2 Common Mistakes Beginner Beekeepers Make

When you start doing anything for the first time, you're bound to make mistakes. As such, you can expect to fumble a few times when you step into the world of beekeeping. These mistakes shouldn't hold you back, though. Everyone messes up from time to time, no matter how much experience they have. 

The trick is learning about the most common mistakes beginner beekeepers make so that you know better when the time comes along. Learn how to avoid the following mishaps so that you can run a happy and healthy honey bee hive.

Not Catching Queenlessness

If your queen bee disappears, you want to know as soon as possible. The entire hive relies on the queen to keep laying eggs. Without her, the population will quickly decline, leaving your colony with fewer workers to make honey and defend the hive. 

Unfortunately, queenlessness isn't always obvious. Your worker bees might travel in and out of the hive like normal. You might even see an increase in honey and pollen stores, since the worker bees don't have as much brood to care for anymore. Don't let these signs deceive you! 

Keep an eye on the brood and eggs every time you inspect your hive. If there is an even brood pattern with eggs in your hive, then you know your queen is alive and laying.

Inspecting Too Often

Opening up the hive and checking on your honey bees is fun, but you can’t do it too often. Hive inspections stress out your honey bees and disrupt their productivity. That’s why you should only take apart your hive once every seven to ten days. You also must learn to perform efficient hive inspections.

When you can take apart the hive and examine each section quickly but thoroughly, both you and your honey bees will get the most out of your inspections.

Learning how to avoid these common mistakes beginner beekeepers make is just one of the many steps to becoming a beekeeper. Are you ready to run your own successful hives? From unassembled beehive frames to protective gear, Mann Lake has all the supplies you need for a fruitful and rewarding beekeeping career.