Putnam Healing Arts

Beekeeping

Beekeeping can be a hobby, a sideline operation or a full-time vocation. Millions around the world practice beekeeping as a hobby, a hobby that provides a sweet bonus each year: healthy, sweet, delicious honey. Honey consumption is over 300 million pounds per annum, just in the U.S alone. So you can imagine the consumption in the rest of the world.

Beekeeping can also be a lucrative business. It can be a healthy way of making money while enjoying the honey with your family and friends.

The Benefits of Beekeeping…

Beekeeping is an activity that anyone can do because it requires very little or no land. Young or old, male or female, anyone can participate! It takes very little time and effort to care for bees. Unlike dairy cows, for instance, that require much daily care, honeybees take care of themselves for the most part. (besides, just the thought of 30 to 50 thousand cows flying around overhead is a scary notion)

Beekeeping requires less outlay of money than most hobbies or other businesses. The equipment consists of beehives, bee suits and some simple tools. It will also likely consist of ordering packaged bees and queen. Beekeeping basics are also fairly easy to learn.

Bees are great pollinators. The cost and availability of our foods are significantly reduced because of bees. They are extremely important to our economy. Large scale beekeepers are hired by big farms to increase their food production through targeted pollination!

Other sources of sweeteners/sugars often cause erosion and damage to the world’s forests because the sources are planted crops such as beet root and cane. Honey is also very stable and very transportable. Honey, that has been allowed to be properly dried and cured by the hive and capped off can last thousands of years in the right conditions. It doesn’t have to be rushed to market like some other products to keep from spoiling.

So, not only do bee products have a long shelf life and are a valuable food source, the other bee products such as: wax and pollen and propolis can also be consumed as food, dietary supplements or used as medicine, salves, candles and more.

Bee stings are also used as a healing modality. Apitherapy is the selective use of bee venom to cause a response to the body’s autoimmune system. This may bring a relief of symptoms and pain for some with chronic illness and may bring a cure for others. Caution, however to those who are allergic.

Whether you want to learn to be a beekeeper or just want to master the art of collecting honey, it is important to have the correct information needed to start this hobby. This will prevent you from making some costly mistakes and “take the sting out of it” ouch…