If you have a garden, then you can keep honey bee. The bee not only can help your plants or vegetable in your garden to thrive, but they also will produce fresh honey for you. You can buy bee hive from local bee farm or you can mail order them online. Yes, they actually mail bee hive in a box, and the post office will deliver it to your home.
I can see the advantages of beekeeping and I can understand the hobby. However I personally am TERRIFIED of bees and wasps (especially wasps). My mother has a SEVERE case of arachnophobia and I get on her case about it sometimes lol "They won't hurt you" but as soon as a wasp is in the house or flies near me I crap myself and begin to freak out and even cry. Bee's however I kinda just avoid the side of the house or hard they are in haha.
As long as you don't get the African killer bees, it shouldn't be a problem. Most bees are more passive than you think.
Once a long while ago when I was a kid, they sprayed some pesticide in our school. Lots of bees fell to the ground, and I picked a lot of them up and relocate them to where they couldn't be stepped on. It was only on the 10th or 11th, I was stung! The other bees didn't even bother me while in my hands. I was getting too overconfident after the fact the other bees didn't sting me.
I keep British black bees, which are an endangered species. Black in colour, furry and quite tame. They are not as productive as your standard honey bee, but they are better adapted to the British weather and are more disease resistant.
Whereas other bee keepers here lose at least one hive a winter due to the new bee diseases, I have not lost any yet. For the most part bees are quite calm creatures and it takes a lot to get them to sting you. But once they do sting, they release a pheromone that makes other bees attack.
Even the African bee is not that aggressive. I have seen San Bushmen from the Kalahari go and steal bees from wild hives. They do get stung, and the bees are aggressive, but they do not die.
I used to be terrified of bees and wasps, as I fell into a wasp's nest as a child, but actually owning bees has been the best way to overcome my fear. And the honey is wonderful!
(11-29-2012, 12:38 AM)gwydion Wrote: I keep British black bees, which are an endangered species. Black in colour, furry and quite tame. They are not as productive as your standard honey bee, but they are better adapted to the British weather and are more disease resistant.
Whereas other bee keepers here lose at least one hive a winter due to the new bee diseases, I have not lost any yet. For the most part bees are quite calm creatures and it takes a lot to get them to sting you. But once they do sting, they release a pheromone that makes other bees attack.
Even the African bee is not that aggressive. I have seen San Bushmen from the Kalahari go and steal bees from wild hives. They do get stung, and the bees are aggressive, but they do not die.
I used to be terrified of bees and wasps, as I fell into a wasp's nest as a child, but actually owning bees has been the best way to overcome my fear. And the honey is wonderful!
I have no idea bees are also having trouble with diseases and it can even wipe out entire colonies.
Everything I heard about African bees are about how aggressive they can be as well as productive when it comes to harvest honey. Bee sting isn't all that dangerous, but if you get stung enough the venom will start to damage your internal organs. Some people are allergic to bee and it can be worse with just one single sting.
At one time I had thought about having a few bee hives in my backyard to pollinate my fruit trees and garden. That was before I found out I was allergic to bee stings. But if you are not allergic it can be a worthwhile hobby and adventure.
From what I have read in recent years there is a great need for more bees as many colonies are dying off. There are many factors involoved in this decline including moisture and predators, availability of food and diseases like "Colony Collapse Disorder," and "Israeli Acute Paralysis Virus," which was detected in bees brought in from Australia in 2007. The use of Round-up and other pesticides used by farmers and consumers, and the growing of GMO foods has killed off native honey bees as well.
It is stated by the Deptment of Agriculture and various Beekeepers Associations around the country, that when bees are exposed to pesticides it impairs their immune system.
They say that a bee's health is contingent on a diverse source of local plants which it can pollinate and local bees have that variety from dandelions and other wild flowers, and trees. Also from pumpkins and cucumbers, and countless other vegetable crops. This assortment of plants to pollinate is necessary for healthy bee colony growth.
However, large commercial beeekeepers tranfer bees from northern states to southern, and western states in truckloads, to pollinate orange groves in Florida and then to almond trees in California, and to Maine for cranberry pollination, as well as, to apple and peach groves in different states. These groves, such as the orange groves in Florida, are so vast that bees can't pollinate anything other than the oranges, limiting the diversity needed to sustain their life.
This farming out of bees all over the United States and other countries as well, is what allows us to have pure honey from certain types of crops. However, it is helping also cause the loss of bee colonies.
That is why we see less native honeybee's and few bumblebees. It is also why many people put up with wasps and the carpenter bees that drill holes in houses and power poles. And why many people plant butterfly gardens to encourage butterflies into their yards and gardens.
I think honeybees are very worthwhile insects to have as a hobby, as well as, to help with the local pollination of many crops and wild flowers.
So Ram, are you going to start some bee hives in your backyard?
I only order the honey, because I am allergic to bee stings. There is no way I would actually attempt to raise bees, but I do have friends who raise bees for honey that is available to us. My dad bought a container that holds bees but never got the bees. I am glad he didn't. I love watching bumblebees from a distance pollinate flowers. I also like eating honeycombs. It would definitely be a good idea for someone who knows about beekeeping though.
03-06-2014, 09:51 AM, (This post was last modified: 03-06-2014, 09:53 AM by millshre.)
(06-02-2012, 11:25 PM)Ram Wrote: As long as you don't get the African killer bees, it shouldn't be a problem. Most bees are more passive than you think.
Once a long while ago when I was a kid, they sprayed some pesticide in our school. Lots of bees fell to the ground, and I picked a lot of them up and relocate them to where they couldn't be stepped on. It was only on the 10th or 11th, I was stung! The other bees didn't even bother me while in my hands. I was getting too overconfident after the fact the other bees didn't sting me.
This is such an adorable story! I doubt many kids would have been brave enough or caring enough to do this! I admit, while bees aren't a real phobia of mine like spiders are, I am a little timid around them because I've never, ever been stung by anything other than one of those little sweat bees.
I really, really want to keep bees when we're more settled and have some land for it. I really like the idea of having some fruit trees around because I've heard it can change the honey depending on what you grow. I do worry about neighboring farms using pesticides that might affect our bees, though. I have plenty of time to research it, though.
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Backyard honey bee keeping
