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Is beekeeping difficult?

Is beekeeping hard

You want to have bees and wonder how difficult beekeeping is. Whether you will be able to do beekeeping.  In this article I will have a look at some of the possible difficulties a beekeeper has to face.

Immersion in the process

Beekeeping requires immersion in the process. You need to understand the life cycle of bees, what they eat, how they are organised. After all, beekeeping is not a one-time action, but a process. By breaking the sequence, you run the risk of making mistakes that could result in the death of the bee colony. Throughout the season, the beekeeper must be in the process and understand what he is doing now and where it will lead.

Learning

To achieve success, you will have to make considerable efforts to master the necessary skills and knowledge. The first thing to do is to study specialised literature or thematic websites and forums.

It is useful to attend specialised courses or personally communicate with beekeepers, visit the local society of amateur beekeepers.

Without a good theoretical base, it will be difficult to master beekeeping.

An apiary needs care

True beekeeping begins with the realisation that bees are living creatures that need constant care and respect. This craft requires a certain degree of responsibility on the part of the beekeeper.

From early spring to late autumn, a regular presence in the apiary is required, as this is the time of colony growth, swarming and the main honey flow.  It is not acceptable to leave the apiary unattended. It can take between 10 and 30 minutes to inspect a hive, depending on your experience. Therefore, if you are planning to go on holiday, it is necessary to plan it so that the necessary work on the apiary can be done in time.

Find out about local laws on keeping bees

Before starting an apiary, it is important to find out about local laws. These vary from country to country and region to region. Some are more restrictive than others. Beekeeping is a serious matter. Aggressive insects can cause serious, even fatal, harm to animals and humans. In order to balance your own desires and the interests of those around you, you need to keep this in mind.

Choosing the right place to set up an apiary

It is necessary to choose a site for the apiary. The branches of the plants should not touch the hive lid, as noise is very irritating to the bees. Fruit trees are also dangerous because of the constant falling of fruit during the ripening period.

The site should be protected from the wind by a fence, hedge or other outbuilding. Ornamental cotoneaster, raspberry, chokeberry, iris, hawthorn, wild plum and cherry can be used as hedges.

Physical training

Working in an apiary requires a certain amount of physical fitness. If you have 2-3 hives, you may not feel the physical strain. But if you have 20 or more hives, you need to be physically strong.

Inspecting bee families, lifting frames, boxes, all these actions require effort. Honey itself is a rather heavy product. During its extraction one frame with honey weighs from 2 to 4kg. And when you have to lift and extract more than one dozen of them, physical preparation is simply necessary.

Of course, on large commercial apiaries many processes are mechanised. But on small apiaries, everything is often done manually.

Heat

In summer, when you are working in the apiary in a protective suit, it can be very hot. Unless you can move your beekeeping to a less hot day, you should be prepared for this.

Cost of hives, bees and equipment

In the initial stage for an apiary, you need to invest in equipment. You will need beehives, frames, wax, feeders, a honey extractor, containers for honey, protective clothing, a smoker and much more. All of these things cost money. Prices may vary from country to country and region to region. But you can’t do without costs. Beekeeping is not the cheapest activity.

Availability of honey plants

It is not enough to choose a place for an apiary. It is necessary to understand whether there are enough honey plants within a radius of 2-3 kilometres. If there are no or few honey plants in the area, there is no point in raising bee colonies.

Common honey plants growing on the homestead plot, in most cases, give only supportive nextar. Such crops include apple, cherry, maple, currant, gooseberry, willow, birch, hazel, dandelion.

It is important to remember that it is not good for bees when a monocrop is present for them. If the insects feed on only one crop, such as rapeseed, for example, their immunity is reduced.

Death of bees during the winter months

For the beginner beekeeper it is not easy to experience the loss of bees during the winter. Winter is a difficult time for bees and not all colonies survive it. If the losses are within 10 %, it is normal. But sometimes, especially for an inexperienced beekeeper who has not properly prepared the bees for winter, the losses can be much higher.

Conclusion

Beekeeping is a fascinating and exciting activity. First of all, you need knowledge. Without knowledge you are likely to fail.

Secondly, you need an initial amount of money to buy equipment – 500-1500 dollars, depending on the number of bee colonies and where you live.

Thirdly, you need to be prepared for possible difficulties, both physically and mentally.

Therefore, my answer to the question of whether beekeeping is difficult is: it requires a certain amount of effort, without which it cannot work. But you can overcome these difficulties and enjoy the process of working in the apiary, communicating with nature and the results of your own work.

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