Dave's Bees demystifies the fascinating world of beekeeping! You can keep bees!
When thinking of starting beekeeping one can become quickly overwhelmed by the mountain of information available on the subject. Everything is variable and beekeepers use different hives and methods to achieve multiple goals. By the time you are done studying all the variables you could quit before you even start. At Dave's Bees, we believe regardless of what you read-- that absolutely anyone can keep bees. At a minimum you can keep some blue orchard mason bees. You'll get the benefit of this excellent pollinator while providing needed habitat for the bees and enjoyment for yourself. Blue orchard mason bee nest boxes are very easy to build. If it is honey your after then honeybees are easy too. You can build top bar hives yourself or order them with all the necessary supplies.
Browse great books on
Top Bar Hives and Natural Beekeeping
After you become comfortable with the bees you can start a honeybee rescue program providing swarm catch and removal such as Dave does in Jefferson County, Ohio.
Bees are very self sufficient and will do very well when given a home and proper forage. Honeybees will venture out as much as a couple of miles or more to gather nectar and pollen. The mason bees forage much closer to home; perhaps only venturing a few hundred yards. This small home range for the mason bees means they will stay home and pollinate your fruit trees. One advantage to this is if you go organic the bees will live in a clean habitat. In the absents of chemicals and with a wide variety of flowering plants and trees bees can take care of themselves; they have for millions of years.
Here at Dave's Bees we provide all the information needed to start beekeeping today. The three books on the right provide all the information one needs to start beekeeping and be very knowledgeable as well.
The Buzz about Bees: Biology of a Superorganism
The Barefoot Beekeeper
If you wish to keep bees in the traditional hives
called Langstroth hives after their inventor then
Beekeeping For Dummies
A seriously important film
for everyone is Vanishing of the Bees
Here is a video that is fun
and educational.
NOVA: Bees - Tales From the Hive
For educational purposes the kids will find the Queen's (my wife) book
entertaining. Buzzzzzzzz...: What Honeybees Do
This is great!
Kindle For PC
Ready - Set - Learn
Make sure you join your local beekeepers association. Here is a link to our local association near Wheeling, WV. Tri-State Beekeepers Association
Dave,
Thank you for being such a wonderful beekeeping mentor. You have shown me so much about ANAP beekeeping that is consistent with the way I want to interact with our environment. Sometimes it is challenging simply supporting a hive instead of trying to control it and the bees living in it. But I want to help the bees, not try to manipulate them and dose them with chemicals. Your methods of beekeeping remind me to ask if what I am doing is ultimately about the bees or me. It is also a wonderful reminder that nature is a much better guide than anything I can provide. Attached is a photo of the Top Bar Hive you helped me build. Keep up the important work.
Many thanks,
Daniel Caron Nature Photographer, Consultant, ANAP Beekeeper www.naturenomad.com daniel@naturenomad.com
