Honey Bees

The Role of Honey Bees

In addition to crop pollination services, honey bees are responsible for producing all U.S. honey. While other bees are also important as pollinators of crops and wild plants, all the honey we enjoy is produced by honey bees. The Upper Midwest is the highest honey-producing region in the nation. Yields of honey per colony are highest in North Dakota, South Dakota, Minnesota, and Montana. Most of the honey in this region comes from nectar of clover and alfalfa flowers. Minnesota prides itself on delicious and unique honey produced from native Basswood (Tilia americana) trees. Sadly, honey yields even in the Upper Midwest are declining due to the replacement of flowering plants with large monocultures of corn and soybeans. Also, the ubiquitous use of herbicides kills off flowering nectar plants along crop borders, ditches, and roadsides.

Planting more nectar producing – bee friendly plants will help our bees stay healthy and help our beekeepers produce more honey! If you have a large tract of land or yard, consider sowing it in clover or alfalfa. These legumes will fix nitrogen, improving the health of your soil while providing nectar and pollen for bees. Or, plant native flowering plants, many of which are good nectar and pollen producers.

For more about honey, visit www.honey.com

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Becoming a New Beekeeper

Getting started in beekeeping

New beekeepers find that managing honey bees can provide a variety of different benefits for them. Here are a few examples:

Beekeeping can be a human-insect partnership: you provide the bees with a home and care as needed, and the bees can provide you with a rich experience (Figure 2); honey; and pollination of nearby flowers that results in seeds, fruits, and vegetables.
Beekeeping requires presence and focus that many find to be meditative.
Beekeeping is a hobby where you continue to learn throughout your lifetime.
Finding a sense of identity or community in beekeeping.
Keeping bees can be an augmentation to or your primary income.

There are many reasons to become a beekeeper, but it is not for everyone and that is okay! Many people are drawn to beekeeping and invest significant time and funds in purchasing bees and equipment only to find that it's not for them. It is important to find out if you really want to keep bees before making the investment. Some of the reasons people quit beekeeping include:

Being uncomfortable working with thousands of stinging insects.
Not being able to acclimate to honey bee stings.
Becoming frustrated with the yearly expenses necessary to maintain healthy colonies.
Needing to lift and move heavy bee boxes and equipment.
Recognizing difficulties with colonies not being able to make adequate honey for winter and harvest.
Facing disappointment with yearly colony deaths.
Realizing that the best way to help bees is to improve access to habitat, not becoming a beekeeper.

Before jumping in, research and take time to decide whether beekeeping is for you. You can join a beekeeping club, find a mentor, or take a hands-on course to learn more about honey bees and gain experience managing a colony. To see and experience a honey bee colony before buying bees, find a mentor or take a hands-on course. Beekeeping clubs can help guide you in this process if you do not know where to start.

Interested in learning more?

Timeline and time commitment

Each “bee year” begins in spring and goes until late fall. Take time to learn about beekeeping before the spring when you want to start keeping your own bees. Plan on keeping bees when you have enough time to devote to their care. Good colony and equipment management can take a couple of days every week depending on a colony’s needs. Spring and late summer tend to be the busiest times. July tends to be a slower time for beekeeping. Use winter to prepare for the upcoming bee-year.

Take a class

The University of Minnesota puts on beekeeping classes for beginning beekeepers. There are also other online and in-person classes. Take a class that is relevant to your climate - all beekeeping is local and a management course set in a place like Florida may not be relevant if your winter is months long.

Learn through reading, watching, and listening

Read through our Beekeeping in Northern Climates, Third Edition manual to learn more about beekeeping. It is downloadable for free or available for purchase as a hard copy (note: do not purchase the manual if you plan on taking one of our classes as you will receive a copy as part of the course fee).
See our YouTube channel for videos on beekeeping. There are many other videos on beekeeping out there and it can be very difficult to determine which contain good information, especially when first starting out. Default to going to trusted sources like universities and experienced beekeepers that are able to keep their bees alive.
Listen to podcasts. Dr. Becky Masterman, coordinator of the UMN Apiculture Extension Program, is a co-host of the Beekeeping Today Podcast. See their page and listen to the episodes on getting started in beekeeping.

Find a mentor

A good beekeeping mentor is invaluable when learning about honey bees. They can help you understand the normal and healthy progression of a colony over the season, guide you in management, and answer your questions. If you don’t know where to start searching for a mentor, try joining a beekeeping club.

Join a beekeeping club

Beekeeping clubs are an excellent way to connect with and learn from beekeepers. Clubs are welcoming to new beekeepers and there are many people that are willing to answer practical questions. You may even find a mentor. Find a local club in your area - see our list of clubs in Minnesota and nationally.

Get hands-on experience

It is one thing to learn about beekeeping through reading and watching videos. It is an entirely different experience to open up a colony and be present among thousands of bees. Get inside a colony before getting honey bees. Some people love it, and others do not enjoy it all. Find out before making the investment.

Find a location to keep bees

Do you need a permit? Some cities and towns require permits. See our list for Minnesota.

Is there enough food for the bees? Bees need flowers for nectar (carbohydrates) and pollen (proteins, fats, macro and micro nutrients). A high density of bees in an area can lead to competition with other honey bees and wild bees if resources are scarce. If floral resources are abundant, all bees can thrive.

Understand the costs

Study the costs using our beekeeping cost sheet.

Beekeeping is a life-long learning journey for those that discover honey bees as a passion. The tremendous amount of information around beekeeping can feel overwhelming. Don't be discouraged. Everyone started out not knowing anything about beekeeping. Curiosity and a love of learning can go a long way in becoming a good beekeeper.