6 Must-know Facts About Beekeeping

Beekeeping is an interesting and important hobby. Whether someone is doing it for fun or a person is an avid Apiarist, the benefits to the environment are always positive. The world has a lot to benefit from bees.

An important truth is, if all the bees in the world go into extinction, their void would cause a great ecological disruption that cannot be filled by any known species, yet. Here are some interesting facts about beekeeping.

1. Bees are ordered by the Pound

Bees are sold in units of pounds by those who keep them for commercial purposes. You wouldn’t find anyone selling units of bees like 10 individual honey bees. A pound of bees usually renders at least 350 honey bees. Upon request, you and your supplier would discuss what to expect, such as how many Queens you would be getting with the bee population. It is important to have this discussion before you finalize your transaction.

2. Bees and Beekeeping are no longer thriving

It is noted that European bees are responsible for most of the pollination happening in the world. The bees are very adaptive to environmental conditions, hence, migration is very easy for them. However, native bees in other parts of the world are no longer thriving. This might be because it is difficult to practice beekeeping on a large scale and the fact that biodiversity farming has been curbed to a minimum.

Consequently, as the population of bees is reduced, what can you do to help encourage the honey bee population? Rather than having a swarm of honey bees exterminated, you can request live bee removal services.

Having a professional beekeeper remove the bees can also prevent you from accidentally killing the bees, being stung during the removal process or hurting yourself accessing the hard to get to beehive.

3. Important agricultural role

Bees are a necessary asset for agricultural purposes on farms, both for farm keeping and animal husbandry. About 39 commercial crops, worldwide, are known to be dependent on bee pollination. Other organisms including butterflies, wasps, bats, etc. collectively make the remaining 2/3.

Do you know that farmers request the service of beekeepers, to rent their hives on their farmlands? Yes, they do, knowing they need the bees’ pollination for fruitfulness!

4. Be careful of what you eat before visiting a hive

Maybe for fun or for the truth, it is a common warning to avoid eating bananas or drinking beer before visiting a beehive.

The scent you emit from consuming these are said to be similar to the smell bees give off on high alert. You don’t want to be considered an enemy, trust me.