Hobby.... Beekeeping?

tranger2 · Jan 14, 2018

I am 52, retired and looking for ideas for a hobby. I have 5 acres and started thinking about a beehive or hives. Anyone with experience on here?
As a hobby, do you lose a lot of money, break even or make any?
High costs to start?
Also thought of a portable sawmill to cut cedar and make furniture.
What hobby do you enjoy?

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Nimaro · Jan 14, 2018

Steer clear of bee keeping unless you like frustration.

Neanderthal · Jan 14, 2018

I really have been wanting to get into beekeeping myself. Annie sent me some books on it a long time ago and I've perused them, but STILL haven't pulled the trigger on getting any. Hopefully this spring.

Podman · Jan 15, 2018

I used to keep bees a long time ago. These days there is a disease that's really killing them off. But it's a good hobby and the
honey is really great. It doesn't hurt to try it though you might really like it, if not I guess you can still sell the hives. That's what
I did to mine when I moved here, I didn't want neighborhood kids getting stung etc.

Dumpstick · Jan 15, 2018

I tried it several years ago.

You can probably get in it with 2 hives for about $300-500

Pros - the honey is better then anything you've had . Ever.
- not a ton of time invested, just a few hours a week, until harvest.
- unless you get some disease or pest (which you will) the bees pretty much take care of themselves.

Cons - Start up costs not terrible, but when it comes time for harvest there is equipment to buy/rent.
-pests : everything likes honey. racoons, birds, mice, wasps. There are certain moths that eat wax, and worms that eat bee larvae.
-overwinter losses killed me.

The losses are a real concern. The current thought is that certain pesticides (nicinitoids (sp?)) make changes in the bee brains, and the bees forget how to navigate - i.e- they can't get home. When the workers can't get home , the rest of the hive dies. My problem , I think, related to a neighbor that started a squash farm nearby.
Year 1 -Start with 2 "cells" of bees, 2 hives started. Did okay the first year, kept them alive all year, and overwinter. No honey that year.
Year 2 - Hives looked fabulous. Then, one hive just dwindled to nothing. Got 30 or so pounds of honey from the oldest hive.
Year 3- Bought another cell to start another hive. Oldest hive swarmed, split, and half the bees just left. The remaining bees struggled on for the year, then died overwinter.
Year 4 - the last hive just dwindled to nothing.

I spoke with my mentor, and several of his colleagues, and they report 30-50% losses every year, to whatever is killing the bees.

There is a group of beekeepers in central Oklahoma, but I found them unresponsive to me as a newbie. They were clannish and not very helpful. Maybe you will have better luck.

Jack T. · Jan 15, 2018

I kept bees for several years (until a really hot hive sent me to the ER with anaphylactic shock). Had 12-ish hives at the most, but that was spread across multiple places.

There really isn't much *work* to it. . .the bees do take care of themselves. Just make sure they have enough room (boxes/supers) and stay out of their way. Most are *really* gentle, and it's nice to set out during the summer and watch them working. You can see them carrying the pollen into the hive.

Good way to expand (after you have your feet wet) is to collect swarms during the spring, which looks really dangerous but isn't.

Until you get a lot of hives, the honey harvest can be done with a knife and a strainer of some sort in the kitchen. It will make a huge mess, but it can be done. And when you are done with the equipment, you just set it all out by the hives and the bees will clean all the remaining honey off of it for you!

Side benefit: if you have a garden or fruit trees, you *will* see increased harvest because of the bees doing all the extra pollinating for you.

beastep · Jan 15, 2018

I've thought about getting into this as well. When I was a kid, my granddad had a few hives and that was the best honey on the planet.

John6185 · Jan 15, 2018

If you think you'd enjoy beekeeping and can afford it, give it a try otherwise you go a long time wondering what if... I think it'd be fun. A lot more activity than coin collecting or some of the other hobbies one could think about.

Mos Eisley · Jan 15, 2018

I heard somewhere gun collecting and target shooting can be fun.

Shadowrider · Jan 15, 2018

If you have allergies your own raw honey might cure them over some time.

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