I will be giving a presentation on beekeeping at Porcfest 2009. Should be fun!

I'll be talking about what it takes to get started keeping bees. I believe that anyone who owns or controls a few acres of land is morally obligated to consider keeping bees. It's not really the acreage you need, but the distance between you and possibly concerned neighbors. I'll go over the joys and potential perils of beekeeping.

I'll cover the purchasing of bees from a commercial breeder, and other cheaper options, such as catching a swarm or finding bees in their natural habitat.

And then I'll cover the equipment needed, the handling of bees, how to know if they are healthy, what to do if they're not, and how to help them prepare for winter.

If there's time, I will go over the processing of the comb into honey and wax.

Bees have been taking care of themselves for millions of years more then humans have. But if you want them to hang around your hives and give you some of the product of their labor, you need to give them a comfortable home.

If you want to get a head start, you should read the "Bee Bible", written by a guy named L. L. Langstroth. Langstroth discovered the concept of "bee space", which revolutionized the craft of beekeeping and turned it into a business. Domesticating the honey bee was a pivotal point in human development, as it made possible the farming of all kinds of crops. His invention is used to this day, 150 years later. I'll bring some "Langstroth hive" parts to the presentation at Porcfest.

His seminal book is available free online. There are also some PDF versions.

Brian Travis