I absolutely LOVE keeping bees. When I first started as a brand-new Beekeeper, I was extremely nervous. I had heard so much about the challenges of keeping bees, but really just knew they were going to be a great addition to my homestead.
I did a little research and decided to get started. I knew there would be a learning period – but, like everything else on a homestead, you sometimes just have to jump-in and get dirty. There are a lot of important reasons bees are great for the homestead, but I want to talk about just two reasons why your homestead needs you to be a beekeeper.
While not a typical livestock situation, there are two additional living things you may want to consider for your homestead – bees and fish. As I mentioned, for this article I want to start with beekeeping.
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Bees are pollinators, so likely on your homestead you are growing a garden, you want to do your best to attract them into that area to pollinate your plants so that you’ll have a great harvest. If you can’t attract pollinators, you’ll have to do it by hand. Many homesteaders are growing vegetables for being able to survive during difficult times or off-grid. That’s an even greater reason to make sure you have good pollinators helping with your garden.
Bees are also perfect for getting honey from that you can use as a natural sweetener, and it’s been proven that honey offers medicinal benefits, so it can contribute in that way, too.
If you have honey created locally with your own bees, you can take that daily as a way to alleviate allergies, which can be very troublesome for some individuals, making them feel as if they have the flu.
Even the honeycombs themselves have multiple uses – including being used to make candles, polish for things, fire starter, and more. You’ll need to build or buy a dome-shaped hive to start a colony in.
There are different breeds of bees, so try to get a calm variety such as Italian or Carniolan bees. The dome should have a removable frame for you to collect the honey in, and you’ll need a smoker and beekeeper outfit to work in. Protect your bees from pesticides, disease and predators like raccoons or bears.
You will enjoy the results from your efforts. Bees are a wonderful addition to your homestead and will provide great benefits. After a while, you will learn how to grow your bee population so that you might even be able to financially benefit from your local community market. For me, what the bees provide our homestead is far more valuable than the potential income.
