[MRM]

My father kept bees on the farm I grew up on and I helped him a little. There really isn't that much to do, so I didn't give much help. Mostly carrying hives and boxes and things, but I got to see how to do things. Bee keeping can be very simple and is pretty intuitive. My father picked it up by watching a friend of his who kept hives on our property and just following him around. Where we live the biggest challenge is keeping them alive through winter. Finally we figured out we needed to feed them in the winter, so my dad would make sugar water for them by dissolving sugar in boiling water and setting it just outside the hive on sunny days. They would fly even on winter days if it was warm enough and the would bring the sugar water back into hive and survive off it all winter long. As long as they got enough to eat the cold didn't affect them.

You don't need to plant fancy wild flowers or prairie grasses. The only effect on the honey is that lighter flowers like alfalfa or clover makes a lighter, clearer honey. Our bees were in the deep woods and pollinated basswoods and box elders and goldenrod. Our honey was quite dark and thick. Some like the lighter honey better, but this summer at the local farmer's market the honey vendor had marked up the darker basswood honey like we use to get.

Bees don't need a lot of work. They're pretty docile too. If you have coveralls it only takes a puff of smoke to pacify them. We never even bothered with the smoke after we got used to handling the bees. My dad had a mask and helmet and an old welders outfit. After a while the bees got used to him and he didn't even use his outfit most of the time. He just moved slowly and deliberately and they pretty much left him alone.

Get the basic setup and a couple of hives of bees and just set them out. Start in the spring and just follow them a little over the summer. Don't bug them too much and they should be fine.