Are Beehives Dangerous (Top 3 Beehive Dangers)
A bee sting is very painful and causing swelling and pain around the sting. Bee stinger contains venom and it is released when a bee stings the skin and leaves the stinger lodged in the skin. After stinger removal pain and swelling reduce and it starts to itch. The main danger is multiple stings when swarm attacks the victim. Good thing is that attacks by multiple bees happen rarely and most stings happen by accident.
Allergies to Bee Venom
For people with bee allergies, a bee sting is very dangerous and causes multiple reactions. Besides the swelling and the pain, bee venom causes vomiting and nausea. It also causes fainting and even closing of the throat. So in case, there is anyone in the neighborhood with bee allergies should be informed about the hive in the backyard. It is because in the case of multiple stings person with bee allergies could cause severe condition even death so immediate for the medical attention is required for any bee sting.
The Aggression of the Bees
In some situations, bees can become aggressive especially wild bee colonies in the backyard. When the outside temperature is high or there are not enough flowers for them to feed bees can get agitated and could attack anyone around the hive. Also, loud noises close to the colony can cause bees to attack so in case you are mowing a lawn make sure you keep a safe distance. In case the attack happens run inside the house until the bees calm down. The best advice is that if you find a wild bee colony in your backyard you should call the professionals to remove them safely especially if you have small children or anybody with bee allergies.
Is it Safe to Have Beehive if i Have a Dog ?
If your dog is allergic to bee venom or you keep your dog outside in the same backyard with bees when you are not at home then you should avoid having a beehive. In any other case, it is safe to have beehive if you have a dog.
Dog or a pet that is allergic you can not protect from a bee sting and if you do not see it on time most likely you will not be able to save him.
In case the dog is alone in the backyard with bees and something unexpected happens. For example, a strong wind that tips over the hive. Or some unwanted guest tries to steal the honey it can cause bee aggression and the dog is the only in the backyard so they will attack him and he is not able to escape the backyard and you are not there to react.
Bare in mind that multiple bee stings can be lethal.
So if these to conditions are met you can enjoy bees and your dog together.
Tips on How to Place an Urban Beehive:
Is it legal to Have Hives in the Urban Area?
In most places, it is legal to have a hive in your backyard but to be sure you should check with local government to check local laws about beekeeping in urban areas. There can bee regulations on a maximum number of beehives you are able to have or what is the minimum plot size to have a hive.
All of this information you could get from the local beekeeping club that i suggest you to join because beside technical information you can learn a lot from experienced beekeepers and you can ask for help especially with the thing you do for the first time.It makes it much easier when somebody experienced is there to assist.
Inform the Neighbors
Also, you should talk to your neighbors about your intentions to start backyard beekeeping teach them about the benefits of having bees such as helping the environment, pollinating flowers, making honey that you can share with them. For sure they will be happy to receive
Learn all About Bees
Before you start with beekeeping read and learn all about bees to understand how to do beehive works and who is who in a colony ( queen bee, working bees and drones)
Best place to learn is local beekeeping club, so join it and take the class for beginners. Ask experienced beekeeper to help you to start beekeeping and show you all the tricks.
Try to get all information from different sources to get the full picture what to expect from beekeeping
Decide on Location and Equipment
Positioning your hives is very important and chooses it wisely because when it is positioned it is a lot of work to relocate.
You have to take into account wind, sun exposure during the year, which direction to face the hive, bee flight pattern, how close is the hive to your neighbors, do you need a fence, is there water supply, do you have easy access to the hive. so a lot of things to consider before buying and setting up an apiary.
I have written an article about the position the hives in your backyard so you can check it out to get more details.
After you have figure out where to position your beehives you can go ahead and start looking for the equipment you will need.
Hive, most popular hive is Langstroth so in case you do not want to spend to much time researching and deciding it is a safe bet for beginners just deciding 8 or 10 frames.
Protective equipment full-body bee suit or just jacket with a veil to protect your upper body and your face
Smoker to calm the bees when working with them and other items you need to start beekeeping. All details regarding this topic you can read in our article Beekeeping equipment What equipment do i need to start beekeeping
With how Many Hives to Start?
Best practice is to start with at least 2 beehives. The main reason is that way you can compare 2 colonies in different periods of the year and learn a lot from it for one year.
In case something is happening with one of the hives you can easily compare to the other one and to realize if something is wrong so you can ask experienced beekeeper for opinion.
Also, statistics say that 40 % of new beekeepers were not able to keep the beehive during the first year so they had to start from scratch next season.
How Much Does it Cost to Get Into Beekeeping?
Langstroth hive as i said earlier is the most popular hive and the price is between $150 and $300
This hive has two boxes with frames and foundation, bottom board, inner and outer cover, stand…
So a lot of parts that you have to get acquainted with.
Bees
Package bees 3-pound package with 10000 bees and the queen is between 130-160
Nuc is between 150 and 300 USD you get 4 or 5 formed frames bees and queen
Protective equipment (Jacket with veil, gloves, or even full bee suit)Uncapping Tool Bee Brush Beekeeper’s Suit Hive
Stand Smoker Hive Tool Uncapping Tool, hive tool, extrator depending on what would you decide to buy it will cost between $100 – $300
So the initial cost is around 500 USD and for the additional hive is around 300 USD
When to Start with Beekeeping
The best time to start with beekeeping is spring. Just wait till the temperature starts rising and the flowers start to blossom and you are ready to set up your hive.
You should be fully prepared to set it up as soon as the weather allows. This way colony will be able to use the nectar flow as much as they can so they will have more chance to become strong and to store enough honey for the winter.
Even though you are setting up the hive in the spring you have to prepare necessary equipment earlier.
All about the equipment you need when starting you can read in my article
Where to get the bees for my beehive
There are different options on how to get bees for your hive. You can order the nuc or package bees or even get wild bees that formed swarm on the tree or fence.
Important note when ordering nuc or packaged bees make sure to place your order in January because bee suppliers have a limited amount of bees and they can be out of stock if you are too late.
All details about this topic we explained in our article where to buy honey bees and how to install them in the hive