# Curious about your beekeeping experience



## enjambres (Jun 30, 2013)

There is no such thing as a "backyard bee sanctuary" for honeybees.

Honeybees regularly forage out a couple of miles in all directions to gather nectar and pollen. That's tens of thousands of acres - and few people have backyards that big!

Native pollinators use much smaller areas, and would greatly benefit from small scale plantings and habitat diversity.

Honeybees are sturdy, very fecund, managed livestock. 

Contrary to what you may have read, they are not in peril, nor are they about to become extinct. If I sound like a hardened bee-farmer, I don't mean it that way. It's just that the propaganda regarding the demise of honeybees is getting stale. 

Humans do awful things to our environment - no doubt about that. But we are not in danger of killing off honeybees. They are far too valuable. As stand-ins for the countless, less well-known and popular "bugs" that we are carelessly killing, I suppose its OK to worry about the Bee-Disaster. 

If I want to see what's going on with my bees, I simply open their hives and look at them. Or I sit (or nap) beside my hives to watch their comings and goings. Very peaceful way to spend a few hours.

Nancy


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## ondine_h (Apr 8, 2019)

Thanks for your reply! Excuse my ignorance on all of this, it's probably very irritating but every bit of info I get helps me understand this area better.


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## little_john (Aug 4, 2014)

ondine_h said:


> I’m currently undertaking a design project for a backyard bee sanctuary ...


Agree with the comments already made about this.



> I’d like to know what you enjoy most about beekeeping, what is the #1 difficulty associated with it in your opinion,


Interacting with creatures which live in an entirely different dimension to ourselves - and - the #1 difficulty is inadequate volume and variation in forage due to modern farming methods. The #2 difficulty is the range of problems caused by the Varroa Destructor mite. A #3 difficulty is newcomers to the craft trying to treat honeybees like pets ...



> and finally, if there was a way that you could view the daily level of bee activity in your hive, would this information be useful/interesting to you [...] ?


Not in the slightest. I have neither the time nor the inclination to spend hours watching beehives. That the bees are showing activity when I pass by the hives is enough for me. (Guess I'm not one of your target market ? - LOL)
'best
LJ


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## GregB (Dec 26, 2017)

enjambres said:


> There is no such thing as a "backyard bee sanctuary" for honeybees..........
> Nancy


+100.
On all points.

I am really sorry to observe the general populace's ecological illiteracy (and resulting propaganda taking advantage of this illiteracy in various contexts and for profit).

Regarding:


> you could view the daily level of bee activity in your hive


The latest technology allows for automation of the bee behavior watching to various levels - IF really needed. 
Not expensive either.

However, your average beekeeper has other things to attend to and spend the time on (rather than watching bees for hours).


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## GregB (Dec 26, 2017)

dup


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## Kamon A. Reynolds (Apr 15, 2012)

Biggest problems beekeepers face is false information and varroa mites.


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