Beekeeping Mistakes

It is impossible to learn beekeeping without make a few beekeeping mistakes along the way. No one is the perfect beekeeper all the time. But, we can learn from others. By examining the most common problems beekeepers face – you can prevent some of them from happening to your beehives.

Those of you who are newest to the hobby are probably experiencing the sharp pains of indecision at times. After years of helping new beekeepers in my online beekeeping classes, I have a pretty good feeling about where things tend to go wrong – I hope this article helps you.

Rookie Beekeeper Mistakes

Beekeeping is full of ups and down. Moments of joy and yes sometimes the agony of defeat! Working with the bees and never completely controlling them, this is the life of a beekeeper. And, it is a wonderful thing – most of the time.

Let’s look at the most common areas where rookie beekeeping mistakes happen and how to watch out for problems.

Failure to Feed Bees Properly

Poor feeding is a rather easy beekeeping mistake to avoid. It requires a schedule for checking food stores and understanding just how much food a bee colony needs.

You can not assume your bees are fine just because you see blooming flowers that bees love. Blooms do not always mean nectar or pollen.

Also, each colony has different needs based on population and other factors. Routine hive inspections throughout the season should verify the presence of incoming nectar and honey being stored.

If your colony has no stored honey during mid Summer – there is a problem and you should consider feeding them.

Failure to Feed New Colonies Long Enough

A very common beginner beekeeping mistake involves action not taken: installing new bee packages not feeding – or rather not feeding them well. Many new colonies reach Fall unprepared for Winter.

Most beekeepers provide sugar water for bees (especially brand new colonies) – this helps them become established and build honeycomb which requires a lot of energy.

Often new beekeepers feed their bees well in the beginning. But then, they make the mistake of stopping too soon. The weather gets warm – the humans go on vacation. Don’t forget about your hives.

New colonies should be fed until they get all of the comb in their boxes, drawn and honey stored. If the bees stop taking sugar water, take a break for 2-3 weeks and then offer it again.

Likewise, you can not play catch up once the weather cools in the Fall. Plan to have your bees ready and stop feeding sugar water before cold arrives.

Inspecting Hives too Frequently

As important as routine inspections are, it is possible to over-do a good thing. New beekeepers want and need to look inside the hive more often than an experienced beekeeper.

However, unless you have an emergency situation, do not open your beehive more than 1 time a week. This is especially important for that first hive inspection after installation of new bees.

They will resent you taking the roof off their house every other day. It is not natural and will hinder the progress of your colony. Your honeybees may abscond in hopes of finding a new location with fewer interruptions.

Not Checking the Queen Status

The only way to know you have a good quality laying queen bee in your hive is to look. Many new beekeepers make the mistake of assuming the queen is there and laying.

You can not know this without opening the hive and looking for the queen or evidence of a queen The role of the queen bee is vital to colony survival. She is the only bee that can lay fertilized eggs that will develop into worker bees.

The queen was fine last month – why should I check? Sometimes a bee colony will decide to replace their queen – the bees will kill the queen and raise another. You need to make sure they were successful.

Also, if the bees swarm, you need to check to see if they were successful in replacing their queen. Monthly queen checks (during warm season) for established colonies is a good idea.

Can’t find your queen? It takes practice to learn how to find the queen bee. But, you don’t have to see her every time. Look inside the hive to verify that you have a good brood pattern.

Look for healthy worker bee brood. Do you see bee eggs? Larva and capped brood? If so, chances are she is okay.

Keep a beekeeping journal with notes from your inspections. You can write down queen status, feeding schedules and mite treatment times too.

Not Having Extra Beekeeping Equipment

One big mistake that many beekeepers make is not having extra equipment on hand. This is understandable as you are trying to keep the startup costs of beekeeping down.

But, what if your colony swarms or even better you find a wild swarm in a bush? If you are able to catch the swarm, you need a box for them.

Imagine the agony of seeing that beautiful large swarm of bees hanging on a low tree limb. Just within reach! And you have nothing to put them in.

It is easy to keep an extra deep (or medium if that’s what you use) on hand. Along with extra frames and a box of foundation, this will prepare you for emergencies.

In a pinch, used beekeeping equipment may be a possibility but use proper precautions to when choosing to use old equipment. There will always be a measure of risk.

Not Understanding Swarms

Ok guys, bees swarm -it’s what they do. Many books have been written about honey bee swarming.

And numerous techniques are used to attempt swarm prevention. Sometimes, they work – sometimes, they don’t.

We work with the bees, we don’t completely control them. A swarm normally means that your colony is healthy enough to do so and that’s not really a bad thing. Don’t feel like a failure if you have a swarm. This is nature’s way.

Failing to Control Varroa Mites

Varroa mites are a serious problem for most beekeepers. Do not attempt to go treatment free with bees that have not been specially bred to be resistant to mites.

No one “wants” to put chemicals in their hives but varroa mites kill bees. Not having a varroa plan is one of the major beginner beekeeping mistakes. Many colonies die each year because of this approach.

Find a method for controlling varroa mites with treatments that work for you in your apiary. Varroa mites can take up to 2 years to kill a colony. You are not out of the woods after the first year with no treatment.

Taking Advice from Questionable Sources

The internet is a wonderful source of information on almost any topic. But, it also contains a lot of mis-information.

Perhaps, you do not know any beekeepers in your local area or you may not like the ones you have found. Check surrounding areas for beekeeping associations.

Seek out some local info to go with the basics as you learn how to start beekeeping from other additional sources.  

But don’t make the mistake of trying every beekeeping management strategy that you hear about online. It may not work for your bees in your region and you may do harm.

Bad Hive Placement

Placing your hive in a bad location is at best an inconvenience and at worse a serious problem for you and the bees. Take the time to find the very best location for your beehive in the beginning.

Also. don’t place hives too close to your house. The temperament of a honey bee colony changes over time. A colony that had been easy going and docile for months – may suddenly become very protective.

This is especially true in late Summer when colonies are large and have a lot of food stores to protect. A good hive location makes life much easier.

Failure to do Regular Hive Inspections

Periodic inspections are vital to maintaining a healthy honey bee colony. You may say – well … wild colonies never have any inspections. That is true. It is also true that only about 20% of wild colonies survive beyond 1 year.

Seeing bees flying in and out of a beehive is not a guarantee that things are okay. Regular hive inspections are the only way to know that the hive is healthy.

Not Using Your Bee Smoker Properly

Beekeepers have used bee smokers for thousands of years. Then, along comes the Bee Movie and now many people are reluctant to use their smoker.

The proper use of a smoker actually saves bee lives. When bees sting, they usually die as the stinger is ripped from their body.

The effect of cool white smoke calms bees. this does not harm the colony when used correctly. Take care of your smoker and use use proper non-toxic types of smoker fuel.

At least once a season clean your bee smoker if it needs it. It will be easier to light a bee smoker that is in good working order when you need it.

A new beekeeper may make the mistake of using hot black smoke – this will only make the bees angry! Cool white smoke is the way to go.

Waiting too Late to Install a Bear Fence

Many regions of the country have a bear population. These timid creatures often go unnoticed until they cause a problem.

Many a new beekeeper has been unaware of bears in the area until their hives are destroyed. If you live in a region with bears build a bear fence to protect your bees.

Not Using Hive Stands

Don’t make the mistake of not using hive stands for your beehives. You can purchase commercial hive stands that are ready to use. Or, you can build your own stands from wood, pipes, masonry blocks or other materials.

Hive stands help protect your wooden wear from rot. They raise the hive entrance off the ground to discourage skunks and other honey bee predators. They also help save the beekeeper’s back due to less lifting and bending.

Not Respecting Bee Space

Our modern hive was designed on the principal of bee space. Bees use every available space to build comb. The dimensions of the standard Langstroth hive allow for correct spacing.

If you have a 10 frame box, you need to be sure to have 10 frames in the box. (Unless you are using special spacers – but that’s a tale for another day.)

Some beekeepers make the mistake of forgetting to put the correct number of frames in the hive boxes. When they return, the bees have built a tangle of honeycomb in the empty space.

This burr comb makes hive inspections more difficult and increases the chance that you may kill your queen. Make sure your frames are properly spaced after each inspection.

Harvesting too Much Honey

With experience, beekeepers learn how much honey to leave for the bees for Winter. The new beekeeper may not realize the amount of honey needed.

Being impatient or taking too much of a honey harvest, may result in colony starvation. To avoid this, learn when bees in your region produce the most honey and how much honey should be left on the hive.

Final Thoughts

When will you stop making beekeeping mistakes? Probably, never. But you can avoid making the same ones over and over again.

In my years of beekeeping, I have made many mistakes and some more than once! Whether you are interested in bees as a hobby or you want to develop a full beekeeping business, always work to be better. Find a good course on keeping bees and strive to do your best.