Sallygarden Smallholding - The Forum For Sustainable Living

We had a wonderful bee experience this autumn that I thought I would share. I had just read a lovely book about beekeeping and had shared a bit of the information with my husband and I read it. I really felt that this was something he would be interested in.

Well we went to the fall festival in one of the hilltowns and the local beekeeping organization was there with an informational both. They had an empty hive so you could peek inside but the local bees in the area smelled the honey and were all over it. My daughter (2 and a half at the time) walked right up to the hive and put her face really close to look. Then she put her hand out and some bees walked on her which made her quite happy. The beekeeper there said she was a natural - very calm while they were all flying around her - she was just very interested and focused on what they were doing.

So now SHE is the one in the family talking about getting some bees. We live in a small city now so I'm not sure what the regulations are, but either way they are definitely in our future.

We are lucky to have a really wonderful apiary near us that makes delicious raw honey and beeeswax candles - that will have to tide us over for now.

Gillian

My 6 year old really wants to get involved with our bees. Its possible to buy bee suits for that age, but they are very costly. If she still seems enthralled this season I'll think about it, or look for something 2nd hand. I would only let her stand with me and look on though, as having had my first sting I was amazed to see just how painful it was ... and it wasn't even a full dose of venom.

Being totally paranoid I had a blood test to check for bee venom allergy, it was negative but then again they are far from 100% accurate. I also got an epipen (adrenaline injection for anaphilactic shock treatment) which is kept on top of a cupboard. Although of course one can also have anaphilactic shock in response to an epipen treatment. At least now I know I have no allergy to bee stings, but I'd worry on my childrens behalf if and when they get involved (there is a special child does epipen for kids, they can't use adult dose pens).

Hi there, just read your post. Not sure where you are living but in the small city that I live in in Ireland there are definitely some beehives. They are in regular suburban housing estates. Not sure what the actual laws are though....

Yes many folk keep bees in the city ... plenty of flower forage. You need to have a 6foot high barrier/fence/plant around the hives .... that way they fly up to that height to begin their flight path and wont' knock into any passers by!

If I were in the city I would do my hive inspections when neighbours were not at home ... and certainly not if they were out in the next door garden. Besides I'd be happy to keep them in an urban environment, except perhaps for folk watching me in my beesuit looking like a boob!

Gillian - our experience was exactly the same as yours but 10 years further down the line. My son was 12 when we visited an agricultural fair here in France and there was a bee stall. The man running it ( in his 70's I think) really took to our son, taking the trouble to answer all his questions. He was hooked and we now have two colonies, hoping to expand to five this year.

Keep her interested - the more beekeepers the better!

my oldest daughter (soon to turn 13y) is interested in raising bees after picking up my copy of "A Book of Bees" by Sue Hubbell. My dd fell in love with the strong nurturer image of Sue unloading her bees in just her work boots (in the book she explains she was in a hurry, working w/o a suit and some bees became trapped under her sundress). While my daughter loves honey and is a strong nurturer in her own ways, she is concerned she would not have what it takes to properly care for the bees. I know that she needs more information and exposure to keepers in our area (not but a few), I was wonderng if there were some 'kid thoughts' about bees and their experience(s) they would like to pass on to their peers?
TIA
~Sheila

Not sure where you are but in my very limited experience the beeks around here always take care to answer our son's questions and seem to be really pleased young blood is coming through!

He is also usually the one to spot the queen - young eyes I suppose. As a result I manipulate the hives and he observes. He's more than capable of doing the manipulating but my eyes aren't so good!

Neither of us have tried it in just boots and I'm not sure I'm keen to start. Quite certain it would scare the neighbours - not sure about the bees!

If you have a local association I'm sure your daughter will be welcomed.

Usual warning which I'm sure you've already dealt with: worth checking about any allergies to bee stings before you decide to definitely go ahead.

Hi Sheila

What country are you in? Here in Ireland I went to Gormanstown, the excellent week long summerschool for beekeepers near Dublin. The youngest person I met there was a 9 year old girl. There was also a 12 year old boy coming to our beekeeping meetings.

In terms of time, I'd spend about an hour involved with my bees (includes lighting smoker, donning suit, inspections, clearing up after etc) every 7 to 9 days from April till September. A half day honey extraction in September, and a few evenings in March making up new frames ready for spring.

I should think any group would be thrilled to have young blood. My 6 year old is interested to come see into my 2 hives, but its the expense thats making me hold back ... tot up the cost of a beesuit, smoker, hive tool, gloves and then a hive and bees and it looks like near to €500 or more to get started. EVen just the cost of a beesuit/gloves for a child is a lot to fork out if they only do it once!

Instead I show her all the frames whenever I take them back to the house, or queen cells when I remove them, and anything else of interest. I explain what I've been doing at the hive. For now she is happy with that but I'm hoping one day she will join me and love it!

Theres an awful lot to remember when you keep bees, complicated but fun. I'd say a child would need an adult who is committed to bees to keep them on track and ensure swarm control and disease management/treatment are all carried out, otherwise there will be an empty hive at the end of year one.

I know she's not allergic to bees; when she was very young she use to follow the bee to the poppies and shut the petals up, trapping the bee. After about the third time of following and trapping the same bee, it would nail her. Once I figured out what was happening, we had a talk about the price of her stalking and trapping bees just to hear their buzzing -- the bee's life. She was so sad that she took up dedicating her grow box to wildflowers for the bees.
We're in California (USA) and have gotten Brushy Mt. Bee Farm catalogues through out the years. We have a university near by that use to keep bees at their farm but it is hit or miss on the year as that they don't have a regular keeper just a student/hobbiest; the natural history museum keeps a large window hive exhibit; and there are a few keepers in the area that sell their goods at the farmer's market.
My youngest is afraid of bees (and spiders but not as bad as it use to be) so I was thinking of getting a small block's worth of mason bees soon to get her use to having more bees before her sister takes up bee keeping in earnest. I keep a hedge in the front yard that the native bumble bees love. They are just my absolute favourite pollentators! Here they talk about our declining number of pollinators and the mystery die off of bees ... is there such talk there?
I would love to keep bees in town! I have enough fruit trees that it would be helpful but I worry about my neighbors and their addiction to a total 'pest free' life (that or they have stock in Ortho/ Terminix Company!). I wonder about the fall-out/drift, if it would have an negative impact on a hive because they spray not only inside but outside!

Bees dying out? Pesticides effecting bees? Colony collapse disorder?

Yep, here too. But a whole subject on its own! Loads written on the internet about it by people more knowledgeable than me. But it was hammered (and I mean HAMMERED) home to us at the local association meeting two weeks ago that even if you only have one hive you can do your bit.

If you get bees you might want to talk to your neighbour about his pesticides. But that's so easy to write on a web forum isn't it!!

birchwood wrote:We live in a small city now so I'm not sure what the regulations are, but either way they are definitely in our future.

We used to live in Dublin and my husband kept bee's.

As a compromise he had his hive on a local (20 min drive) organic farm. This meant that he didn't have to worry about them swarming and the neighbours complaining (they'd complain about something else instead!)

He literally just drove around Enniskerry asking local smallholdings, didnt' take him long to find a willing taker.

Also on the bee stings, there is a homeopathic remedy called Apis Mel, I always make sure he has some in his beekeeping box, works a treat

Didn't know about that homeo remedy, very interesting