Commercial beekeepers have huge numbers of hives and sell their wares in wholesale or retail outlets. But the vast majority (95 percent) of the nation's 212,000 beekeepers are hobbyists with two or three hives, according to the Department of Agriculture.
"Just in the last year, interest in [hobbyist] beekeeping has grown astronomically," says Jim Bobb, a former hobbyist, who founded the Montgomery County Beekeepers Association, which now has several hundred members. He also tends the bees at Morris Arboretum, the Barnes Foundation, and Pennypack Trust, and maintains observation hives at Longwood Gardens and the Academy of Natural Sciences.
What's the draw? There's the honey, of course. And the satisfaction of a D.I.Y. project. In addition, beekeeping creates another level of pleasure for gardeners. Bees generally travel only two to three miles a day gathering nectar, pollen, and water, so if you grow enough wildflowers, your bees won't stray far. Think of the sustainability.
And since nobody knows exactly why large numbers of bees die each season from colony collapse disorder, the world needs more beekeepers, says Joel Eckel of Germantown, who, with brother Jeff and cousin Abby, work as WeBee Brothers, offering instruction and consultation.
Herman estimates her starting costs at $80 for the empty hive and an additional $85 for bees. They came in a pack - three pounds of drones and workers and one queen.
A hive in nature has the appearance of a web hanging from a tree. A hobbyist's hive resembles a wooden filing cabinet that stands about five feet tall and can sit as close to, or as far from, the house as you'd like.
