summer.

Local honey … there is nothing better

To be a successful beekeeper you will need to learn how to ‘read’ the colony, to
determine whether they are flourishing. It’s only strong, healthy colonies that
produce a surplus of honey.

Is there a queen present? Do they need more space? Are there signs of disease?

And if you learn the answers to these questions you will definitely produce
honey, and you will do so by working with one of the most fascinating insects.

But it doesn’t stop at honey. You can produce wax 2 to make candles, furniture
polish, soaps, cosmetics or food wraps, and propolis to make antibiotic
tinctures.

Bees at the bottom of the garden

And you will also produce bees … because successful beekeeping will involve
expanding and replacing your colonies. Don’t worry … this is easier than it
sounds, but can be as difficult as you want.


SAVE THE BEES, SAVE HUMANITY

Others start beekeeping because they want to save the bees or help pollinate
local crops or flowers. While these might seem commendable goals they are not
good reasons to become a beekeeper.

Honey bees (Apis mellifera) do not need saving 3.

There are more honey bees now than there have ever been. In fact, there are so
many that they might be outcompeting some of the other 270 species of bees 4
that are present in the UK, some of which are probably more efficient at
pollinating flowers and crops as well.

Wildflower meadow

So, if you want to save the bees build a ‘bee hotel’ for native pollinators and
plant lots of pollinator-friendly flowers that provide nectar and pollen
throughout the season.


WHERE AND WHY?

I keep bees in Scotland. Although the timing of events during the season may
differ, honey bees are the same the world over. The methods I use – and those I
discuss here – are applicable to any temperate regions, in the Northern or
Southern Hemispheres.

I keep bees because I like honey. I give talks on beekeeping between September
and March and sell surplus honey and bees. I also write about bees and
beekeeping throughout the year.

I enjoy beekeeping because it is an engrossing pastime that allows me to work
outdoors, to be a tiny bit self-sufficient, to indulge my interest in
photography and to spend long hours making things from bits of wood during the
winter.

I’m particularly interested in improving the quality of my bees by queen rearing
from my best stock. Other beekeepers get passionate about pollen identification,
honeybee anatomy or wax production … so explaining “Beekeeping, so much more
than honey“.


SWARMS

If you have found a swarm of bees and want someone to remove them from your
apple tree, I’m unlikely to be able to help. Contact your local beekeeping
association. Simply search online for the name of your
town/village/region/county and ‘BKA’. They will have a swarm collection phone
number and/or email address.


SUBSCRIBE … PLEASE

I publish a weekly post here on bees and beekeeping. The topics covered are very
wide ranging and include practical, philosophical and scientific aspects of bees
and their management.

To receive an email reminder when new posts appear please subscribe. Enter your
email address in the form in the right hand column of any page and press the
‘Subscribe’ button. You will receive an email requesting you confirm your email
address and then a weekly email announcing new posts. Your email address will
not be used for anything else.

New posts are announced on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and Mastodon.


SUPPORT THE APIARIST

This site carries no advertising. Any endorsements are because I’ve purchased
something and consider it a good investment (or because I’ve purchased it and
consider it a total waste of money ).

The server space and my late-night writing are funded and fueled respectively by
coffee contributions. Card donations can be made to Buy Me A Coffee. If you
would prefer to use PayPal then you can instead now Buy coffee with PayPal (via
Ko-Fi). Both are linked from buttons in the right hand menu.

Thank you


COPYRIGHT

Unless other wise stated, all the text and photographs are my own. Please do not
duplicate them without permission. Please read the copyright notice for further
details, or if you want to reproduce images or text.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

FOOTNOTES

 1. Oxford English Dictionary, with usage dating back to about 1816 “… certain
    idlers of their own species , called by apiarists corsair-bees, which
    plunder the hives of the industrious …”
 2. Or, more accurately, the bees will and you can harvest it.
 3. And anyone who suggests they do is probably trying to make money doing so.
 4. 250 of these are solitary bees and many of the remainder are bumble bees.



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USEFUL LINKS

 * Lochaber BKA
 * BBKA
 * BIBBA
 * Scottish Beekeepers Association
 * Fife beekeepers
 * East of Scotland BKA
 * Welsh BKA
 * SNHBS
 * NIHBS
 * Lochaber Bees & Honey


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Oxford English Dictionary, with usage dating back to about 1816 “… certain
idlers of their own species , called by apiarists corsair-bees, which plunder
the hives of the industrious …”
Or, more accurately, the bees will and you can harvest it.
And anyone who suggests they do is probably trying to make money doing so.
250 of these are solitary bees and many of the remainder are bumble bees.