Do you have a location for honey bees and are looking for a beekeeper to place a beehive there? Or perhaps you a beekeeper who is looking for a location to place your honey bee colony.
Often we receive inquires such as this “I have a great location for honey bees, BUT – I’m not interested in taking care of them. Would someone like to put hives on my property?”
The answer is “Perhaps”, however there are several considerations of which to be aware. Both the Beekeeper and the Host-Location Owner should reflect on the following.
- Honey-bee colonies are HUGE compared to other bee species and require season long forage.
- A honey bees are social bees, colony will contain 20,000 to 80,000 bees depending on the season. A colony is continually active from early spring through late fall. – Honey-bee do not hibernate, they remain active, consuming stored honey for energy.
- Solitary bees (Bumble bees, Mason Bees, Carpenter Bees, Leaf Cutter Bees, Ground Bees) have much smaller colonies, perhaps a couple of hundred max, and are active for only a few weeks, depending on the species.
- Forage:
- Honey-bees require season-long forage. Ideally, adequate forage will be available from late March through late September, with peak amounts in April, May and June, followed by a bump in availability in the fall. (July, August and Early September are often periods of dearth, extreme shortage of food).
- Each species of solitary (above) and communal bees (Bumble bees, Wasps, Hornets, Yellow Jackets) have a much narrower selection of appropriate forage, again depending on species.`
- Not all plants are good nectar and pollen sources for honey-bees. Many of our ornamental flowers are not easily accessible to honey bees.
- Honey bees primarily forage where there is the greatest concentration of nectar producing plants. Most gardens and yards, while they look nice to the owner, are “small potatoes” to honey bees. Honey bees will spend most of their time where there are acres of forage.
- Don’t expect a profit. Hobby beekeepers do this for personal enjoyment, not profit from selling honey. (Only commercial beekeepers, those with 100s to 1,000s of hives, can make a profit).
- Time and cost of travel are considerations. It takes time to adequately inspect and care for a colony.
- Beekeeper Considerations: Multiple hives at a location is more efficient; “drive up to” access is important, unscheduled availability is best.
- Site-Owner Considerations: The more you can satisfy these criteria the better. – Direct ease of access is important tp a beekeeper.
Elaboration on the above:
- Available forage in your area, season long, is very important:
- Bees forage for a mile and more in all directions, an area of 3 to 5 square miles.
- The surrounding area should have ample, season long forage. (Lots of flowers in one’s yard, or several fruit trees is not enough.)
- A reliable water source nearby is important: creek, pond, etc. (Also, some bees may visit a nearby swimming pool).
- Ease of accessibility to the hive:
- Ideally, the beekeeper will need unscheduled access to the hive. Hobby beekeepers work when they have time in their personal schedules and when the bees require attention. How often depends on the season of the year, and the needs of the colony.
- Ideally the beekeeper can bring a car, cart or other vehicle right up to the hive, honey boxes can be heavy, equipment and supplies should be handy.
- This is a season long commitment, until late fall. Moving an active hive is no small matter.
- A honey bee swarm cluster may occur. This is more likely in the spring, but neighbors may be surprised to find a mass of 30,000 honey-bees hanging from a tree limb or massed up on a fence post. Honey-bees are very docile at this time, but will need attention quickly or they may get away.
- There may be no honey. Sometimes a colony does not produce enough honey for itself, let alone enough extra for beekeepers to harvest. In such cases the beekeeper will need to feed the hive.
- The beekeeper is not making money. Remember, this is a hobby, what goes out typically exceeds any possible income. Beekeeping equipment is costly. An individual hive set-up could easily represent a $400 investment by the beekeeper. There are other expenses and travel time is involved.
- There may be other considerations. This depends on the year and the individuals involved.
Are you still interested? Either in a location to place a beehive, or willing to have a hive placed on your property. If so, leave a message under the “Contact Us” tab above: “CIBA General Questions.”
Below: Some FYI-Only items about bees and beekeepers.
Honey Bee Colonies, Swarms and Hives.
- Colonies are the bees themselves: a single queen, 40,000 to 90,000 worker bees, and some male drones.
- Hives are the boxes in which colonies are housed. Each colony is a living functioning “body” of honey bees. Colonies, both domestic (cared for) and feral (wild) are what were trying to preserve.]
- Swarms are a natural part of honey bee colony reproduction. A large mass of honey bees, including the old queen, leave the existing colony en masse. Initially they form a cluster ball, mass, on a nearby branch, bushes, or other object. At this stage they are very, very docile. They will stay until deciding on a location for their new home. – At this time a beekeeper will want to capture them and start a new colony. – Once a swarm establishes a colony inside of a structure (hollow tree, walls of a home, etc) they are extremely difficult to remove and will likely require the skills of an experienced beekeeper.
Beekeepers: Hobby, Commercial, Side Line
- Hobby Beekeepers have few colonies, usually less than 5. There are thousands of hobby beekeepers. Beekeeping is something we do for enjoyment and relaxation. As with most hobbyists we like to keep our passion close, easy to do when time is available. Our honey, if we harvest much, primarily goes to personal use, family and friends; we may sell some to defray the costs of our hobby. – Few hobby beekeepers wish to take on more colonies at other locations, particularly if only 1 or 2 colonies are involved.
- One or two colonies/hives on your property would likely come from a hobby-scale beekeeper. A complete colony/hive setup can easily represent $400 to $500. Their time, travel and other costs must be taken into account. In these situations the beekeeper will usually share a little honey. How much is shared depends on the harvest; there may be little to no harvest in a given year.
- Large Commercial Beekeepers have hundreds, usually thousands of colonies. Their income is derived from many sources, including providing pollination services. Colonies are transported around the country. Other income is derived from selling starter nucleus colonies (Nucs) to other beekeepers, harvesting honey and beeswax, some commercial beekeepers provide tours.
- All successful businesses must be cost-effective, make a profit. Hives/Colonies are kept in large bee-yards where they can be efficiently managed, monitored for health, treated and fed as necessary, etc. Time is money, including travel time. — A few colonies at another location are not practical.
- Sideline Beekeepers may have 50 or more colonies, but certainly not thousands. They do expect some profit, however this rarely a sole source of income. They often sell “local honey” from their home, at farmers markets and other local commercial outlets. They may utilize multiple bee-yards of 15 to 25 colonies each, depending on the capacity of the surrounding area to support them. Time and travel are important here as well. Bees must be efficiently managed, monitored for health, treated and fed as needed, etc.