Beekeeping · Education · Getting Started
About Beekeeping
What beekeeping actually involves, why people do it, and what it means to keep bees responsibly.
Everything on this page about beekeeping was originally written by Dietmar Klimkeit of Amazing Bees — a beekeeper who began in 2005 and kept bees for almost two decades across Melbourne’s eastern suburbs. We preserve and maintain his work here as a knowledge-sharing legacy.
What Beekeeping Is
When asking five beekeepers a question about bees or beekeeping you often get five different answers — and all have their reasoning to support them. However, not one of the answers has ever been confirmed by the bees. We cannot ask bees a question in a way they understand, nor do we understand what they are telling us. An element of speculation has historically been part of our knowledge about bees and always will be.
Through observation and research our knowledge is evolving over time. What we know about bees today is different from what it was a hundred years ago, and in a hundred years it will be better again. It could also be wrong to conclude that the knowledge of a beekeeper who has kept bees for fifty years is automatically better than someone who has kept bees for only a few years — it depends on how much time and effort you invest to update your knowledge, along with an open mind to accept new discoveries.
All answers and advice are influenced by motivation. A commercial beekeeper with 2,000 hives has a different perspective from a hobby beekeeper with two hives in the backyard. What is right for one is not necessarily right for the other — and is not necessarily in the best interest of the bees. Whatever the motivation for keeping bees, it can only be sustainable when it has benefits for both the bees and the beekeeper.
Why People Keep Bees
- Honey. Harvesting your own honey from your own backyard, produced by your own bees, is the main reason why many beekeepers find the hobby rewarding. There is something extraordinary about placing a frame of capped honey you watched the bees fill, uncapping it, and tasting the result.
- Pollination. Pollinating the fruit trees and vegetables grown in your garden is a common second reason. The improvement in fruit set when a beehive is nearby is noticeable.
- Environmental contribution. Helping the environment — contributing to pollination, supporting bee populations — motivates many beekeepers who see their hives as a form of active conservation.
- Relaxation. The slower pace that needs to be adopted around bees transitions many beekeepers into a much more relaxed space. The deliberate, gentle attention required is almost meditative.
- The bees themselves. Most beekeepers end up fascinated by the bees — their biology, social structure, and behaviour — as much as by any practical outcome. It is addictive.
Responsible Beekeeping
Although bees are wild animals that look after themselves in nature, when kept in urban areas they need to be managed by a knowledgeable beekeeper practising responsible hive management and swarm control. Keeping bees without managing them properly creates problems for the bees, for nearby colonies, and for the community.
Managing swarms
A swarm is a natural event — a colony that has outgrown its hive sends part of the colony to find a new home. An unmanaged hive in a suburban area that swarms and settles in a neighbour’s roof or wall is a problem for everyone. Responsible beekeeping includes monitoring for swarm preparation (queen cells) and taking action to prevent or manage swarming before it happens.
Neighbour relations
One of the biggest challenges in backyard beekeeping is convincing neighbours it is safe. Unless your neighbours are comfortable with bees nearby, you won’t find peace as a beekeeper. Follow a few simple rules:
- Keep no more than one or two hives in a suburban backyard. Three or more hives on an average block can create legitimate concerns.
- Position hive entrances so bees fly up and over any fences before foraging — this reduces direct contact with neighbours.
- Talk to your neighbours before you start. Most people are more comfortable once they understand that managed hive bees rarely sting unprovoked.
- Keep water available so bees don’t use neighbours’ pools or water features.
- If you want more than a few hives, find a suitable rural or semi-rural property.
Disease management
Potential diseases in unmanaged hives don’t stay in that hive — they spread to other bee colonies in the area, including native bees. You cannot call yourself a beekeeper if you don’t manage your hives. Regular inspection, Varroa monitoring, and prompt reporting of notifiable diseases are part of the basic responsibility of keeping bees.
BeesFriend’s free Varroa Mite Wash Form is one practical tool for monitoring treatment effectiveness — a simple alcohol wash checked against official thresholds.