Bees in the garden or on the balcony have been trendy for some time. But what do you have to consider to become a successful hobby beekeeper?
Thinking about getting a new pet? Can there be a few more, around 60,000? That's how many honey bees live in a hive during the summer. If this idea gets your adventurous spirit buzzing and you want to start beekeeping, let us help you find answers to the most common questions in a nutshell.
In theory, beekeeping is not complicated, but without prior knowledge it can seem like a science in itself. We will inform you about the most important points on your way to becoming a hobby beekeeper.
This is important when keeping bees
As with any type of livestock farming, you also take responsibility for living beings in beekeeping. This is not possible without certain investments and a regular workload. Before making the decision to keep bees, you should therefore consider the following points:
- With three bee colonies at the beginning, you have to reckon with around 1,500 euros Investment costs for the material, bees and price for the minimal variant.
- Also think about the physical requirements. Beekeeping means lifting heavy loads often. It also means you have to take bites. Because even the most careful beekeeper with the most gentle bees gets stung every now and then. Are you allergic or is there a bee allergy in your family? Knowing about it can save lives. Since allergies can also develop unnoticed over time, you should be aware that there is still some risk even if no one in your family is currently allergic. It is important to take precautions, especially when visitors are visiting your apiary.
- Allow enough working hours . Work or checks on the apiary must be scheduled at least every two weeks, and more often in the main season from April to August. Since the beehives are only opened during the day and when the weather is nice, a family outing can be thwartedwill. A longer holiday before the last honey harvest and Varroa treatment of the insects is not possible. Do not forget to include the labor time for the preparation of materials and the processing and marketing of the bee products. It is difficult to make a general estimate for this. However, beginners tend to underestimate the effort required.
- Livestock means Responsibility. The occurrence of feared and notifiable diseases requires a high degree of conscientiousness. Disease prevention must be the top priority in all decisions, because disease spreads very quickly in a colony-forming insect. The beekeeper also has to ensure the safety of the people who will encounter the defensive insects. Gentleness must be the top breeding goal, especially in urban areas. In this context, it is also important to mention that beekeeping is not vegetarian. If the bees are too aggressive, the queen has to go, even if it hurts. In the fight against the Varroa mite, beekeepers kill hundreds of drone larvae. Nothing for weak nerves. Last but not least, the beekeeper assumes responsibility for the products he sells: The production of food also requires knowledge and implementation of the statutory hygiene regulations.
- Frustration Tolerance: You will have guessed it - beekeeping is not that easy. Both expertise and experience are necessary to keep bees he althy. Many other challenges have arisen in recent decades. The media is full of reports about the "bee death" and not without reason. Pesticides, diseases and the varroa mite put a massive strain on the insects. Unfortunately, beekeeping does not mean sitting on a bench with a freshly stuffed pipe and watching the flight hole at the end of your life. You can read here why it's still worth the effort.
Becoming a hobby beekeeper: instructions and checklist
You have come to the conclusion that bees make sense in the garden and should be supported and have thought about your suitability as a beekeeper. If you are not deterred by Varroa and Co. and want to get started with beekeeping despite various adversities, we recommend the following procedure:
1. Beekeeping course: It is not necessary to do a skilled worker training course just because you want to keep a few bees. However, with the we alth of information that inevitably comes their way, newbies canquite a buzzing of the head. One of the first sentences you hear in the club is: "Ask three beekeepers and you will get five opinions." A good beginner's course offers valuable orientation. It should be practice-oriented and designed in such a way that the young beekeepers accompany the bees throughout the bee year. With some providers, the course participants produce their own young colonies and compare their development with the economic colonies.
2. Beekeeping Association: Attending a local beekeeping association meeting and becoming a member is a good idea. Membership is not compulsory, but has great advantages: the association usually owns equipment that is used jointly and that you do not need to buy right away. A honey extractor is a good example. Many clubs have dedicated themselves to promoting young people and provide newcomers with a bee sponsor who helps with important decisions and can be present at the apiary for the first few weeks. Insurance is also included with membership, and in some cases it also opens the door to financial support.
3. Location: A suitable apiary is half the battle. Every beekeeper needs a home apiary where the bees can stay all year round. This must meet a number of requirements: it should be as sunny, warm and protected from the wind as possible. The entrance hole should face south, even better south-west. The distance from the flight hole to the property line must correspond to a legal minimum value, which is regulated in the respective state laws. In addition, there must not be any heavily frequented garden paths, playgrounds or flower beds directly in front of the entrance hole: that is where the guard bees sit, and they are programmed to attack even the most docile colony. In addition, there should of course be an uninterrupted supply of nectar and pollen in the area.
Furthermore, the apiary should be easily accessible by car or at least with a wheelbarrow, because bulky and heavy loads will often have to be transported. If the sticks are to find space on a roof or balcony, an elevator is worth its weight in gold. In the urban jungle, water is a limiting factor. Bees absolutely need a good water source in close proximity, firstly to meet their own hydration needs and secondly to keep the hive warm. Especially on hot flat roofs without shadeotherwise there is a risk of overheating. Protection from the weather is also important in exposed locations: In places sheltered from the wind, a simple brick is usually sufficient to weigh down the lid, but on a roof you have to plan for storm-proof fastening. Ultimately, however, the following applies: try it out. Sometimes a location that is perfect according to formal criteria turns out to be not so good after all, but colonies thrive on supposedly less good ones.
Tip: Even if you don't become a hobby beekeeper, you can support the bees in your garden. Simply sow a bee-friendly seed mix like our Plantura bee pasture in a bed or pot and you'll soon be watching the wild buzz.
4. Asking Homeowner/Landowner Approval: Once you have found a suitable location that is not on your own property, the next step is obtaining approval from the owner. In allotment garden settlements, cooperatives or community housing projects, the respective garden regulations determine whether bees may be kept and whether the neighbors have a right of co-determination. Regardless of whether they need to be asked or not, it is always advisable to obtain information in advance and dispel any fears. A friendly invitation to the apiary and a glass or two of honey (or mead) can often work wonders.
5. Finding the hive system: The thing with the box - depending on the region in which you want to keep bees, you will come across different historical formats with catchy names like "Dadant" or "Zander". You will hear people talking about tree hives and trough hives, wild construction, Styrofoam boxes, Nepalese and African systems. Don't get too confused. Which format you choose is ultimately not that important. It is important that the things are new so that illnesses do not stand a chance. Also think about your back: You should be able to independently lift a box full of honey (stackable unit of a hive). Because even the lightest frames weigh 15 to 20 kg when filled.
6. Planning the start time: In principle, you can start beekeeping throughout spring and summer. If you do not take over fully developed economic colonies, but get a young colony, it is advisable to start in the spring. The colony then has a better chance of becoming strong enough by midsummer to survive the winter in one piece.
7. Order bees from the breeder: The earlier the breeder diesorder received, the better. New breeding queens can only be raised in spring and early summer. It takes about 40 days from ordering to delivery of the fertilized queen. It is recommended to start with three colonies in order to have the chance to grow colonies independently after winter losses in the following year.
8. Order/buy/prepare/craft materials: Now the real work begins. About a month before the bees can move into their new home, the hives must have ended up with the young beekeeper if they are made of wood. Because they should be let in twice with a non-toxic wood stain and then have another two weeks to "evaporate". Depending on the system, wooden frames have to be built, wired and wax foundations cast and soldered. The apiary needs a pedestal for the hives. Water must be provided if there is no natural source. The wax for the foundation must be free of pesticide residues. Ask for a certificate! You still need protective clothing and all kinds of small equipment, which you can find on our checklist at the end of the article. Have sugar syrup ready for feeding. They also need empty combs from a trusted source for the queen to lay her eggs in for the first few days.
9. Bee parade: The big day is here, the hives are prepared, the bees can move in. Grab your bee sponsor and get to work. The workers fasted in a closed box for three days until possible germs were eliminated from the digestive tract. Now, together with their new queen, they are "wrapped" in the new hive including the frames and fed. The queen is protected in a small cage sealed with feed dough, the workers are slowly getting used to her. After about three days, the workers have eaten their way to the queen and freed her. She immediately heads to the finished combs to begin laying eggs. A bee colony is born. Congratulations and welcome to the ranks of beekeepers!
Hobby beekeeper checklist: everything important at a glance
The required accessories will be as different as the operating methods are different. There is an almost unmanageable variety of useful and less useful items in specialist shops, which would go beyond the scope of this discussion. We therefore restrict ourselves to the followingChecklist for the absolutely indispensable basic equipment for the beginning. Beekeeping with modern magazine hives as the most common mode of operation serves as a guideline.
| Checklist for three bee colonies | Quantity |
|---|---|
| PurebredQueen | 3 |
| Art Swarm | 3 |
| Hives (bottoms, lids, feeding frames) | 3 |
| Wood stain | 2 l |
| Frames | 15 |
| Barrier | 3 |
| frames | 100 |
| Organic Foundations | 100 |
| Invertase Sugar Syrup | 150 l |
| Feed Bowl | 3 |
| Stick Chisel | 1 |
| Broom Natural Bristle | 1 |
| Smokers | 1 |
| Leather Gloves | 1 |
| Beekeeping Protective Clothing | 1 |
| Varroa Diagnostic Grid | 3 |
| Formic Acid 85% | 1 l |
| Universal evaporator | 3 |
| dosing syringe | 1 |
| Protective gloves, acid-resistant | 1 |
| Goggles | 1 |
| Respirator mask | 1 |