Before starting out, I have always wondered if beekeeping is dangerous. I have learned fairly quickly that beekeeping is not sting free. But as I spent more time with the bees, I got to understand that when we consider if beekeeping is dangerous, we should not only think about ourselves but also if beekeeping is safe for our bees and the environment around us. In this post, I will share beekeeping safety tips which will help you to keep bees and enjoy it in a safe way.
Is beekeeping dangerous? Yes, beekeeping can be dangerous if you are not careful enough. But if you plan it well and keep a few risks in mind, beekeeping can be as safe as most of the other activities that you do. Here are the 10 beekeeping safety tips which will minimize the risk involved:
- Choose a proper location for your beehives
- Let others know that you are keeping bees
- Be gentle if you are moving your bees
- Have the necessary equipment
- Check your bee health
- Have confidence when working with bees
- Keep chemicals to a minimum and handle with caution
- Take care of yourself when handling beehives
- Have a plan for harvesting honey
- Maintain the hygiene of your equipment
What could go wrong when keeping bees?
Usually, when people think about the dangers of beekeeping, they only have one thing in mind – getting stung by a bee. And I guess this is how our minds work, right? We always think first about the dangers which can affect us. But try to think broader.
But whether you are looking into beekeeping as a hobby or a business. It is not an isolated activity. It means that beekeeping is not something you do on your own without affecting your surroundings (for example, pottery in your garage).
Beekeeping will affect you, your family, neighbors, fields, and flowers around you and your bees too. So when we talk about the dangers of beekeeping, we have to think broader than us.
Since beekeeping affects your surroundings, from here come a few more risks compared to isolated activities.
Beekeeping and your neighborhood
Most people do love bees and do their best to help them but it is not like this for everyone. Your bees will fly quite far away looking for flowers. And they will for sure visit your neighbors if you have any.
And your neighbors might be unhappy about it, might want to keep their own bees or might even be allergic to bees. They also might keep some pets. All of these are examples of beekeeping risks and your surroundings which you should be aware of.
Bees and you
When it comes to the risks that directly affect the beekeeper, well, the winner is clear – bee sting. But what about other risks?
You will be working with quite a few tools and bee smoker is one of them. You could get a few small burns, breathe some smoke too.
Beekeeping is an activity which needs good weather. And what does it mean to you? Well, you will have to work in really hot weather, wearing a beekeeper suit which does not help your case of being hot. Due to these working conditions, a few more risks come to play – overheating, dehydration.
The health of your bees
And last but not least – bees. Beekeeping might raise some risks to your bees too if not done correctly. Your bees will be vulnerable to parasites.
They will also be dependent and sensitive on the surroundings – if some of your neighbors or you use pesticides in your fields, this will have an impact on your bees.
To add one more, bees are sometimes a target by small or even quite big predators or other insects – wasps, wax moths, mice, birds, and even bears.
But before we begin talking about safety tips I want to reassure you that beekeeping can be pretty safe to you, your surroundings and the bees if you use common sense, are aware of the risks and just plan a bit. So here are my tips.
1. Choose a proper location for your beehives
At the moment of choosing the location where the beehives are going to be placed, it is important to understand how the bees are going to interact with their surroundings and vice versa.
It does happen that beehives get vandalized. On the other hand, your bees should not disturb other people lives. For example, a beehive close to a pool, or a schoolyard, a road, or a stable, isn’t a good idea. Most of the bees aren’t aggressive, but if it feels threatened or disturbed it can make become aggressive.
It is important that if your beehives are going to be placed next to an agricultural field, you have some kind of relationship with the owner or the contractor using the field. Make an arrangement so they let you know when they are working there, not only because it can be dangerous for them, but also because if they are making some product applications like insecticides or pesticides, or any chemical product, you need to take your beehives out of there.
There have been quite a few cases around the world of hundreds of thousands of bees dying because of this factor. Beekeepers their colonies because they didn´t know when their neighbors were working nearby.
Here are some general recommendations regarding how far away your bees should be placed from:
- Cities, urbanizations, public establishments: 400 meters or 440 yards.
- Rural housing and livestock facilities: 110 yards
- Motorways, main roads: 220 yards
- Country roads: 55 yards
- Other beekeeping settlements or colonies: 550 yards
2. Let others know that you are keeping bees
I always say that being talented without being organized and consistent is a waste of talent. Either way, you are approaching beekeeping as a hobby or as an entrepreneur, you need to be organized.
If you are placing your beehives in a land that is not your own, or you have the intention to sell your honey, it is important that you keep track of your beehives. You could place a tag with your name, address, phone number, the date when you placed the beehive in the field in case anyone needs to contact about your bees.
Also, don’t forget to inform your neighbors that you are keeping bees so they become aware of it.
3. Be gentle if you are moving your bees
Sometimes you might need to move your beehives, especially if you are going to earn some money from pollination services. This task has some risks both for your bees and the people around you. Quite a few accidents happen because of improper transportation of bees. Here are a few precautions to keep in mind:
- Check the health status of your beehives before moving them
- Make sure that your beehives are sealed shut for transportation
- When transporting your bees, the beehives need to be separated from the driver in case your bees somehow sneaks out of the hive
- It is recommended to move your beehives at night, and if you cannot do that, at least try not to make any stops in the populated areas to reduce the risk
- One thing I use when transporting bees – use some sort of warning to the other cars, to keep their distance. Again, you are moving a bee colony or a few that might get aggressive if something happens. You can´t anticipate what other drivers might do, but at least be sure to inform them about it
4. Have the necessary equipment
I guess this one is obvious but I still need to mention it – get the necessary protective gear for beekeeping. If you are just starting with this passion, and you are just testing the waters to see if you are going to like it or not, it might be that you do not own a full beekeeper suit.
In that case, always have a veil at hand, and it is very important to protect your eyes. Stings in the eye may cause blindness. If you have long hair you need to tie it into a ponytail or a bun, just to keep bees out of your hair. Wear clothes that are clear and lose fitting. Long sleeves are a must. As are gloves for starting out.
The smoker is an essential part of our work. You need to have it close to you most of the time. Smoke is what calms your bees. There are many theories about why smoke has this effect on the bees, but the most popular one is the one is that the smoke interferes with the sense of smell of the bees and this prevents the beehive from entering the defensive mode.
When working with the bee smoker, check the temperature and don’t let the flames to reach the top of the smoker. As you spend more time with your bees, you are going to learn the timing, but one tip: don´t over smoke the bees. Be aware of your surroundings, and take special care about where do you light your smoker. If your apiary is placed with a lot of vegetation around, be careful to not start any fire.
If you are working with bees alone, have your phone with you all the time. And let people know where you are. Beekeeping is an activity that has its own risks. You have to be aware that you are outdoors, encounters with animals (snakes, bears, etc, depending on where you are) aren’t something unheard of.
Also, have a first aid kit somewhere close or in your vehicle with an antihistamine and an Epi-pen in case you or someone working with you have an allergic reaction.
5. Check your bee health
When I started writing this article I was in doubt about adding this topic to this list. But as I wrote earlier, we, as beekeepers should not only think about ourselves but we must take care of our bees. They are the ones doing the work, and they are in danger.
If you googled it, quite a few articles will inform you about how pesticides, climate change, and contamination are affecting our bees. But in terms of the most dangerous risk your bees face, there is nothing like the parasites and sickness.
The examples are Varroa mite, Nosema ceranae, Nosema bombi, or the Deformed Wings Virus. These are responsible for mass deaths among bees and pollinators. Mass production and transportation are some of the main causes of these parasites and virus spreading in the United States, Europe, and South America.
But we as beekeepers can try to control the diseases amongst our bees by using the best practices while handling your colonies. Constant evaluation and the right treatment of your beehives have a direct impact on the survival of your colonies.
So, before you take your beehives to the apiary or before taking your beehives home with the rest of your bees you need to check their health. If bees are sick, you need to treat them before they come in contact with your other beehives.
6. Have confidence when working with bees
Bees smell fear. There is no easy way to put this, but if you are afraid of bees, you might have some trouble working with them. The right approach while working with bees is to be calm and gentle. Move slowly, without making any quick movements. The more things you knock or bees you squash the more difficult your work will be than what it already is.
To avoid surprises, before you start working on your bees, you need to prepare the scene. Scan the field around the beehives, and search for rocks, sticks or any element you can step on and make you lose your balance.
Do not eat bananas (the scent of the bananas is similar to the alarm scent that the bees produce), use perfume or strong scents. If you can, choose a time in the day to work on your bees, try to be early in the morning while the bees are foraging. But if you can’t work at that time, try to move slowly.
Be aware that during a dearth the bees are more defensive than during a nectar flow. I recommend that you read more about the nectar dearth here – nectar dearth in beekeeping and how to survive it. To make sure that you know what it is and you are prepared for it.
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7. Keep chemicals to a minimum and handle with caution
I really try and always recommend to keep your chemicals to a minimum and to try finding natural ways of helping your bees. But there are some cases where you will need to use chemicals.
In such cases, make sure that all the veterinarian products are stored properly, out of the reach of kids, animals, and people not familiar with beekeeping. The materials you use for your work must be high quality, without oxide traces or chemicals that can contaminate the beehives or the honey.
Do proper research about how to handle the chemical waste and garbage you generate with your activity. You do want to avoid problems with local authorities and be respectful of the environment.
In case you have an organic approach to beekeeping, be sure that the organic acids to be stored properly. Using proper packaging and labeling. They must be stored in a closed space, dry, away of food and other products. Let people know that you are storing the organic acids in that place and you are the only one who can handle it.
8. Take care of yourself when handling beehives
We have talked about transportation, location, how to approach the moment of working with the bees, equipment, and it is all related to how to keep you and your bees safe. I cannot emphasize enough how important it is that you take care of yourself and your bees.
Handling the beehives takes a toll on your back, your knees and your arms, it is important that you prepare the scene before working with the bees and prepare a ¨table¨ or individual stands (two cement blocks) where you are going to set the beehive you are going to work with. This has two main reasons:
- to secure the beehive and avoid knocking it off
- to keep noise and vibrations level down from adjacent beehives
Never lift the beehive above your hip in a single movement. Don´t use your back to lift or descent weight, bend your hips and knees, with your arms next to your body, and as tense as possible. And move slow, without sudden movements that can disturb the bees.
If you have to transport your beehives on foot, be aware where you are walking. Remove branches and stones that can make you lose your balance. Avoid leafy vegetation, because you can´t be aware of the presence of wild animals.
While working, don´t stand in front of the beehive, always place yourself in one of their sides or the back. Avoid being in front of the bee´s flight path.
And one more obvious, yet overlooked tip – we need to keep hydrated. We always work in pretty high temperatures. Always drink water before starting to work with the bees and keep your bottle around for when you need a break.
9. Have a plan for extracting honey
Before you harvest your first honey, prepare for it a bit. First, read how honey should be harvested and watch a few videos. Secondly, think through the harvesting process and make preparations in advance, for example – get all the tools you will need ready, decide how and where you are going to extract honey, how will you bottle it and so on. This will save you time and you will avoid confusion.
Just like checking up on your bees, during harvest you need to work fast with slow movements. Don´t worry, you´ll quickly find your rhythm. Stay in the back or the sides of the hive before opening the box. You also need to direct 5 or 6 puffs of smoke in the door of the hive.
If you are going to remove frames, do not start by removing frames closest to the sides of the super because they might be stuck to the side by propolis.
10. Maintain the hygiene of your equipment
How you handle your beehives and equipment has a direct impact on the health of your bees. There aren’ that many shortcuts here. A key factor in preventing the spread of infection is good hygiene.
Be aware that to clean and sterilize your hives and equipment properly can be pretty hard. You need to make sure that you have all the necessary tools and equipment ready for the task before you get started.
When we should clean our equipment, tools, and boxes:
- At the end of the season when you bring your boxes for storage
- When your colonies experienced infection or disease
- When you need to reuse any of your tools
- When you need to move items between colonies
- Replace your tools when they become old or had contact with the infection
Don’t get overwhelmed, you will get used to it in no time
I know that the above tips and information might be a bit overwhelming when you start out. But don’t worry that much. Usually, you will have to apply these tips one by one and in different situations. So it’s not like you will have to remember and do it all at once.
You will also really quickly learn the good practices of beekeeping and get it in your blood so it will become a really interesting and safe hobby or income source.
Make no mistake, beekeeping is totally worth learning a bit more for the good of your bees, your environment and yourself. The reward will come in form of experience, knowledge, honey and so much more than you can think of.
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