Frugal Homesteading Blog

I’ve never tried keeping bees on my own, but have thought about beginning beekeeping for some time. Local honey is incredibly beneficial nutritionally speaking, not to mention delicious. Additionally, I would be able to harvest honey from my own hives without heating it (raw honey has the most benefits). However, we’ve lived within a homeowners’ association since owning property and while we may have been able to get away with honeybees all along, we don’t really want to test our neighbors’ patience any further — they’ve already been more than kind about our backyard chickens.

My dad has been a beekeeper for decades. He harvested and sold his bees’ honey for many years, but now has retired to backyard beekeeping for the honey and to enjoy his hobby. From his many years of keeping bees both professionally and on a smaller scale, Dad is a wealth of information and wisdom on beekeeping. His insights range from the most practical suggestions to the more philosophical musings. It is my wish to begin a hive of my own with my dad’s mentoring when we move to our next property and are able to expand our homesteading efforts through a larger garden and more animals.

For those who garden for food or have an orchard, keeping honeybees is one way to help ensure that bee-pollinated plants are able to maximize production. One’s own hives are an ideal way to increase self-sufficiency by assuring better crop pollination, as well as with the production of honey: a sweetener, natural antibiotic, allergy suppressant, and key ingredient in many home remedies.

Have you considered beekeeping, as a hobby or for the honey, or a side income through honey sales?