So your hive is all set up, and your bees are almost ready for pickup. What now?
Well, at this point most people just jump right in, and “wing it”. There’s a time in beekeeping to just start, but there are also some simple mistakes that can end up killing your bees. This post will cover some of the common mistakes new beekeepers make, so you can avoid them and be a successful beekeeper.
Hive placement
While hive placement is usually pretty straightforward- hives can thrive in full sun, partial shade, and even full shade (this is not typically recommended)- there are a few things to keep in mind. Most of these will be common sense to someone who has kept bees before but if you’re new to the beekeeping rodeo, it can be easy to over look this.
- Don’t put your hive near where chemicals or pesticides are regularly used or stored.
- Don’t put your hive in a flood zone, or if you must, use a floating hive stand and strap your hive boxes together, so in the event of a flood, they have a small chance of survival. It’s best to keep them far away from a flood zone though.
- Similarly, don’t put your hive in a swampy area. It’s not good for the bees, pests can thrive there, and you’ll have a nightmare of a time trying to work them if you’re standing in water or a seasonal marsh.
- Don’t put your hive near a sidewalk, that’s just asking for trouble!
- Keep your hive far enough from outdoor eating and sitting areas so your family and guests aren’t bothered by the bees while you’re eating.
- Keep the hives far enough from children’s play areas.
- Keep the hives out of pastures with cows or other large livestock that are known to knock hives over by accident.
Start small… but not too small
Newbees (pun intended) typically take one of two approaches. First, and generally most sensibly IF we were talking about anything but beekeeping, they decide to start small, get one hive, and see if they like beekeeping before investing more heavily. Ordinarily this would make sense. With beekeeping, it does not. Two hives are important for anyone, especially someone who has not kept bees before, so they can see what “normal” is. If you only have one hive, it’s hard to compare and know if it is where it should be. It’s hard to tell if a queen really is hot, or not, and it’s also incredibly easy to end up without a queen in this situation. A multitude of problems (more than I can get into in this post) can be solved with a frame of brood. But by the time you know you need brood, most of it is already capped in one colony. A second colony can donate this brood when needed.
The other mistake, is to jump into beekeeping and get 8, 15, or 200 hives to “start a beekeeping business”. While a business is a very reasonable investment, it is not something a new beekeeper should attempt. Get a few years under your belt, and then go for it! At the beginning, it’s just not realistic.
Feeding bees powdered sugar
I would consider myself a frugal person, and like to look for deals. Because of this, many years ago when I first started beekeeping, I was picking up some sugar to feed the bees with, and noticed that powdered sugar was substantially cheaper than regular white sugar. I thought this was great, since powdered sugar was just more finely ground white sugar… right? WRONG! I found out after I’d bought about ten bags full, that it had cornstarch added to it. Honey bees cannot digest cornstarch and it can actually kill them. What a mistake. I felt so bad I’d likely killed the bees that ate the syrup I’d made them.
Don’t use powdered sugar to feed bees.
As a side note, honey bees prefer white sugars derived from sugar cane to white sugar derived from sugar beats. Walmart is well known in the beekeeping community for carrying house brand cane derived white sugar.
Don’t sit on a package! Install it ASAP!
The longer bees are in a package the more die, the weaker they get, the more chance your queen will die or fail. Once you get a package, install it immediately.
Open your nuc
Nucs (or nucleus colonies) have a bit longer “shelf life”. They should still typically be placed in the new hive within a few days to a week, but with nucs, the pressing task is to ensure their entrance is open. One day a friend of mine contacted me, to trouble shoot what was happening with his bees. I asked for a picture, and I noticed the yellow cap on the cardboard nuc box was still in place a day after they’d picked them up. Unfortunately, the lady who sold them the bees didn’t tell them to open them when they got home. The bees were trapped, couldn’t leave to go to the bathroom or forage, or even fan to cool the hive off. Make sure to always open the entrance.
They will fly “away”
Bees will fly away to forage, haul water, use the bathroom, gather propolis and pollen and go on what’s called “orientation flights” where the sole purpose is to learn how to get back to their own hive. When you first open your hive entrance, don’t panic. Some (not all) your bees will fly away, but they know the way back home, and will come back as soon as they have finished their task.
Get some protective gear
To wear protective gear or not is a personal preference among the beekeeping community. For beginners, it’s always a good idea to have at the very least a veil, and you’d be better off with a full suit or jacket, along with a good pair of goatskin beekeeping gloves. This gives you the opportunity to get comfortable with your bees, learn their temperament, and focus on what’s going on inside your hive during inspections. Later, you’ll likely drop some of the protective items, but at first, it’s best to have what you need.
Beekeeping gizmos
Of all the different tools sold in a beekeeping catalog, a hive tool is the one you really need. The others are nice to have, but the hive tool is indispensable. Because honeybees gather sap from trees and end up creating propolis, a sticky, gluelike substance, and coating the hive with it, you need a hive tool to pry things apart.
Most people use a smoker, so this too is nice to have. (I rarely smoke my bees, but I like to know I have the option to.)
A bee brush is not a very useful tool. Many bees end up getting stuck in the bristles of even stoft brushes. Instead, shake the frame/box you need to empty with a sharp jerking motion, never letting it bang into the box you are shaking the bees into. This works far better and injured far less bees than a bee brush.
Beekeeping is a fascinating hobby, and one I would encourage just about anyone to try. Just take your time to do your research. Inevitably, you’ll make mistakes, but hopefully you’ll avoid the ones on this list.