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Keeping Bees

A hive, a year, and the things that go wrong

What a hive actually needs

A colony needs a dry hive off the ground, facing away from prevailing wind, in morning sun with afternoon shade in hot climates, plus water within a few hundred metres and forage through the seasons. A standard setup is a floor, a brood box, a queen excluder, one or two honey supers, a crown board and a roof. Add a smoker, a hive tool, a full suit and gloves, and an extractor or access to a shared one. Realistic startup cost for one hive with kit is several hundred euros. Site it so the flight path leaves your land above head height and does not cross a neighbour's doorway or a footpath.

The beekeeper's year

Late winter: leave them alone, heft the hive to judge stores, feed only if it is light. Spring: the colony expands fast, inspections every 7 to 10 days to check for a laying queen, space and swarm cells. Early summer: add supers, manage swarming, watch the main flow. Late summer: harvest, then leave the colony enough honey for winter, commonly 15 to 20 kilograms depending on climate, or feed sugar syrup to replace what you took. Autumn: treat for varroa, reduce the entrance against wasps and mice, check the roof. Winter: ventilation, no disturbance, and ideally no curiosity.

Honey, and honest yields

A healthy established colony in a good year in Portugal might give 15 to 30 kilograms of surplus honey, but a first-year colony often gives none at all, and a bad spring can mean you feed them instead of harvesting. Take only genuine surplus: honey is the colony's winter food, and taking too much is the most common cause of colonies starving in February. Harvest capped frames only, because uncapped honey has too much water and will ferment. Keep extraction clean, strain, and store in sealed jars out of the light. Honey does not spoil, but it does absorb moisture and smells.

Swarming and varroa

Swarming is how colonies reproduce and it is normal, not a failure, but an unmanaged swarm means losing half your bees and most of your harvest. Watch for queen cells from spring and manage by giving space, splitting the colony or performing an artificial swarm. Varroa destructor is a parasitic mite that weakens bees and spreads viruses, and untreated colonies commonly die within a couple of years. Monitor mite levels by sugar roll or alcohol wash, and treat at the right times with an approved product, following the label exactly, never during a honey flow. Report notifiable diseases such as foulbrood to the veterinary authority.

Stings, allergy and the rules

You will be stung. Most people get local swelling; a small number have a systemic allergic reaction with hives, swelling of the face or throat, wheezing or faintness, which is a medical emergency needing adrenaline and local emergency services immediately. Never work bees alone if anyone in the household is known to be allergic, and never keep hives where a reaction cannot be reached quickly. In Portugal, apiaries must be registered with DGAV, with minimum distances from dwellings and roads, and bees are covered by animal health rules. Before you buy anything, spend a season with a local beekeeping association.

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