| For thousands of years man has been managing | | | | clothes clean and dry when working with the hive. |
| bees for their production of honey. While honey | | | | Once your colony has produced its surplus honey, |
| production in large volume is performed by | | | | you'll want to start harvesting the nectar. Be sure |
| professional beekeepers, more and more people | | | | to have a couple of five gallon honey pails on |
| are discovering beekeeping as a fun and | | | | hand to use during the extracting and filtering |
| fascinating hobby. It doesn't cost much to start | | | | process. The honey pails should be made of |
| beekeeping and it isn't very labor intensive once | | | | plastic and have plastic lids for storing the honey |
| your colony is up and running. And the rewards | | | | prior to bottling it. |
| can be oh so sweet! | | | | One of the most satisfying aspects of |
| An average honey bee colony produces two to | | | | beekeeping is when you bottle your first yield of |
| three times more honey than the colony needs. | | | | honey. There are two methods for bottling your |
| This generally means about 20 to 30 pounds of | | | | honey. You can use glass jars or you can go with |
| surplus honey a year, more than enough for a | | | | the plastic variety. The great thing about the glass |
| family. And any extra honey can be jarred and | | | | jars is that they have that classic look of |
| sold at organic markets, online, or even simply | | | | homemade delights from years gone by. You can |
| given as gifts to friends and neighbors. | | | | dress the jars up with your own printed labels and |
| The first step in learning how to start beekeeping | | | | for an extra touch, dress up the lids with a cute |
| is to build an artificial hive. For around $150 you | | | | piece of country-printed cloth tied up with a |
| can purchase all the equipment needed to | | | | ribbon. These are always a hit at country fairs |
| construct a hive fit for a colony of up to 25,000 | | | | and outdoor garden markets. |
| bees. Many retailers that specialize in beekeeping | | | | Another fun way to store and package your |
| offer unassembled starter kits that include all the | | | | honey is with the plastic squeeze bear bottles. |
| pieces of a standard hive with instructions on how | | | | Kids absolutely love these cute, bear-shaped |
| to assemble the hive. Most kits will also include all | | | | bottles with a friendly bear face. They come with |
| of the necessary tools to work the hive, including | | | | an no-mess nozzle that makes it easy for children |
| the all-important smoker. | | | | to dispense their own honey. |
| While most kits do include a pair of gloves as a | | | | Starting bee keeping can be a wonderfully |
| part of the tools provided, you will have to | | | | rewarding hobby. Your next year will be an |
| purchase separately a pair of coveralls and a | | | | exciting one as you start your new hive and |
| helmet with a veil. A coverall bee suit with helmet | | | | nurture it through its first season to harvesting, |
| and veil will protect you from stings and keep | | | | extracting, and processing your honey. |