Learning the Art of Keeping Bees With BigPanda -- One
Don’t Worry—the next installment of The Hunt will be along shortly.
Today I wanted to make a quick post about one of my hobbies.
As an amateur beekeeper for the past several years, I have decided to begin posting a series about beekeeping as a hobby. In case you are wondering what chops I have to be talking about this, aside from having done it for nearly two decades, I have also written a book that has sold over 8,000 copies. Before I wrote the book, I set about learning everything I could about the art of beekeeping. I found several wonderful resources. Here are a few of my favorites:
A Book of Bees: And How to Keep Them
Hive Management: A Seasonal Guide for Beekeepers (Storey's Down-To-Earth Guides)
And here is my book: The Beekeeper's Guide: Fun and Simple Steps to Apiary Success and Self Sufficiency
What I love about the first two books is they walk you through the joy of keeping bees. They aren't just step by step guides on how to keep bees. Rather they are the distilled wisdom of long-time beekeepers told in a story format that is a delight to read.
What I love about the third book? Well--it's mine, of course.
note: this is not me!
Have you ever thought about keeping bees? The first thing that pops into most people’s mind at the thought is either loads of delicious honey or painful stings. I can tell you right off, while beekeeping will deliver both, it will also give you a delightful sense of connection to the earth. As you work with the little creatures, you begin to appreciate the amount of labor that goes into every single drop of honey.
Did you know? It takes a honey bee colony over 2 million visits to flowers and a combined flight distance of approximately 55 miles to gather just one pound of honey.
There is nothing so delightful as gathering the honey harvest in the late fall and then sitting down in your kitchen to enjoy a few teaspoons of honey on toast. Mmmmm.
Over the next few months, I will make weekly posts about beekeeping. I will talk about everything from gathering the tools needed to get started to installing a new colony in your backyard to checking your bees for overall health. Most especially, I will post videos on D-Tube to show you exactly how to do each step.
If you are interested in following along and learning about keeping bees—welcome!
I’m glad you are here.
My beekeeping book, The Beekeeper's Guide: Fun and Simple Steps to Apiary Success and Self Sufficiency
My fantasy novella, An Assassin's Tool (The Nyepsium Wars)
© 2018, Stone Golem Publishing, All rights reserved--no part of this may be used without express written consent.
**All pictures used are labeled for reuse. They come from Pixabay
Follow @bigpanda for more flash fiction and some hard earned beekeeping wisdom.
I think bees are awesome! Thanks for this post--looking forward to the next one aboutb ees
I can not forget that run from Bees when we messed with them and they followed us in my childhood. Phewww
Yeah--there was a neighbor kid that used to come and bang on my hives. I kept telling him not to. One day, he got them really mad. Boy, did he pay the price. He never banged on the hives again after that.
Hahah, so you are keeping them?
And do they sting their masters? I mean do they know like pets that it's my master ?
They sting me plenty. They are definitely not trainable. But I work with them carefully so I only get stung once or twice a year. Not too bad.
Yes, I keep them.
It's a better exchange for some pure honey ;P
I'm interested! A couple of years ago, I spotted a Crowdfunding project - Flowhive - and I asked if I could have one of the hives.
We went to beekeeping classes and everything but it's had to be put on hold for the moment.
Once we're sorted out again, I'll get a Queen and set-up the hive. We're also going to lear about the Epi-pen before we start... can't be too careful with bee-stings :)
The flowhive is so very cool. My neighbor has one. He just picked it up last year and his colony died (darn city sprayed the gully next to his house and the overspray killed his bees).
I really wanted one but hesitated at the cost. I figure I will watch his bees next year to see how they do in the Flowhive. If they do well, I may spring for one.
Definitely, if anyone nearby or coming to visit is allergic you need an epi-pen. Some people are so allergic.
That's one of the reasons we're waiting. City living (even town living) is too claustrophobic for bees.
We'd like to move to a more remote property. It's going to be difficult enough to transport the fish, I didn't want the hassle of bees too!
Wanted to let you know I posted your trading card today!
Bees scare me, I had a wasp nest in my garden. I know they are only harmful when you aggravate them. I do appreciate the lovely honey they bring! But I wont mess with them! No no no lol. Great post.
I swear to you , wasps are the demon's own spawn. I hate wasps and they hate me. Sometimes they attack me just for nothing. Once, I got bit by a wasp and the entire right side of my face swelled up overnight. When my wife saw me in the morning--she couldn't stop laughing. I looked ridiculous--like some kind of criminal mug shot or something.
Bees on the other hand, are much more gentle creatures. They only become aggresive when someone gets into their hive and bothers them--or if someone startles them when they are out and about collecting nectar and pollen.
Oh no, did you have an allergic reaction. Im allergic to mostly everything lol. Its just crazy. Did you have the sting stuck in? I got stung on my neck and the sting was inbedded in my skin. I had to go hospital and have treatement. That happened whilst shopping. There are so many different types of buzzing creatures, honey bees, wasps, queen bee, bumblebee, carpenter bee, I think the list is endless. I just keep away, sweet scents etc attracts them. I stopped wearing anything sweet lol.. its all about the musk, repel whoever and whatever. Lol.
Honey is my favourite and Im eager
To know about how people keep them as I start dancing around whenever I saw them hehehe im afraid of insects ☺ by the way nice post 🐼
I'm glad to hear it--I think you will enjoy watching the videos I will post as we go along. Every once in a while, one of the bees will fly up my pant leg--then I do the bee dance as well.
Ahahaha yes they are so tiny and its hard to find them in your clothes
This is a great information, hopefully I could try on how to keep bees. I love honeys and it has great antioxidants.
Yes, it is incredible how beneficial honey is for our health.
This method has been used by some of our tribes here in our country. One thing that reminds me about honey in Nepal is that there are ethnic grops that collects hallucinogenic honey but I only saw it on TV. Yes, honey is incredibly amazing since I’ve been drinking this ever since at night time, juse one tbsp ang youll be alright:)
Wow! I love honey so I'm interested to know more about your work :) And I'm waiting for your next story eheheh
Honey is so delicious. Sometimes I bake homemade bread with some honey from our yard--one of my favorite treats!
wow great work.
I like honey.
Isn't it delicious! I love it too.
It shows in the way you write that you love what you do. in my case I am a bit allergic to the bite of these beautiful insects alone so I do not dare to do much but are a fascinating beings, their behavior, the tasks assigned to them meet without expecting anything in return they do everything for good common and his queen.
This is how we should be to strive for the common good not own.
Thanks for sharing and have a good day @bigpanda
Funny thing that--after keeping them for nearly 20 years, I have developed a bit of an allergy as well. It isn't anything serious, I just swell up more than I used to. Hopefully it doesn't progress any more from here. we will see.
I think they are fascinating as well. As a kid, I used to watch the ants in my yard for hours. I think that joy of watching a hive creature is what eventually led me to keeping bees. Thanks for stopping by and have a great day as well.
They have a behavior that is hypnotic to me, you ask yourself hundreds of questions when you see them.