Aspiring beekeepers learn basics
TEXARKANA, Texas — Dozens of potential beekeepers on Monday learned what it takes to get started and what to expect once they do.
Heather Mcbride, an Advanced Beekeeper in the Texas Master Beekeeping Program, gave a presentation at Texas A&M University-texarkana titled Getting Started With Honeybees. Mcbride is also an intern with Bowie County Master Gardeners, which hosted the talk with TAMUT’S Extended Education and Community Development Department.
Mcbride provided an overview of beekeeping equipment and practices, along with advice based on her own experiences tending honeybee hives. Other topics included the basics of bee biology and which harmful pests and pathogens to look out for.
She began by explaining some of the reasons someone might want to get into honeybee cultivation: encouraging plant pollination, producing honey and other products such as beeswax, having fun, spending less money than other agriculture pursuits cost, and learning. She also said beekeeping is surprisingly soothing.
“It’s actually a relaxing hobby,” she said. “I’ve dealt with some spicy hives before. You would think when you’ve got all these bees coming at you … you wouldn’t think that you would actually relax, but you do.”
Taking a beginner’s beekeeping class, joining a local beekeeper’s association, reading about the subject, researching laws and regulations, and developing an emergency plan were also among Mcbride’s recommendations.
Hive loss is something all beekeepers experience and must accept, she said. Infestation of verroa mites, the leading cause of the catastrophic hive crashing called Colony Collapse Disorder, is common.
For that reason and others, the total annual hive loss rate in the U.S. is about 40%.
“All of our friends, commercial people that we know, they constantly lose bees, have to split (surviving hives) and continue to grow. If we were talking about cattle or something like this, this would be a na- tional crisis. It’s that big of a issue,” Mcbride said. “It is devastating and hard to deal with, but it’s possible to recoup losses.”