Raising Bees for Pleasure and Profit

Not only can raising bees be an absorbing hobby but you can actually derive many other benefits from this pastime. Gardens in the vicinity of the hives are pollinated by the bees, making for better floral display and fruit production, while family and friends can enjoy delicious honey.

The great thing about raising bees is that the bees work extremely hard to hunt for nectar and return to the hive to make honey. Did you know that after about one month a bee's wings are so worn out that they are no longer useful to the bee colony and perish?

The reason that bees make honey is so that they will have a store of honey in times when there are no flowers from which to gather nectar. A good floral season means many opportunities for the bees to gather nectar. In fact, in a good season the bees make more honey than they could ever use themselves. In times like these the beekeeper can harvest a large amount of honey for use at home or to sell to others.

Beekeepers who are considering making a proper business out of raising bees should develop marketing strategies so that there can be a constant supply of honey to willing buyers. There are two types of honey that a beekeeper can extract from a hive to sell to make a profit from raising bees. Well-known liquid honey is easy to extract from the hive using centrifugal equipment. Sometimes these devices are called extractors.

Another way to sell honey produced in a hive is to sell pieces of the comb with the honey still in it. Obviously this honey is in the wax combs made by the bees on top of the wax foundation supplied by the beekeeper. While honey in the comb is difficult to use in tea or for baking, some people like the natural flavors of honey in a honeycomb.

Did you know that honey comes in a vast variety of colors, flavors and scents? Because all flowers are different, their nectars are different, and the type of nectar determines to a large extent how the honey will be.

For instance, honey produced from alfalfa nectar is clear through to white. This is not least because alfalfa grows in dry, alkaline soil. Honey that bees make from buckwheat nectar, on the other hand, tends to be very dark, as buckwheat grows in heavy, acidic soil.

Another factor affecting the taste and color of the honey is the quality of the honey comb. In summary, honey can have very different tastes and appearances. Honey can even appear to be reddish or have a green hue.

When raising bees that produce honey for sale, it is important to adhere to state and federal regulations regarding honey processing. The type of regulations that you will need to adhere to when raising bees include the handling of the honey and its labeling. In addition, local authorities also may have regulations regarding honey production.