Many people are interested in getting started with beekeeping as a way to spend time outdoors, participate in agriculture, dive into a new hobby or connect with a local community. However, before you buy honey bees and hive equipment, take time to learn about beekeeping and connect with a local beekeeping community. While beekeeping can be fascinating and rewarding, it also has a steep learning curve. Unfortunately, it’s common for new beekeepers to struggle to keep colonies alive and healthy. It’s also common for new beekeepers to underestimate the time, physical demands, and financial costs of getting started in beekeeping.
Learn about beekeeping before you buy bees and equipment
Join a local beekeeping community
Michigan has a statewide beekeeping organization, the Michigan Beekeepers Association, and is home to about 30 local beekeeping clubs. While each club is different, many offer monthly meetings with educational presentations and opportunities to network. The Michigan Beekeepers Association compiles a list of beekeeping clubs in Michigan. Beekeepers outside of Michigan can review the American Beekeeping Federation’s list of state and local beekeeping organizations.
Check out educational opportunities from Michigan State University Extension Michigan State University (MSU) Pollinator Initiative compiles resources for beekeepers. Each year, MSU provides webinars, in-hive workshops and presentations to beekeeper audiences, which are listed on MSU Extension’s page of upcoming pollinator and pollination events. You can sign up for MSU Extension’s Pollinator & Pollination email digest to receive emails about upcoming events and recent articles. You can also visit MSU Beekeeping’s YouTube channel to see videos and recordings of past webinars.
Attend Michigan Beekeepers Association spring and fall conferences
Every year, MSU Extension collaborates with the Michigan Beekeepers Association (MBA) to plan and host beekeeping conferences in the spring and fall. These conferences are attended by hundreds of beekeepers statewide, and they include speakers on a variety of topics ranging from bee health to using hive products. The spring conference is held at MSU during Agriculture and Natural Resources Week, and the fall conference moves around the state each year. MBA sends emails to its contact list with quarterly newsletters and other announcements from the association. MBA members are automatically added to the email list, and non-members who do not already receive emails from MBA can sign up for MBA’s email list.
The first step: Buy a veil and learn from other beekeepers
MSU strongly encourages people who are interested in beekeeping to spend their first year learning. Purchase a beekeeping veil or suit, join your local club to meet area beekeepers and spend a year getting in-hive experience before purchasing your own bees. You can volunteer to help other beekeepers in their apiaries. You may also be able to get in-hive experience through a beekeeping class or in-hive workshops offered by local bee clubs and university extension.
Set realistic expectations regarding mentorship
Traditionally, many people learned beekeeping by apprenticing with a mentor. A mentor who has years of experience successfully keeping bees alive can be a wonderful resource. Due to the large number of beginning beekeepers, however, many new beekeepers find they are not able to find a mentor. Often a good approach to working a mentor is to offer to help the mentor in the bee yard by lifting, taking notes or whatever task needs to get done.
Source: msu.edu
Photo Credit: pixabay-myriams-fotos
Categories: Michigan, General