Save the bees: How to start a beekeeping hobby

Their stings are definitely painful, but we need bees: They are essential for a healthy natural world and the food we eat.

Most of us never think much about the importance of these pollinators, but we are highly dependent on them. A third of the world’s food production depends on bees, according to the United Nations. Pollinators such as bees, moths, birds and bats help trees and crops grow. Honeybees create six products that humans eat, including pollen, honey and beeswax.

But bees are in danger. Pesticides, climate change, drought, pollution and disease threaten them daily. Many people fear bees instead of respecting them for their awesome value to the planet.

One way to help the bees is to maintain your own colony. In Florida, there are about 5,000 registered beekeepers nurturing about 760,000 colonies, according to Amy Vu, specialized program extension agent for the Honey Bee Research and Extension Lab at the University of Florida/Institute for Food and Agricultural Sciences.

Here’s what the professionals say about sustaining your own colony, as well as other ways to encourage healthy pollinator habitats. We need bees, and they need us to defend them.

How to start a beekeeping hobby

Experts say the most important first step is to join a local beekeeping club or find a mentor.

In Broward County, there’s the Broward Beekeepers Association, which meets on the second Thursday of each month. Go to browardbees.org. In Palm Beach County, check out the Palm Beach County Beekeepers Association. which gathers on the first Friday of each month. Go to palmbeachbeekeepers.org.

Attend meetings and work with a mentor for three or four months before setting up your colonies, said John Coldwell, president of The Urban Beekeepers Apiary Supply and Management Co. in Oakland Park.

“Everyone gets real excited and they don’t get the background they need,” Coldwell said. “Then their bees die and they drop out.”

Steps to take & things to keep in mind

• The Florida Department of Agriculture requires that you register with the state, even if you only have one colony. 
• Check that there are no deed restrictions on your land that prevent the installation of beehives, as these would supersede Florida’s beekeeping statutes.
• Make sure your land is fenced in, as required by law. You can have three colonies if your property is less than a quarter acre; six colonies if it’s bigger than a quarter acre but smaller than a half.
• Florida law requires you keep them at least 150 feet away from public places such as schools and parks.
• Maintain a nearby water source so the bees don’t head over to your neighbor’s swimming pool, Coldwell said.

The equipment

An eight-frame starter hive costs about $180. If you’re handy, you can spend about $100 on lumber and build your own, made of wood and inner and outer covers, Coldwell said. You’ll also need a ventilated jacket, veil and tools, which cost about $200.

Other necessary components include a smoker, which allows the beekeeper to safely inspect the hive; a queen excluder that separates the queen bee and her eggs from the worker bees that are making honey; and “honey supers” that let humans extract the sweet stuff.

Coldwell said a complete setup ranges from $700 to $1,200.

The bees

Buy your bees from a local association. They will cost about $200 for a nucleus, or you may find an association giving them away.

Tell your neighbors about your new hobby

You may encounter resistance, as some people won’t be happy there are bees next door, Coldwell said. But he has a strategy that usually turns them around: “A jar of honey makes the hostility go away.”

Make a commitment

Know that you’re beginning a hobby that will absorb a lot of your time, Vu said. Beginners can encounter enormous pitfalls, including the Varroa mite, a parasite that is hard to control.

“Beekeeping is hard work,” she said. “You can’t just buy a hive and leave it on your property. You have to feed and water the bees and medicate the hive.”

Coldwell described the first nine months of beekeeping as “idiot-proof,” as the owner has new bees, new equipment and no diseases.

Then the challenges begin, he said. Besides sickness, potential problems include your back starting to hurt from lifting heavy equipment, Florida’s heat becoming unbearable inside the protective jacket, and the stress of keeping so many creatures alive.

Still, the pride beekeepers feel in their work is unmatched by any other hobby, Coldwell said.

“It’s a Zen, ethereal process,” he said. “You’re monitoring a colony of 50,000 bees, and every one of them has a job from the day they hatch.”

And their output is delicious: He said one well-managed hive can produce 40 pounds of honey a year.

Other ways to help bees

If you decide beekeeping is not for you, here are other ways to support pollinators and the people working to keep them healthy and abundant.

• Buy local honey: Farmers’ markets sell honey from South Florida beekeepers; check grocery store shelves for Florida-made honey, pollen and beeswax.
• Buy pollinators and plant them in your yard: Pollinating plants that grow well in South Florida include Jamaica capers, tropical sage and black-eyed Susans. For more details, go to SunSentinel.com/plantguide.
• Read chemical labels: Follow instructions on pesticide containers carefully and don’t use more than prescribed, Coldwell said.
• Take a class: At 10 a.m. Saturday, April 13, Bonnet House Museum & Gardens in Fort Lauderdale is offering “Bees in our Bonnet,” designed to dispel misconceptions about bees and explore what humans can do to help them. There will also be a honey tasting at the end. Cost is $35 for nonmembers. Go to bonnethouse.org/event.