Setting Up a Bee Yard: Getting the Bees

Honey bees are a subspecies of the genus Apis primarily distinguished by the production and storage of honey and the construction of perennial, colonial nests out of wax.  Some other types of related bees produce and store honey, but only members of the genus Apis are true honey bees.

The most common domesticated honey bee is the Western or European honey bee (Apis mellifera).  These honey bees are native to continents of Europe, Asia and Africa.  There are no honey bees native to the Americas.  

In 1622, European colonists brought the dark bee (A. m. mellifera) to the Americas, followed later by Italian bees (A. m. ligustica) and others. Many of the crops that depend on honey bees for pollination have also been imported since colonial times.

The most readily available varieties of honey bees found in beekeeping supply catalogs are:

Carniolan – gentle, winter well, rapid population growth, cold tolerant

Caucasian – good disposition, heavy propolizers

Italian – disease resistant, large queen, not runners, good honey producers, large winter populations

Russian – hygienic, gentle

Which type you choose depends on your climate and what kind of performance you want your bees to have.  

You can also obtain honey bees from local beekeepers or from swarms of feral bees.  When obtaining the bees from any source, you want healthy bees.  You take your chances with feral bees but they can usually be obtained free in the wild or from someone's house or yard during swarming season.

Beekeeping suppliers typically sell bees in three pound packages which contain around 12,000 bees and a young mated queen, which has started laying eggs.  Local beekeepers can vary with the amount of bees they sell but generally they offer three pound packages or nucs.  

Swarms of feral bees can vary in size according to the size of the colony before it swarmed.

Once you have made your choice and your bees are settled in their new home, the fasincating part of being a beekeeper begins.

You will spend the first couple of years learning your bees' behavior, what's normal and how to care for them.  After the second year you will spend more time just watching these amazing insects go about their daily business.   

 

Welcome to beekeeping, a fascinating, unique hobby.