Before you order your first colony you need to learn a lot of things.
Buying a hive, without knowing how to take care of it, is just not a good way of starting beekeeping.
Some beginners buy their first hive without knowing anything (or knowing very little) about beekeeping, thinking that they will learn, everything they need, along the way.
Although, some people really learn better, and like learning, hands on - this is not how you should start with the beekeeping.
You need to understand that bees are not pets (although many beekeepers love them as they are). They are not domestic animals, either.
Bees are wild creatures! And they have their own rules and behaviors!
They will never do something just because you want them to do it. You can never domesticate them.
You need to know their rules!
Buying the bees without basic knowledge of how to take care of them, what you will see when you open the hive, how to recognize the members of the bee colony, or their brood, what to look for when you open the hive, when and how to inspect the hive and so much more, will just cause you lots of problems, frustration, losing the hives and harming your bees or even neighboring bees.
There will be a ton of things to learn hands on, but you need to know some things first - you need to know the basics.
Beekeeping is not that simple, especially in the beginning. And that’s why it’s so important to learn basics before you actually start a hive. It will save you a lot of frustration and even money.
Bees are fascinating creatures, so enjoy your learning process. And we are here to help you as much as we can.
Let’s now see what are your best options for starting this learning journey.
YouTube
Most beginners will start by watching lots of YouTube videos.
And it’s tempting to do so.
But we have to disappoint you here - it’s a bad place to start!
YouTube videos can be helpful. But…
Lots of those videos are made by beginners themselves or those who have bees for some time but don’t actually have enough experience or don’t understand them well enough.
Beekeeping is local - what works for someone else doesn’t mean will work for you.
So many things depend on climate conditions and plants that are growing in your area, as well as on your own circumstances and goals.
In other words:
There are lots of good videos on YouTube, but there are even more bad ones.
Or those that are not applicable on your particular situation.
And if you don’t have any knowledge and experience you won’t be able to determine what is good and what is bad, and you’ll be very easily misled in the wrong direction.
YouTube, as well as the whole internet, is full of myths and misinformation.
So, don’t watch YouTube videos until you have at least some knowledge and practical experience to be able to distinguish good videos from bad ones.
Beekeeping is an always ongoing learning process - no matter how much you are in it, you’ll always have something new to learn.
Online beginner groups
There are lots of beginner beekeeping groups on different platforms.
Although, this may sound like a logical place to start learning (what’s better place to start than beginner group?), those groups have one really big problem:
Most of the people on those beginner groups are, guess what … beginners!
Most of the answers, on those beginner questions, are given by other beginners who don’t have neither knowledge nor experience.
Most of those answers contain lots of misinformation, that beginners heard from other beginners and just repeat again and again, spreading them further and further, without actually knowing it or understanding what they are talking about.
There is really small number of experienced beekeepers on those beginner groups and they can not answer every single question.
Furthermore, you can not see how many years of experience has someone who is answering.
And again, beekeeping is local.
Online beekeeping groups can be useful. They can be the places for exchanging the ideas and information.
But…
You need to have some knowledge and experience to be able to determine what is a good and what is a bad idea, and to be helpful to others without misleading them.
Internet - blogs, social media and so on…
The thing with the rest of the Internet is the same as with YouTube and online groups.
You can find lots of great stuff online, but there are also even more bad ones.
You’ll need some knowledge and practical experience first to be able to find that good stuff among so many myths and misinformation.
So start gaining some knowledge by reading some books first.
Oh, yes… books!
Books
Today, everyone can make a video, write a blog, or post on social media. But it’s not that easy to write a book.
Reading a beekeeping book should be the first thing you should do when you decide to start beekeeping.
Even better if you read a few.
Books will teach you basic terms beekeepers are using, how the bee colony looks like, how it functions, who are the members… You’ll learn their cycles, rules and behaviors. It will walk you through your job as a beekeeper, potential problems and how to solve them, equipment you need to buy, particular activities you need to do throughout the year and so on…
See if you can find a book (written by a beekeeper from your country) which will walk you through beekeeping activities month by month. It will be really helpful if you can find such a book. Always remember - beekeeping is local.
You may notice that there are some differences in a way how to do something, in different books.
That’s fine. Things in beekeeping can be done in many different ways.
Usually one way is not better than another - they are just different, they all have their advantages and disadvantages. It’s all about your own preferences, goals, climate conditions, particular hive and particular situation…
So, focus on understanding principles and bee behaviors.
Try to understand why and how something is working, rather then trying to memorize the exact method of doing something without understanding it.
Read as much as you can - It will broaden your understanding of honey bee colonies and their behaviors.
Beekeeping journals
Specialized beekeeping journals and magazines may be interesting and useful for reading but they are usually hard to understand for someone who is just learning beekeeping vocabulary and basics.
So, focus on books first. Once you know the basics you can try to read some specialized beekeeping journals.
Practice
And once you you are familiar with the terminology and some basics, you need to get some practical knowledge.
Books are excellent for starting (and you should definitely start with a book), but you need to familiarize yourself with how it all looks in reality, before you try to open the hive alone by yourself.
Classes
Classes are ok, but most usually not enough.
If you decide to take some classes, choose those that are held on a real apiary, and not just classroom lectures.
You can find online classes as well. But, although definitely better than nothing, those online classes can’t give you the experience as you can get by going to the apiary and looking into an open hive yourself, holding a frame, feeling the buzzing bees around your head…
But classes usually don’t last throughout the whole season, so they can’t provide you with the whole year experience which is so important.
Honey bee colony has its cycle - from the first brood at the end of the winter and spring growth, to preparations for the winter and overwintering, and many different phases in between (honey flows, swarming, dearth and lots of other things…).
Understanding all those phases is crucial for successful beekeeping.
Just a few classes simply cannot cover all that. You need to experience it all - throughout the year.
A few classes on an apiary are definitely better than nothing. You’ll see how the inside of the hive looks like. You’ll learn to recognize the members of the colony (queen, workers and drones), different stages of the brood… You’ll probably learn how to perform some of the actions, like introducing a new queen to the colony, and so on… And this is all very useful.
But it’s not enough!
You need to go through the whole cycle, the whole season - from early spring to winter.
You need to experience it all.
And you need someone to walk you through.
So what to do then? What is the best way to learn all of this?
Find a local experienced beekeeper
You should find a local experienced beekeeper (who is willing to help you to learn) and help him on his apiary for a year.
Let’s say it again:
Find a local experienced (with at least 10 years of experience) beekeeper to help him on his apiary (and learn from him) for one whole beekeeping season (from early spring to winter).
Let’s explain this:
Local
Beekeeping is local.
So, having someone locally who can walk you through your local conditions and honey flows is irreplaceable.
Experienced
Beekeepers like to say that you are becoming a beekeeper after 10 years of keeping bees.
You need to learn from someone who has seen enough beekeeping seasons, solved enough problems and made enough mistakes to be able to pass a good knowledge to you and help you.
Help him on his apiary
Going with him to his apiary and helping him will give you an insight of how someone experienced is doing things. You’ll learn a lot more that way, than any other way.
For one whole beekeeping season
Only that way you can actually see and understand the whole cycle of a bee colony - from its early spring development, through all honey flows you have in your area, swarming season, dearth,… to the winter preparations.
That one year will save you years of trying to figure it out all by yourself.
Finding a local beekeeper from whom you can learn is so important, and we’ll talk about that more in our next lesson.