Not so Urban

[Chris Hitt]

Hello All,
I’m outside of Fond du Lac Wisconsin and our area is plagued with monocultures. I’ve been following the disappearance of bees for some time now and was finally spurred on to do something about it after seeing Honey Love on the news this morning. Different than our organization, I plan on planting wild flowers in between the abundant fields of soybeans and corn my area offers as well as installing nesting sites. Surprisingly there are little to no bee keepers to be found, at least on the internet, in my area. Any advice on or inside knowledge on how to get started would bee (sorry had to) appreciated. Marketing, collecting donations for equipment, fuel, natural herbicides,and seed, and perhaps how to get bee keepers going in town like you guys have done. Also what types of pesticides would be deemed less damaging to the bee population? Thank you for your time and knowledge in advance.

Chris

[Ruth Askren]

Chris, here in California we have the Xerces Foundation, they are doing what you are thinking about, but in Northern California in and around the almond groves.

http://www.xerces.org/

I would only add that the beekeeping year in your part of the world can be as short as 4 months because of weather! Bees do not fly in temperatures under 50 degrees Fahrenheit so the kind of climate you have in Wisconsin is somewhat limiting. On the other hand, bees in the eastern climes get their acts together incredibly fast and can produce several hundred pounds of honey per year! Find your local beekeeping club or the state association. There is an old saying: “All beekeeping is local.” I wouldn’t be surprised if someone there is also sharing your concerns. Good luck!
Ruth

[Sheelagh Lynn]

We live in N. Idaho and are also in a rural setting. We have only three hives, and are not interested in selling honey for profit, etc. we do know a chiropractor who sells our extra honey, and we use the money to offset expenses. We lost one of our hives this winter, and will purchase a new queen.
My question is does anyone have advice about keeping bears away from the hives? We have a friend who would keep hives but for this problem.

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