Raising Honey Bees

As long as bee stings don't harm you beekeeping is a way for someone who doesn't have a great deal of money and some large land .

The start up expense of the average hive is approximately $300 per hive (you only need one to get begin with). Once you have purchased a hive it can be kept in a remote corner of your back yard, it is not uncommon to see some suburban homes with a bee hive.

When starting off with a beehive one of the first things to do is call your local Cooperative Extension office. This company will tell you if the area you live in beekeeping restricts. You will also get contact numbers of your states beekeeping organization where you can register as a beekeeper .

The next thing you need to do is select a site for your honey bee hive.

Once you have selected a site for your beehive you will need to go about acquiring the equipment needed to successfully maintain a beehive. Some of the equipment you will need can be purchased used on EBay. If you are unable to find the equipment you need on EBay there are several on-line sites where you can purchase equipment. If you need further assistance finding and purchasing a beehive and other beekeeping equipment call your local Cooperative Extension office or the Federation of American Beekeepers.

Before acquiring bees for your hive it's important to make sure about your protection this means you have to purchase beekeepers gear.

So once your bee hive is already in place and you are confident that everything is in working order it's time to order your honey bees. An established Apiary is one of the places to order honey bees Your order should be placed in winter, the average beekeeper orders their bees in January and February. March and April is the usual time of shipment Most Apiary's ship their bees through the U.S. postal service. Once the bees have arrived you will be called by your carrier and ask that you pick up the bees. Many carries are not comfortable driving all over the county with a car full of young angry bees in their car and most bees are healthier if they don't have to spend several hours in a hot car.

When you pick up your bees they should have been packaged in a special carrying case that is designed just for bees. This package will be a wooden framed "house" that has a screen covering the outside. This packaging allows air to circulate to the traveling bees and keeps handlers, such as post office employees, from getting stung.

When you get your bees, do not be surprised that you will find a few dead bees laying in the bottom of the package. Traveling is hard on bees and they can't all be expected to live through the trip. The rest of the bees should be clutching the sides of the bee package.

You will notice that one bee in the container has been separated from the rest of the hive. This is your queen bee. The rest of the bees in the container will make up the rest of your bee hives hierarchy. Some Apiaries ship the queen with a couple of nurse bees. The top of the queen's container will be covered with piece of sugar candy.

You should also see a container that is filled with a sugar solution. The bees feed on the sugar solution while they are traveling. You should them offer your bees a drink. You do this by taking a spray bottle and covering the container with a very fine covering of water.