Beekeeping is not fun! I’ll bet that has your attention. And before we all get our alarm pheromones in an uproar let me put it another way: Beekeeping is not easy. I’ll justify that statement by pointing out some facets of being a beekeeper that may not get discussed in your typical beginning beekeeping class or conversation. Keeping bees is livestock farming. It requires commitment. The colony count doesn’t change the fact that it takes effort to monitor and maintain your colonies. There are times when an inspection or manipulation needs to be performed and either the weather isn’t quite on our side or we might not feel up to it. We can’t always pick the perfect time. For example, I was in a hive once and found numerous swarm cells. While sorting out the frames and spreading them all over the place the weather turned and the bees had enough of me. There was no walking away, the job needed to get finished and wasn’t easy combating the bees and the elements. It certainly wasn’t what I would call fun either!

Then there is the cost. Beekeeping isn’t cheap, but I think the expense is really underestimated. It’s not so simple as catching a swarm and tossing them into whatever container is laying around the shed. New equipment costs dearly but, with the dangers of used equipment harboring diseases, new equipment should be used if at all possible. Add to that the
fact we always need more equipment to have some available to manage our bees. Another example from my experience is that my two colonies have grown into four 10-frame and three 5-frame colonies. Aside from honey supers and a Pro-Nuc I’m short on some equipment should I need to manipulate some bees. It’s workable, but doesn’t leave options that make for easy beekeeping.

Let’s not forget the time needed to keep on top of what’s happening. Time to learn about bees and beekeeping. Although I might actually consider this fun, you may not. The there’s the time needed to build boxes, frames, and hive stands unless you pay to have this done for you. How about the time to pull honey supers, extract honey, bottle it and clean that equipment? Time to feed the bees in dearth (and they are cranky in a dearth.). Time to monitor and treat for pests and diseases, and some of them have timing conditions. It just seems there not enough
time to do it all – yet we have to make it happen.

So that’s why I wouldn’t call keeping bees easy or, in the purest form, fun. But the attraction to keeping bees is so much deeper. The draw is that it’s truly enjoyable and bees are amazing…and important. Seeing incoming bees with pollen dance on the frames is something. Inspecting a frame of healthy open brood is magical. Tasting some honey from your bees is so, so satisfying. The pollination services they do is hypercritical to the world’s agricultural outputs. If you are willing to devote your time and effort (and money) to the bees then the rewards of keeping bees will surely outweigh the stings and the trials. And the honey isn’t too bad either.

–Contributed by Journeyman Beekeeper and CCBA Director, John Kasprak