Rural/Farm Life

Beekeeping is addicting. And HARD. I've been keeping bees for only about 10 years. It was very bumpy at 1st but I've had much better success lately. I've raised a lot of plants and animals and bees are the hardest things to keep healthy in my experience. The two biggest lessons I've learned about keeping bees here in southern Illinois:

1.) You have to feed them in the late winter/early spring. Climate change contributes to this I believe because most years there are more and more warm days in January and February and the colonies build up before things are blooming and they can blow through their honey stores and starve in March right on the precipice of spring.

2.) You have to do something to control the Varroa mites in the fall. The mites are there all summer but when the bees are thriving and collecting pollen and nectar they can fight them off. But if you don't treat here in September or October, the mites will destroy hives when the bees cut numbers and go into winter mode. They get in the brood and destroy the colony before it can reproduce. Some folks always want to be 100% natural and so they might not agree but I believe science can help us and I've found the most effective method of mite control is oxcalic acid. You get a tool that heats off your tractor battery and vaporize the hive in the fall. Bees don't like it but they survive.

As for what to plant, its probably not so important... not sure how big your place is but bees will fly in a 3 mile radius so they will find things all over...

Good luck if you are persistent you will love it!