About an African American Beekeeper
This Blog is about me becoming a beekeeper and encouraging others to become one too! If I can do it, I know you can. Start today! I did.
Worker Bee Bringing Pollen Back to the Hive.
Worker Bee Leaving the Hive to Forage for Pollen, Nectar, or Water.
African American Beekeeper 
Great pics..especially liking the bee carrying the pollen. Also great that you added the links as additional resources.
I’m a Black Female Beekeeper, I LUV my new hobby!
I am a new (aspiring) beekeeper. Would you be interested in sharing on a podcast about your journey?
Can you help me get started in beekeeping?
Sure. Where are you located? A good way to start is to join your local beekeepers club.
May I purchase raw honey from you?
When I placed my first swarm in a hive they left, the second one I placed a frame of honey in them and later put a front feeder with sugar water and they are staying. What have been your experiences?
me too, I would like to BUY RAW HONEY FROM YOY… 1 gallon…
can some one give me some info on beekeeping i’m in kansas and would love to do this and i don’t think there are any african americans doing this here… Jtinnon@cox.net any help will be appreciated…
Not really sure if the author of this blog attends to it any longer. I wrote some time ago with no response. Therefor, I will try to help you since I had no one to help me.
This is only my first year beekeeping so I am not sure if I can be of much help but I will offer what information I have to give.
I have a two top bar Kenyan hive boxes and started this spring. This will be my first Louisiana winter and I will see how it goes.
I didn’t harvest this summer and am waiting til spring so that they have ample food for the winter.
I can offer moral support, I guess, but you probably need questions answered that I can’t help with. I can direct you to some resources, though.
What I will say is stay with it and stand on your resolve. I was NOT encouraged when starting out because here in Louisiana, beekeeping is for the “good ole boys” club and they did not want to help me. In particular, they discouraged the use of the top bar hive by trying to intimidate me into believing that they were illegal. Can you believe that? ILLEGAL!!
Madness.
I have one resource found here: http://www.facebook.com/TheEarthWorks
and there I chronicle my attempts and have pics.
I also have a podcast where I speak about beekeeping in our community:
http://www.blogtalkradio.com/wombmanssong
In addition I have a complete list of beekeeping sites on the Earth Works page to help you get started.
In box me privately if I can be of any further assistance.
Yes, I am still here. I apologize for not responding to any of your previous posts. I have been really busy with my studies. This is my third year of beekeeping and I have been contemplating giving up– not because of anything the bees are doing. For the last nine months, I have been working on my MBA and my income has gone down considerably and as you may know beekeeping can be an expensive hobby. However, the honey encourages me to keep with it along with the fact that we need bees for pollination and in order to eat. I appreciate your comments and will check your Facebook page “The Earth Works.” I will definately check out your podcasts. Thanks! AAB
AWESOOOOOME!!
I know how it is in grad school and finances.
I hope that you will stay with it.
I would love to have you join me on my podcast to talk more about what you are doing and to encourage others in our community to begin this rewarding process.
Can’t tell you how happy I am to know that you didn’t give up.
The bees need you and our community needs you and the EARTH needs you!
do you still have bees?
Yes. It’s funny you ask. My bees jumped ship around this time last year when you wrote the question. The hive was completely empty. I did not have time to clean everything up and start a new one. Then low and behold, one day this past spring (2015), I was out cutting grass and saw the hive bustling with bees. They came back– well maybe not the ones that left, but I still have bees. 🙂 Thanks for stopping by. Corey
Do you wholesale your product I share all black African American info. I can on my facebook and maybe we can help each other
Hello Sir,
Thanks for stopping by. Unfortunately, I do not sell any products.
Corey
Greetings All, I’m an African American woman who has been interested in beekeeping for over 3 years, but I have been aware of the decline of the honeybee for more than 10 years. I’m trying to to make contact with all beekeepers of color for insight, why they you do it, the rewards and what I can expect. I’m currently reading beekeeping books and I’m glad that someone mentioned the Kenyan Beehive because I intend to go that route. Any feedback on the Flow Hive? I’m in the Atlanta Georgia area but intend to do Beekeeping in SC. Please reach out.
Hello Rina,
Beekeeping is a fun and rewardingly great hobby. There has been a decline in their population. Some say it has to do with the different pesticides used to kill pests. It is great you want to begin doing this because the more folks involved in beekeeping the better us and them. I apologize for just being able to respond. I have been really busy. I do not have any experience with the Kenyan Beehive– it sounds interesting. I have only worked with 8 frame hives and nuc hives. I keep them organic. Let me know how it goes with the Kenyan Beehive and Good luck!
Corey
I am African-American I’m a new beekeeper I started about two weeks ago I just added my second box bees are doing good
Awesome! Where are you located? Have you had any issues with the small hive beetles? That has been my nightmare! My bees seem to be doing well. Thanks for stopping by and sharing.
Htp, I am an AfuRaKan Bee Guardian who has been guarding bees for more than six (6) years in Madison WI. While I was instrumental in starting the Mad Bees amateur bee keeping group it was an all white group.
Welcome to all who take the plunge into Bees.
There are a couple of essential books that will become more important every year you bee guard .
Oh yeah, a Bee Guardian primary keeps bees because it’s a spiritual endeavor. We try to set up hives anywhere and everywhere. I take honey only when the hive becomes honey bound and never substitute corn syrup.
‘The Buzz about Bees Biology of a Superorganism’ Jurgen Tautz, cannot really express how important this volume is concerning how you should think about bees. The information on bee behavior and physics will expand your overstanding of this amazing expression of nature.
‘HoneyBee Democracy’ Thomas D. Sheeley, again a seminal work on bee behavior. I had the opportunity to attend a lecture by the author at University of Wisconsin,it was outstanding.
Thomas has spent the type of time observing bees that exceeds description, and sanity. We however are benefactors of this diligence. I had intuited that bees were the most amazing creations on the planet, HoneyBee Democracy confirms it.
These are books on Bee Behavior and Biology. If you need books on ‘how to keep bees’ let me know I have a great list.
Htp, I am an AfuRaKan Bee Guardian who has been guarding bees for more than six (6) years in Madison WI. While I was instrumental in starting the Mad Bees amateur bee keeping group it was an all white group.
Welcome to all who take the plunge into Bees.
There are a couple of essential books that will become more important every year you bee guard .
Oh yeah, a Bee Guardian primary keeps bees because it’s a spiritual endeavor. We try to set up hives anywhere and everywhere. I take honey only when the hive becomes honey bound and never substitute corn syrup.
‘The Buzz about Bees Biology of a Superorganism’ Jurgen Tautz, cannot really express how important this volume is concerning how you should think about bees. The information on bee behavior and physics will expand your overstanding of this amazing expression of nature.
‘HoneyBee Democracy’ Thomas D. Sheeley, again a seminal work on bee behavior. I had the opportunity to attend a lecture by the author at University of Wisconsin,it was outstanding.
Thomas has spent the type of time observing bees that exceeds description, and sanity. We however are benefactors of this diligence. I had intuited that bees were the most amazing creations on the planet, HoneyBee Democracy confirms it.
These are books on Bee Behavior and Biology. If you need books on ‘how to keep bees’ let me know I have a great list.
Hello AfuRakan, thank you so much for your book recommendations. I will surely check them out. Is your bee group still active? Again. Thanks AABK
Hey AABK, I believe the group is still active but don’t know. I was not interested on being part of a all white group so dropped out.
I’d love to join your group, as well. Where is it located?
Greetings Jolivette (beautiful name), I hope you and yours are enjoying good health and peace of mind.
This is a internet bee group Jolivette, so we are literally everywhere;)
Hey Afrurakan I also live in Madison and is a black man interested in learning about the becoming a bee guardian. i was gonna join the madbees group but they are in stoughton and i dont have means to travel that far. if you could reach me at kyalep1@gmail.com i would greatly appreciate it.
Thank You for making this site. Very encouraging for a Sista like me.
I’m Atlanta, and would love to connect with you. I am starting a small apiary for a small community garden.
I live in Atlanta and I am starting a community garden with a apiary for Booker T Washington high school students and the community. I would love to connect with you on this.
Hi,
I am young, black and am interested in beekeeping. I live in Atlanta GA. I cant seem to find black people that are into beekeeping here. I was so happy when I found this. I am brand new at this. I dont even have equiptment yet. I am in the research phase. If you think that you could help me out plese Email me at Shonrondalennon@yahoo.com I am looking for mentors.
Thanks
Hello,
I would first recommend you visit a beekeeper’s club and listening in on the information they have to offer. There, you will be able to not only network but also gain knowledge from experienced beekeepers, their challenges and successes. . I just wrote a blog about finding local beekeeping clubs. I will email you. Thanks for reaching out.
Thanks!
I can definitely help but I find this platform to confusing to communicate. Please reach out at markerramsey@me.com. I am willing to share books, pictures etc.
Bon matín.
Is your raw honey & beeswax available for sale?
Please advise.
Thank you.
Hi guys my name is Jonathan and I am an african american beekeeper here up in boston for about five years and had my first breakthrough this year by getting to the spring with live bees!
Running four hives looking to split some of them,I would to post some pictures if thats ok.
I would love to set up hives in some of my neighbors yards.
Hello Sir, Congratulations! Please update us on your beehives and you can absolutely post your pictures. Usually, once spring arrives bees begin to swarm if the hive is congested, hot, developing queen cells, etc. I would like to know how your hive is doing now. Thanks.
Hi Jonatha
Best of luck and success with your honey bees. I researched the subject most of last year and finally got down to the reasons I really wanted to raise bees. Bottom line, my needs could be achieved by raising Orchard bees, which don’t make honey nor commonly sting, but are far better pollinators for fruit and nut trees, of which I have 20. I bring this up because when anyone says “beekeeping” everyone immediately thinks of honey bees or sometimes bumblebees, and of course, being stung. I know that was true of me and many of my friends. They thought me nuts. African Americans and Africans have a long history of beekeeping. I hope your experience will encourage more people to not get caught up in the archaic phrase “Black people don’t do that…”. We simply need to research our needs and how to achieve them for ourselves and our others around the world. What your”breakthrough” shows us is we don’t need instant success, just steadfast dedication.
Our world needs pollinators. To all reading this site, find out which ones fit your needs and abilities and get started.
We are new TN beekeepers as in we got our first nuc on Saturday and completed the hive setup yesterday. This is my new near retirement hobby. I/we plan to get stung as little as possible while learning all that we can about bees. I heard about the bees dying a few years back and it bothered me so the “I” in this we is really not concerned with the honey production though “We” are. “We” have told all of our friends and they want to come see the bees and they defiantly want honey.
We’d like to also send pics of our backyard hive. No stings yet so this is really fun and we’re excited