Thanks for visiting!
The Bee Space is a blog about smart, simple and sustainable beekeeping.
We feature beehive plans, construction tutorials, stories about beekeeping and lots of great photos. Enjoy!
Explore this site…
- Learn about the Warre Hive
- Read about adventures in sustainable beekeeping in the Blog
- See some photos and videos of honeybees on the Bee Cam page
- Check out the Beehive Construction Guide that shows you how to build your own beehive.
- Browse the Links page for great beekeeping resources
14 responses so far ↓
Tess // December 11, 2008 at 8:46 pm |
What an interesting blog! I’ve always been fascinated by bees. My husband brought up the idea of us having bees, but it looks so complicated. On the other hand, his sister in Oakland, CA went ahead and started about 2 years ago. She had some problems with a neighbor’s fear of bees, but she moved her hive to the other side of her roof and apparently the neighbor is none the wiser. Dare I forward info about your blog to my husband? It does involve some commitment to keep a hive, does it not?
Nick // December 11, 2008 at 8:59 pm |
Tess – Thanks for your compliments on my blog! Yes, beekeeping does require a commitment of sorts…but in reality it takes more commitment to have a dog or cat than it does to keep bees. Bees are best left alone and that translates into low maintenance for you the beekeeper. They do wonders for gardens and herb plots in terms of pollination.
And yes…feel free to spread the blog around a bit.
Chris // December 17, 2008 at 4:40 pm |
Bees huh? Now that’s an interesting idea. I’ve never really thought a whole lot about bees except when they fly at me.
Nice blog, Nick.
Nick // December 17, 2008 at 7:36 pm |
Chris – Thanks for stopping by! Feel free to hang around and learn more about honeybees.
And thanks for the compliment!
beegirl // January 2, 2009 at 7:59 am |
Great shot here!!
Tim // January 4, 2009 at 8:06 am |
This is the first blog I’ve ever read and, fantasically, it’s about bees! Excellent!
Nicks quite correct; the less you interfere with bees, the better the results. I have two National Hives but am looking to move the bees over to Warres as the concept appears to be far more sustainable, a lot less traumatic for the bees and a lot less time consuming for me. As there is considerably less manipulation (opening of the hive) with a Warre it means the bees are not having the roof taken off their house, and the furniture inside moved around, every week which must surely strss them out.
Therefore, a Warre will be a much better hive to keep in your garden; it’s relaxing to watch the bees, helps the plants, may result in some honey and is a great talking point with friends.
I’d fully recommend beekeeping; it’s a fabulous hobby and costs me a lot less than my dog!
If you have a club, or someone with whom you can team up, then that gives you greater confidence and knowledge. An excellent beginners book is called, “Bees at the Bottom of my Garden”. It’s funny, informative and written in an easy-to-understand way which just encourages you to keep reading
Go for it.
Best wishes,
Tim.
New Forest, Hampshire, England (the little guys across the water!)
Nick // January 5, 2009 at 3:38 pm |
beegirl – Thanks alot!
Tim – Thanks for your kind words! I agree that beekeeping is a fabulous hobby.
Thanks for the reference to the book. Here is an Amazon link for it: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Bees-Bottom-Garden-Alan-Campion/dp/0907908977
sarah // February 21, 2009 at 8:41 am |
great site.. looking forward to reading more..
Nick // February 24, 2009 at 6:05 pm |
sarah – Thanks for stopping by! I look forward to reading your site as well.
Dario // March 3, 2009 at 6:57 pm |
I congratulate you on your blog. And I make a call take care of and to improve the life of the bees since they contribute a great value to the human existence for million of yeras, I am a beekeeper born in Argentina, I started to study them at the age of 14 now I am 37. There are aportoda to me a natural form of life. And if some you see by its mind the bees are an example of life to follow to learn of the bees. Thank you very much and good luck.
Nick // March 4, 2009 at 10:05 am |
Dario – Thank you for your comment! I agree that we must take care of and improve the life of the bees. By doing so, our own lives will improve.
Vern Burnie // April 1, 2009 at 9:16 am |
could you use a small solar panel to heat in winter, and a computer fan to cool in winter with a thermostat to control and keep the hive at an optimum level
Nick // May 8, 2009 at 1:16 pm |
Vern – You could try something like that if you wanted, but it has been my experience that the honeybees do a pretty good job of regulating hive temperature themselves. I think it would be best to just let the bees take care of the temperature. They know instinctively the ideal hive temperature for their own beehive.
Daniel // December 30, 2009 at 1:09 pm |
This is a great photo of bees getting water. I have a similar one somewhere on my hard drive (n0 wasp though). I always watched bees on my pond. In the shallows they would land on algae to get water. I found it very calming to watch the bees come and go.