GETTING STARTED WITH BEES
Lately we have received a tremendous amount of inquiries regarding Bees as an agricultural crop for 1-d-1 Ag valuation for property taxes. Please review these resources if considering this as an option in Hunt County.
When looking to get started in beekeeping, first we recommend small and new landowners take a beekeeping course to become more familiar with all the activity this will entail. AgriLife has an online course to ensure landowners don’t start out on the wrong foot. The Course can be found at:
At the end of this course, you will be able to:
*Recognize the four stages of honeybee lifecycle and know what they do
*Describe the honeybee colony lifecycle and its goals through the year
*Consider different races of bees when choosing queens for their hives
*Identify and acquire equipment needs for beekeeping
*Recognize a good spot to place a bee yard
*Purchase bees and properly install packages or nucs
*Evaluate maintenance needs required for beekeeping and recognize when to perform those tasks
*Recognize and manage the pests common to beehives
New classes will be held in the fall. The hosting site for fall classes is to be determined.
Many questions arise as to what to plants to feed bees. Pretty much anything that blooms is attractive to bees of all species. They see the colors in blue, purple, white and yellows best, so those are always good plants to pick. The important thing is to have plants suitable for our climate zone.
Click the following article which provides detailed lists of pollinator plants.
Many are interested in planting clovers as well for bees. Clovers can be a good addition to pollinator plants but should not be the only food source as their bloom time is very short. The AgriLife Clover planting guide can be found at:
Most beekeepers also provide supplemental feed through nectar dearths (times with a reduction of available plant nectar or perhaps no nectar at all!)
There is a beekeeper association locally producers may be interested in. The contact is jtgilmer@yahoo.com
Collin County also has a Hobby Beekeepers Association. Their contact info is https://cchba.org/
Finally, the Texas Honeybee Association has a variety of resources on their website as well. https://thbea.com/
