I want to learn how to be a beekeeper

Einstein once quoted;

“Mankind will not survive the honeybees’ disappearance for more than five years.”

I found an amazing interest with bees and would like to know if anyone in here has some tips and tricks

a reply to: LauGhing0ne

Just find an apiary in your area and go there. Nothing beats hands on experience.

a reply to: LauGhing0ne

depending on how serious you want to do it the equipment can be a bit pricey, if you want to do it properly. Otherwise start by purchasing a bee hive (it's preferable to find a second hand one to catch your first swarm, as the traces of honey that remains can naturally attract the swarm.)
Go around your area to try and find natural swarms (bees have "mating" spots) and place your bee hive there.

Also purchase yourself a suit of course, and offer your services on lets say craigslist offering to get rid of swarms in peoples houses, for free. You'll need a bee smoker to calm the bee then use a decent sized hoover to catch them (it doesn't kill them) you won't catch them all, but you only need the queen and a fair amount of workers.

Or if you don't want to go through all the trouble of catching them (it can be a pain and probably won't work on the first try) you can buy a swarm off a professional (about 150$ for a good one) and from that good swarm after a season you can separate them and make a new swarm and so on.

My father is an amateur bee keeper, and I have a phobia of bees wasps and whatnot lol.

Anti up and buy one of the new Australian designed hives

Called a honey on tap, they will save time and money and disturbing the little critters and is so simple you will bee buzzing with delight
All you have to do is turn a tap, it's the bees knees in honey collecting and hives

No such thing as an amateur bee keeper with this little design
Honey on tap, it probably deserves a thread on genius designs

and I don't think Einstein ever said that, not that I can find the quote anywhere

a reply to: WeSbO

Just make sure those bees are viable for honey production.

a reply to: Raggedyman

It's actually called Flow
I plan to buy and set up at least one of these once I make the move to off-grid (:

If you are in the US your county extension office will have lots of free information to give you and let you know others in the community who are currently doing what you what to do. Good luck.

I took up beekeeping years ago with my sisters father in law. Sitting in the pub one day, we decided that we both had a fear of bees and decided to "deal with it".

He continued keeping bees until he died and kept 20 hives in the New Forest. I took a break of a couple of decades as I raised a family and moved around the country.

I recently decided to restart. Next year I will get a nucleus and go from there. I will start with a single hive.

I thoroughly recommend it. It's good for your soul to commune with bees. There is something profoundly relaxing in dealing with bees.

It's also good to investigate folklore and myths where bees are concerned, because there may be hints of the truth. For example, if you talk to your bees of your problems, they will help you solve them. If you die, be sure to make sure someone tells your bees, else they will desert their hives.

I used to be a hobby beekeeper with 4 colonies. Its a rewarding experience to harvest honey and pollen and to learn all about the life of bees. You can also sell or use your wax remains. Start simple like I did. No fancy bee suit- just a cheep bee hat and veil to protect your face and some gloves. Bees like light colors- wear white and remain calm when working with them. You don't even really need to smoke them- I rarely did.

Plan on getting stung occasionally- I consider it a part of the karma for bugging them. My grandpa never wore protection- just smoked a cigar to keep them away from his face and neither did the guy who taught me, but they were hard core. Make sure your not allergic before you get into this.

You will need to find a local apiary supply or candle factory, to rent an extractor and hot knife to get the honey out of the frames, get supplies and connect with someone who can show you the ropes. I made my own boxes and frames. The measurements are online these days. No need to spend $650 on one of these fancy units- although they do look cool. I caught my bees from swarms that settled into peoples houses-just do it after sunset when they all in from their daily harvest. Realize that this does take time, effort, learning and some cash to make this happen.