Tarboo Valley BeesFAQ's
How much time does it take to keep bees?
Is a license or permit required to keep bees?
Bee Stings
Hive Population
Bee Flight
Pollen CollectingWhat percentage of foraging bees collect pollen? Around 15 to 30 percent How many trips will a single bee make a day to forage pollen? As many as 50 trips for a single bee have been recorded How much pollen can a bee collect during a single trip? Rarely more than 15 mg CastesQueen BeeDoes the queen sting and lay eggs with the same body part? Yes, other than its use to deposit eggs in the center of an empty cell, the queen bee's stinger secondary function is inject other competitive queens with venom in order to eliminate them. The bee’s stinger is a modified ovipositor, which developed in to a defensive mechanism. Eliminating Bees How can neighbors be prevented from keeping bees? In most areas there is no legal way to prevent a neighbor by force from keeping bees on their own property. If a law does not already exist preventing beekeeping in your community, you may wish to speak to a local government representative in order to instate one. However, there is often no good legal reason to instate such a law and beekeepers associations tend to fight as a group preventing any such law from being created. Checking zoning laws may be a secondary option, but most allow beekeeping as long as the hive population is below a certain level, which is often in the hundreds. The best option is to speak to your neighbor and explain your grievances in order to work out compromise, though be aware that in most cases they have no legal requirement to make you happy. HoneyIsn't it somewhat unsafe to eat honey produced in residential areas? It could be contaminated with rhododendron or azalea nectar, and thus poisonous. While it is true that bees can forage nectar from plants with human toxic nectar, you have to consider the distribution of such flowers. If poison-nectar plants are the predominant source of nectar for forming honey, don’t eat the honey produced. However, in most cases such nectar sources are few and far between on the foraging path of honeybees. This in combination with the sheer amount of nectar that must be gathered to make a small amount of honey makes the occurrence of honey poisoning extremely rare. Experienced beekeepers should be aware of possible toxic honey their hive may produce, this honey is often collected and used only for feeding back to the bees. If there is any question, avoid using any honey that you don’t trust. Is it a good idea to feed infants or people with immune deficiencies honey? No, honey should not be fed to infants under the age of 1 or to people with severe immune system deficiencies. This is due to possibility of botulism spores being present within the honey. This level of botulism present should have no ill effect on a healthy person.
Eliminating Bees How can neighbors be prevented from keeping bees? In most areas there is no legal way to prevent a neighbor by force from keeping bees on their own property. If a law does not already exist preventing beekeeping in your community, you may wish to speak to a local government representative in order to instate one. However, there is often no good legal reason to instate such a law and beekeepers associations tend to fight as a group preventing any such law from being created. Checking zoning laws may be a secondary option, but most allow beekeeping as long as the hive population is below a certain level, which is often in the hundreds. The best option is to speak to your neighbor and explain your grievances in order to work out compromise, though be aware that in most cases they have no legal requirement to make you happy. HoneyIsn't it somewhat unsafe to eat honey produced in residential areas? It could be contaminated with rhododendron or azalea nectar, and thus poisonous. While it is true that bees can forage nectar from plants with human toxic nectar, you have to consider the distribution of such flowers. If poison-nectar plants are the predominant source of nectar for forming honey, don’t eat the honey produced. However, in most cases such nectar sources are few and far between on the foraging path of honeybees. This in combination with the sheer amount of nectar that must be gathered to make a small amount of honey makes the occurrence of honey poisoning extremely rare. Experienced beekeepers should be aware of possible toxic honey their hive may produce, this honey is often collected and used only for feeding back to the bees. If there is any question, avoid using any honey that you don’t trust. Is it a good idea to feed infants or people with immune deficiencies honey? No, honey should not be fed to infants under the age of 1 or to people with severe immune system deficiencies. This is due to possibility of botulism spores being present within the honey. This level of botulism present should have no ill effect on a healthy person.
HoneyIsn't it somewhat unsafe to eat honey produced in residential areas? It could be contaminated with rhododendron or azalea nectar, and thus poisonous. While it is true that bees can forage nectar from plants with human toxic nectar, you have to consider the distribution of such flowers. If poison-nectar plants are the predominant source of nectar for forming honey, don’t eat the honey produced. However, in most cases such nectar sources are few and far between on the foraging path of honeybees. This in combination with the sheer amount of nectar that must be gathered to make a small amount of honey makes the occurrence of honey poisoning extremely rare. Experienced beekeepers should be aware of possible toxic honey their hive may produce, this honey is often collected and used only for feeding back to the bees. If there is any question, avoid using any honey that you don’t trust. Is it a good idea to feed infants or people with immune deficiencies honey? No, honey should not be fed to infants under the age of 1 or to people with severe immune system deficiencies. This is due to possibility of botulism spores being present within the honey. This level of botulism present should have no ill effect on a healthy person.