So You Want to Be a Beekeeper, Part III

A lot of the stories we publish in Bee Culture magazine have to do with “How To” do some beekeeping management technique. Most of our readers use the how-to stuff because they see the advantages of making life easier, or doing something better, faster or smarter. In the end, it’s all about increasing the odds of keeping their bees alive or keeping them healthy. Plus there’s how to save some money doing whatever a new way, or how to make more money by following our suggestions. Otherwise, why buy a magazine, right?

Some of the articles, however, are about how to do things that only a limited few will be able to do, or how to make things that only those with the right tools, enough money, that live in the right place, or have enough time could ever hope to accomplish. But if it's written well and covers an interesting topic most readers will delve into the subject, knowing full well that they will never, ever have the time or money to buy that fancy router, travel to France, buy that twenty foot truck, or set up a beeyard in Georgia. It’s just not in the cards ... given the job, the family and the rest of their hectic, but nevertheless enjoyable lives.

However, that doesn’t mean for a moment that they don’t enjoy those articles and, if circumstances were different they come away from that time spent reading with the very fulfilling feeling of “I could do that”.

I’ll bet you do too ... reading a travel magazine, a good recipe in today’s newspaper, or one more Shade Loving Perennials article in your monthly BackYard Gardening magazine, right?

Choosing the Right Honey Bee For You

That’s sort of what this is ... the third installment in How To Start Beekeeping. We’ve covered the time you’ll need, the place to put those brand new hives once you get them, and have given away hundreds of magazines to people who are interested. So if you are interested, or think you would be, if you only had the time or the place, here’s installment three in Getting Started With Bees...

What kind of bees to get? Yes, there are different kinds, just like Collies, Labs and Poodles, different kinds of bees, like different kinds of dogs, are meant to accomplish different kinds of tasks or to thrive in differing environments. All honey bees are in the same group ... like dogs ... but there are basically two, or depending on how you group them, four or even five different kinds.

Italian Honey Bees: Active, And Very Demanding Pollinators

By far the most common honey bee type, or Race, as they are called, are the Italians. Originally from, yes, Italy, they made their first appearance in the U.S. more than 100 years ago (The U.S. has no native honey bees – they are all imported from somewhere else). Semi-tropical in nature, their life style follows that type of environmental formula and they do best where there are early, early springs, and late, or even no fall and winter breaks, typical of the southern half of that Peninsular country. So they get busy very early in the season, and keep busy very late in the season. If you live in Florida, that’s a good thing. If you live in Ohio it can be a challenge because they don’t care if it’s winter outside or not when they begin raising young right about the first of the year, eating lots of food, and needing lots of room.

If you are a pollinator, or want to take advantage of early-season blooms in your area for a honey crop then these are the bees for you. Italians are, generally, what everybody thinks of when they think of a honey bee. Their color ranges from a bright yellow with light tan stripes, to a husky gold with black stripes but all forms tend toward the attractive side ... if you appreciate how honey bees actually look. The queens are especially attractive, with broad, golden abdomens, with few if any stripes. They stand out among their daughters and are easy to find in a hive full of bees.

However, because Italians rise early and stay up late, as it were, they can be very demanding for food. They will eat you out of house and home if there isn’t anything blooming when they get hungry in the spring, and they can eat everything in sight when they are cooped up for a long winter break up north. If you’re on top of them Italians are a good race of bees to have. If you get behind however, your bees can starve in a New York minute and you’re left with an empty stack of boxes and a mess. Living in the south, or being ahead of schedule all of the time is what is required to be successful with Italians.

Carniolan Honey Bees: Good in the Cold, But Often On Hold

The other common honey bee race is the Carniolans, or Carnies. These honey bees originated in the mountainous parts of eastern Europe, and as a result take a whole different slant on how they interact with their environment. Because spring comes fast in the mountains, and the summer that follows is just as fast, you have to be ready for Carnies to get going. But they can be just a bit too patient sometimes, keeping you guessing.

Because mountain winters tend to be long, cold, snowy and in general difficult, Carnies are really, really good at surviving in cold, winter locations. They don’t raise much, if any brood during the winter, thus conserving lots of food for the coming spring, and having it at the ready when needed in the spring. The queen will wait until resources are ready outside before she begins laying eggs but then will rapidly, very rapidly expand the brood nest and the population of the colony. If you are prepared as a beekeeper, this is an energetic race of bees and you need to have your equipment ready before they are ready, or they will swarm at the drop of a hat. That’s not such a good thing.

However, being resource aware if you have a drought or a long rainy spell in the summer they will then, too do the same thing...that is quit producing brood, quit using their stored food, and more or less go on hold.

As far as gentle goes ... Carniolans win hands down, but Italians are so very gentle that winning doesn’t mean much. Both of these races of bees are great to have in an urban setting, and will do well for you. One big difference you will not right off is the color ... Italians tend toward yellow/gold with brown/black stripes on the abdomen. Carniolans, on the other hand, are dark ... nearly black with only the hint of grayish stripes on their backsides. Queen, too are dark, making them stand out less from their daughters and a bit more difficult to find.

The other two races of bees ... the Caucasians and the Russians are somewhat different yet, though not very common we’ll cover those at a later time. And of course, there are the Africans .... and you don’t want those at all.

So there you have Chapter 3. To recap:

Chapter 1: How much time will beekeeping take out of your schedule

Chapter 2: Make sure you can keep bees where you are

Chapter 3: What kind of bees to get

Next... well you better get started now... get your equipment, put it together, and get your bees ordered. Take a beginner’s class... read some books, and find a local beekeeper who can answer all those questions. And if you haven’t emailed me yet for your sample magazine, now’s the time.

And have fun!