What Are Some of the Rewards of Bees?

Honey

• The primary reason that most people keep bees is to harvest the honey that the bees create. Bees make honey as a food source for themselves. In a controlled hive, you can harvest a certain percentage of the honey while leaving enough so that the hive stays healthy. A small operation can provide enough honey for yourself and your family. Maintaining a large number of hives can yield you enough honey to sell and make a profit.

Garden Pollination

• Bees are one of the primary pollinators of flowering plants. Gardeners can benefit from having beehives in the vicinity of their gardens. The bees will be attracted naturally to flowering plants of all kinds and will increase pollination rates, resulting in healthier plants and higher yields of vegetables. Bees also prove beneficial for orchards that grow apples, peaches, pears and plums.

Environmental

• Pesticides and other toxins are having a detrimental impact on bee populations across the world. Maintaining beehives in areas that are free from heavy pesticide use can help preserve the populations of bees and the many species that depend on their activities. As the natural world experiences increasing damage from industrial activities, it becomes ever more important for people to take action to protect and propagate vulnerable species such as bees.

Education

• For adults and children alike, spending time around bee hives is an education in the complex workings of nature. Bees are intriguing creatures that exhibit a repertoire of behaviors that are largely mysterious to human beings. Bees exhibit complex social hierarchies as well as pollen-collecting behaviors that involve navigation and communication between individuals. Combining honey collecting with educational efforts can teach beekeepers about bee behavior and the ecosystems whose health depends on the continued survival of bee populations.