Hi all,
I'm a big fan of the honeybee. I've been an amateur beekeeper for a while now, going into my tenth year in the hobby. Folks I run into ask me questions about my hobby, so I will answer the top five for you here:
How many hives do you have?
A hive is actually the "furniture" or the boxes where the bees live and work. I have a LOT of those. But the real question that they are asking is how many colonies do I have. Well it varies. Going into winter this past season, I had 22 colonies. Now I have about half of that due to winter losses.
Do you ever get stung?
Yes. It's part of the deal. But, usually it's infrequent and also because I did something wrong. For example, I usually get stung because I go to grasp something inside of a beehive and instead of slowly putting my hand where I want it before I put pressure on it, I just put pressure on it immediately and squeeze a bee. If a bee gets squeezed--even accidentally-- they will sting. Interestingly though, bees don't mind being touched. They literally get touched hundreds of thousands of times a day if not millions. But they don't like to get squeezed.
Why do you do it?
It's relaxing. When I say that to people suddenly they look at me like I have two heads growing out of my neck. But it's true. Even though there are 20,000 bees in the hive all with stingers, it's relaxing. If I'm upset or in a hurry, the girls (the bees) can tell and they get upset and defensive. When that happens, things go downhill for the beekeeper in a hurry. I have learned to get focused, get calm and slow my breathing. When I tell about my bad beekeeping experiences, the story usually begins with the words, "I was in a hurry....". Beekeeping forces me to slow down my thinking, slow down my movements and slow down my breathing. Hence, it's relaxing.
Does the honey help with allergies?
Official government reports say no (blah, blah, blah). My daughter had allergies before I started beekeeping. She started putting honey in tea in the morning. No more allergies. My neighbor's son had horrible allergies. He would come home and the eyes would water and the nose would run. 20 minutes after taking the honey, the water works stopped. Anecdotal evidence, but hey, I have plenty of people who buy honey from me because it's local and it helps with their allergies. Will it work for you? Try it and see. It won't hurt you. Just make sure you get it directly from a local beekeeper in your area. If you don't buy it from a beekeeper you know you never know where the honey comes from.
Why are the bees dying?
I really don't know. I've read lots of theories , research and I have my opinions. But unfortunately, political agendas take over and people want to force their agendas on people instead of using facts, research and the art of persuasion. I'd have to honestly say that a lot of my bees have died due to my own poor management. Improving my methods is a large area of opportunity. I know I've lost bees due to the Varroa mite -- this is the scourge of beekeeping. It's an awful predator that has had a disastrous impact on the honeybee. I also believe that modern farming methods have something to do with it. I know for a fact that there are thousands of beneficial insects and very few detrimental ones, but modern farming focuses on the few that are detrimental and use insecticides that kill all of them -- including bees. There are many other reasons, but it's beyond this discussion.
I'm happy to be a part of Steemit. I look forward to providing more good, solid content for you and reading yours as well.
All the best to you!