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Beekeeping is one of a few ways where the beekeeper can experience the pleasure and rewards of animal husbandry. It also has the advantage of good pollination throughout all the surrounding gardens- they can also enjoy the most delicious harvest of honey and other items.

The bee is one of nature's true hard workers the expression "busy as a bee" did not come about by accident. They work so hard that after about 35 days they wear out their wings and as they can no longer make a contribution to the colony they die. But during those 35 days they contribute greatly to their colony collecting nectar and making honey to be used as food for the young and the colony as a whole during lean times. They work so hard and are so efficient that they make far more honey than they can ever consume. This fact has been known and relied on by beekeepers for generations to provide good harvests of the delicious food.

Honey being a totally natural product can be varied in both taste and colour. The flowers that the bees are gathering the nectar will influence both the flavour and the colour of the honey produce. As in turn the chemistry of the soil in which plants are growing will produce differing flavours and colours. Nectar from the alfalfa plant growing in dry alkali soil will produce pale almost clear honey. Whereas the nectar from buckwheat from acidic soil areas will result in very dark honey. Combinations of flowers and soil produce honey through a variety of colours golden, red and even green. The longer the honey is left in the hive will also influence the colour the longer it is left the darker the colour.

Some producers will even place their hives in areas that ensure the bees feed on a particular flower and will then advertise their honey as clover honey, heather honey etc. And this can be used to dramatically increase their sales if they are producing honey on a commercial basis. Or their enjoyment if they prefer the flavours produced by a particular flower.

Other products that can be harvested include beeswax and comb honey. Both are important and can be used in a variety of ways. Comb honey is as its name suggests honey still in the wax comb. This saves the extraction process. Comb honey is very popular with some people believing to have additional health properties. Bees wax is used in many ways candles and polish to name the most famous.

If a producer contemplates becoming a commercial enterprise then firstly they should become aware of all the regulations and bylaws that effect the commercial production of food. They must also treat the enterprise as a business with all the marketing, financial and production implication if they are to survive as a business. But beekeeping is a very rewarding hobby that many have turned into a very enjoyable business.

Ben Field is a beekeeping expert. For more information on , visit .