Is it worth keeping bees?

Raising your own bees can be one of the most rewarding experiences when it comes to gardening. Looking after thousands of tiny workers who help the local eco-system by pollinating parks and local woodlands, and giving you free jars of sweet honey that will last forever. They normally take up much less space than any kind of animal you can raise for meat, but they aren’t for everyone and have some very serious consequences if things go wrong.

What you need to know before getting bees

The setup and maintenance can be expensive

A decent hive will cost several hundred pounds, and it’s often worth keeping more than one hive if you’re looking to produce a good amount of honey. They will also need medicines and the occasional new frame.

It might not work in your area

Bees normally don’t fly further than 3 kilometers away from their hive unless they are hungry, so if you live in the middle of a huge built-up area or a high pollution area, your bees will have a much harder time surviving and producing honey.

They can be risky

Honey bees are peaceful creatures and only interested in finding pollen. They won’t attack unless they feel their hive is in danger or you try to squash one, but it’s not hard to kill one by accident when opening up their home. They could also be risky in areas close to schools or where there are a lot of children, who are more likely to swat them.

The disadvantages of keeping bees are heavily outweighed by the benefits, and keeping your own bees will give you more than just honey. The wax produced can be used in anything from furniture polish and candles to makeup and floor wax, depending on how much time you’re willing to process them.

How much honey will I get from my bees?

A single hive will produce between 50 and 100 lbs of honey a year, which is about 33 to 66 pints. Some of the most productive hives can produce a pound per day, but these are always in optimum areas. It’s possible to have hives very close to one another, and if you have a cheap way of making the hives and frames yourself, there will be minimal setup costs, allowing for as many hives as you can be bothered to tend.

The biggest factor when it comes to how much honey your hive can produce will be the amount of flowers surrounding it, and the time of year. Most of the honey will be made during the summer when the hive is at its maximum population, which is around 50,000 for a standard colony. The number of bees will drop to as low as 5,000 during the winter and this will have a big impact on the amount of honey produced.

How much does it cost to keep bees?

The initial buying of the hive is going to be the single most expensive thing you will need, but you don’t have to get a fancy flow hive or some kind of mastery in woodwork. As long as the hive is strong and the bees have everything they need, then it will work just as well. If you do go and buy a pre-made hive, then you can expect to pay between £300 and £500 on average for something good that you can use right away.

Bees are very low maintenance and only need checking on once a week, and they do not need to be fed or given a water bowl. They collect their own water from outside the hive but do need a nearby source of something clean. The bee-keeping suit on the other hand is the other major cost you won’t be able to get around, and a good but basic one will cost around £100, and this is one thing you don’t what to try and save money on.

Bees are prone to parasites and diseases which means medicine will be the next cost, but because of their size, a small amount of medicine goes a long way. One of the most common parasites to affect bees is the Varroa mite, and some powder to treat this will only cost you about £20 a year.

After this, the other costs include basic equipment, such as a smoke blower and tubs for collecting and processing the honeycombs. There is also sometimes the need to feed the bees during the winter, but the special sugar formula for this isn’t expensive and is usually not necessary every year.

How do I get started keeping bees?

Before you even think about buying a queen bee, learn everything you can on the subject of keeping them. Experienced keepers have free videos all over the internet and information on how to look after them is not hard to find. It may also be worth trying to find your nearest bee club or community and ask some questions, or even take a trip to the nearest honey farm that allows guests. Keeping this kind of insect can be very risky for the bees themselves because if something goes wrong, it can go wrong in a big way, such as something happening to the queen which can cause the entire colony to die.

It takes the entire life work of 12 bees to make a single teaspoon of honey, but an average colony during the summer months will number around 50,000.