Getting Started in Beekeeping - Rockwall Honey Bee Co.

Well, let me begin with this: Keeping bees is a blast! Honey Bees are A-MAZE-ING furry little creatures and are much more intelligent than most people ever imagined. We need them! I’m glad you’re interested in learning more about bees and pollinators, and one day maybe getting your own bees, harvesting honey and jumping into the world (and lifestyle) of beekeeping.

Bees never cease to fascinate me and keeping bees is entertaining and rewarding. To learn all about bees, pollinators and their place in Nature, Mr. Beekeeper’s Guide to Honey Bees & Beekeeping and wrap your brain around these awesome creatures!

Local Organizations in North Texas

I always suggest an interested beekeeper-to-be to attend educational meetings at a local beekeeping association- in addition to Trinity Valley Beekeepers Association, aka TVBA (in Lake Highlands in North Dallas), there’s also Collin County Hobby Beekeepers (McKinney), Metro Beekeepers (Ft Worth), and clubs in Denton, Kaufman, Tyler, to name a few. Visit as many as you can; it is nice to see what other organizations do and where else you may fit in and find new like-minded friends.

TVBA hosts a Beekeeping Class for Beginner Beekeepers which any Intermediate beekeepers will benefit from- (beekeepers never stop learning). There is no charge and it is offered at 6:00pm before the monthly educational meetings. You can register online for the beginner class, (it is preferred) but walk-Ins are also welcome. The General Educational Meeting is open to all at 7:00p.m.

There are more organizations to engage your interests other than beekeeping-specific meetings. I enjoy attending meetings with the North Texas Master Naturalist Group. They usually meet the first Wednesday of the month and also host nature walks around DFW that I hear are a great time.

The Dallas County Master Gardeners Association is active in the area and does much more than just host meetings… you can play in the dirt with these folks! I haven’t attended their meetings, but many of their fellows have spoken at TVBA’s meetings over the years. These groups offer another way to plug in to outdoor, nature-based fellowship.

Online Resources

Be sure to spend time scrolling Trinity Valley Beekeepers Association’s website: www.tvbees.org and click the RESOURCES page for RELATED LINKS and scroll through those- there’s lots of great stuff and I update it regularly for the association. (I have posted them also on Rockwall Honey Bee’s website on our “Resources” page).

You’ll find many links on the Resources page, including the Texas A&M AgriLife portal, as well as links for suppliers with equipment and gear like Dadant Company (a Texas-based supplier owned by the same family for something like 100 years). There are also links about starting a Texas-based agricultural business, whether its to support your beekeeping, or for selling honey. The list goes on and on!

I enjoy the archives of beekeeping magazines full of articles you can spend hours sifting through. You’ll also find links to beekeeping forums hosted by non-profits around the country which have their own websites and links to articles on all subjects concerning bees and beekeeping.

Bookmarking Rockwall Honey Bee or TVBA’s resources and links page is a must- I am adding new links regularly, so if you find your own wellspring of wonderfulness, please share it with me! These links can also be found on the “Links” page of our website!

Social Media

Facebook:
I suggest you join a few Facebook groups for beekeeping: “Dallas Area Beekeepers” and “Texas Friendly Beekeepers” are both outstanding. Also check out “Austin Area Beekeepers,” “Chisolm Trail Beekeepers,” “Texas Association of Professional Bee Removers”… and so many more I can share soon.

These are good groups to for Texas-based beekeeping. There are many more state and national groups on Facebook as well. If you’re looking to place bees outside of the North Texas area that’s fine! Bees will be bees, though the needs of a beekeeper in South Texas, or on the East coast, Alaska etc. all vary due to the weather differences, when the flowers bloom, seasonal rain patterns, etc. so try something more local to that region.

YouTube:
There are also many great YouTube channels to subscribe to or jump on to from time to time. It’s always fun to see bees and their Keepers in action:
Frederick Dunn, Kamon Reynolds, Jeff Horchoff Bees, Canadian Beekeeper’s Blog, David Burns, 628DirtRooster Bees, Inside The Hive TV, Bob Binnie, Jerome Bee Farm & Homestead, Richard Noel, Woolie B’s Apiary, Jason Chrisman Bees (JC’s Bees), Duck River Honey, Texas Beeworks, Michael Palmer, Collin County Hobby Beekeepers Association, Beekeeping With Natalee, Barnyard Bees, Mike Barry, BeeMindful1027, Barnyard Bees, Philip Chandler: Barefoot Beekeeper, Don The Fat Bee Man, BeeLab and FlowHive in no particular order..

Print Literature

If you’re a reader, consider a book on bees- whether it’s a how-to book or memoir on someone’s beekeeping journey, there’s plenty to choose from.

Books:
* The Beekeeper’s Handbook, by Diana Sammataro (an extensive guide).
* Top-Bar Beekeeping, by Les Crowder (an incredible book for Beginner and Intermediate-level beekeepers describing every aspect of Beekeeping, as well as working with Top Bar Hives. You won’t regret reading this treasure-trove of beekeeping knowledge from the O.G. Hippie Beekeeper that has left his mark on the industry and its best teachers and workers.
* For the Bees, A Handbook for Happy Beekeeping, by Tara Dawn Chapman of Two Hives Honey in Austin, Texas (a gorgeous, down-to-Earth read).
* Beekeeping for Dummies (so many people mention this as their first book to read),
* Honey Bee Biology and Beekeeping, by Dewey M. Caron; Lawrence John Connor (a true textbook of bee and beekeeping education).
*The Mind of a Bee, by Lars Chittka (delves into bee behavior and personality- LOVE IT).
* The Honey Trail, by Grace Pundyk (a cultural study on beekeeping around the world).
Many books are also found archived online via archive.com or the Smithsonian, and you can find these links on the Resources page of our website.

Don’t know where to start flipping pages? Sit in on our monthly Book Club for Bee Enthusiasts, every 2nd Tuesday monthly in Dallas. Hosted by the past-President of Trinity Valley Beekeepers Association, Ryan Giesecke and myself, current President.

Subscription Magazines:
* The American Bee Journal, is considered the oldest English language beekeeping publication in the world and is under the stewardship of the Dadant family, whose forebearer’s articles filled its pages and helped spread beekeeping practices across America more than 100 years ago.

* Bee Culture Magazine, first published in 1873 as “Novice’s Gleanings in Bee Culture” by A.I. Root, (one of the Grandfathers of American beekeeping), also helped keep beekeepers “in the know” as they spread across the North American continent and abroad. Relevant information, new practices and innovations that still affect us today could only be found in periodicals such as this. Archives can also be found online- or as mentioned use the link on our Resources page.

Let’s Get Your Hands on Some Live Bees!

Once you’ve met a few beekeepers, volunteer to assist at their bee yards. That’s the best way to get comfy opening a hive and having a clue with what you’re looking at and getting a feel for what it’s like working with these tiny, cute fuzzy little buddies that can sting you from time to time.

As I mentioned earlier, by attending educational meetings at clubs like TVBA, or other clubs in the area, you’ll meet folks you can call on to assist you and learn from. TVBA set up a program last year we plan to continue- each month we host a visit to a local bee-yard, or apiary.

There’s no better way to experience bees than first-hand opening a hive. You can find the apiary visitation schedule here. So, spend all the time you need learning about bees and beekeeping, order bees for pick up April (and order early so you get the best pricing- usually by March), and get your hardware and personal protective equipment purchased ahead of time so you’re ready to go.

I spent years thinking about it, and part of me wishes I had just jumped in with a couple of hives and stumbled my way through it.

Jump in and Bring Home Your Own Bees!

Most people procure bees in the Spring. I suggest you source your bees from a local provider- if you’re in or near Dallas, try The Beegirl at www.beegirl.biz Operated by a lady named Christi, I have known her personally and helped her grow her bees as well and can personally attest to her awesomeness.

She is also an active member of TVBA and has hosted her own Beekeeping Field Classes annually for like 15 years.

If you do get bees from her, mention me during the order- I’m a friend of the family and we love to support each other, and I like to make sure the bees she sends to new homes have the best chance of survival, which means helping YOU out too.

A fellow beekeeper and I also can bring you your bees, or meet you at your location and get you set up, offer additional help down the road, etc. Information on services offered can be found under “Concierge Services” on Beegirl’s website.

You can also get bees from other folks, like Mill Creek Bee Farm near Allen Texas, (their website is via FaceBook), The Bee Supply (a medium-sized business selling at a larger scale, but also to individual beekeepers), or MannLake LTD (a nationwide supplier of all things bee-related).

I suggest go small, go local, meet the people and shake their hands. You’ll get better service, better, healthier bees and have a better experience.

Sign up here to receive discounts and e-mail updates from Christi at beegirl.biz-there’s no better way to be sure you don’t miss out on a great resource of hometown bees and heartfelt education from a star beekeeper of Dallas.

It’s Never Too Late to Get Bees!

If you are not ready for bees by April, or decide you really want bees soon and cannot a year, you can often find folks selling bees anytime but during the cold of Winter. Often bee suppliers grow more bees than they can sell. You can also find someone like me who has more bees than he needs.

I am a Structural Bee Remover, and relocate colonies 6 months out of the year, and spend a lot of time and effort growing them up to full-strength and vitality. I often sell bees to folks at odd times simply because I have them and folks need ‘em.

The only issue with this is that for a new beekeeper, it is much easier to grow a colony during the abundant Spring season when bees naturally expand their colony size and can forage for all the available resources. Come Summer and Fall, it takes more management, more feeding by the beekeeper to keep a colony alive.

It’s totally possible! But you do have a slightly smaller chance of success. Regardless of when you pick up and install your bees, you’ll manage the hives throughout the year, keep an eye on them and feed them throughout the Winter… with the hopes to harvest your first honey the following year.

Some folks don’t harvest honey at all if that’s not their goal. Some are lucky and get a little honey their first year! It’s all up to you, well- and up to the bees- and the weather of course (too much rain, too little rain, a super-hot summer, all affects these bees honey production). You’ll come across successes, failures to troubleshoot- even a colony collapse at some point.

Like any agricultural animal, bees live and die, grow slow and fast.. you’ll be so delighted and often mystified with what they’re doing and why- and that’s just life with managed livestock! And you’ll experience losses, you’ll mess up and kill bees -EVERY beekeeper at some point makes a mistake and kills bees, through an misguided action, or inaction… that’s just the learning process.

Bees aren’t pets- we can’t take them to the vet, clean their litter box, and just feed and walk them and all will be mostly ok. Boy howdy do I wish I could talk to my bees like I talk to my cats. Sure I don’t understand my cats, but at least they meow back at me!

Anyway- don’t be too hard on yourself if (and when) you experience a setback after you begin beekeeping. Every beekeeper will tell you to learn from your mistakes, try again, don’t quit and trust yourself (and most importantly, trust the bees to take care of themselves). Just never forget to feed them if they need it, and you’ll learn when that it, the feeding part isn’t hard.

You Always Have Time to Learn More!

It’s ok to be patient and take your time! Beekeeping activities slow to a near stop every Winter here in North Texas, (same goes for July/August), so spend that time researching and learning, preparing for the next year however you deem fit. Be sure to attend bee club meetings- listening to educational presentations and meeting beekeepers in person is the best way to learn and be inspired, whether you have yet to get bees, or are in your first year by the time Winter rolls back around.

Beekeepers of all experience levels learn from each other- it’s the nature of the game, so to say. The more friends you have that tend to bees, the more likely you’ll be to make a connection and be able to call on that person for help if and when you need it.

Keep in mind Beekeepers are very busy people, and it is hard to offer assistance to people you hardly know, especially when multiple people ask for help. For some folks, it is easier to simply pay someone to come to their home and teach them beekeeping.

A few hands-on sessions can make all the difference. For other folks, volunteering at a beekeeper’s apiary is the way to go- this is how I got my first hands-on experience. It took some time, many beekeepers didn’t accept my offer for months till they knew me better.

All I am trying to say is be open-minded to how you may be able to learn about bees. Read the Facebook posts and questions online, watch YouTube videos on subjects that are interesting. Flip a page and read a book.. attend meetings at local clubs, get in the middle and be involved!

Volunteer for events and put yourself out there however you can.. and be patient with people.. don’t give up… keep asking questions and keep learning. And at the same time, if you’re up for it, just jump in! The bees will teach you so much just by being there for you to watch them do their thing.

Hope this wordy response gets your brain juices flowing, and transmits the excitement most of us “beeks” feel about bees and beekeeping. Never hesitate to reach out with your questions via e-mail, text, phone etc.

Thank you for visiting rockwallhoneybee.com. I hope to grow this website into a wellspring of information. Bookmark this page { press: [CTRL] +[d] } and come back to explore the links to other places, forums, archives and YouTube channels. Tell a friend and come back! I will always be adding more content as I come across it).

I also have a number of links in the footer of this website to organizations I am involved with personally. I hope to build an educational section similar to TVBA’s but with more interaction above and beyond a list of links. I’m looking into embeds videos, scientific articles, and click-to-listen content from publication archives galore! Submit a form to ask a question, or Join my e-mail list for updates!

I know- this is a LOT of information. Again, I am always happy to talk or type with folks concerning their beekeeping needs- that’s what I do for a living, a hobby and passion, and as my role as President of Trinity Valley Beekeepers, and as the North Texas representative for Beekeepers for TAMU- I’m on the advisory council for Texas A&M’s AgriLife Extension program.

I’m glad your enthusiasm and interest in bees brought you here. Bees are close to my heart- they’re my furry little friends, so every human desiring to gain knowledge about them, in my opinion, ROCKS!

Be sure to check out this website’s “Links of more than 100 links and dig deeper into the wonderful world of bees and beekeeping.

Kirby Jay Carmichael, Beekeeper
“It’s all about the bees!”