Beekeeping for beginners? Bartlett beekeeper shares tips for this 'sweet' hobby

The sound of the angry bees was almost deafening. Despite the ominous cacophony of buzzing, Mike Finnern calmly pulled a tray full of bees and capped honeycomb out of the active hive.

“As long as you have the right protective gear, you are OK,” he said, as he turned the tray over to look for the queen bee — putting his face inches away from the busy bees.

Beekeeping is a hobby Finnern, a retired dentist, picked up about six years ago.

Today, he has about 10 active hives in his backyard in Bartlett and produces a rich, amber honey that has caught the attention of chefs like Andrew Armstrong of Bounty on Broad. “It’s the best honey I have ever tasted,” said Armstrong, who uses it in a Honey Tree Cake dessert on his restaurant’s menu.

Finnern is not alone when it comes to Memphians beekeeping as a hobby.

Eric Caron, president of the Memphis Area Beekeepers Association, said the organization usually has more than 300 current members at any given time.  

But the number of beekeepers in the region is even larger.

“My guess is that there are well over 1,000 active beekeepers in the Memphis area,” he said.

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Do you love bees?

When thinking about taking up beekeeping as a hobby, Finnern said the first thing to consider is: “When you think of bees, do you think of honey or getting stung first?” 

If bee stings are your first thought, he said beekeeping may not be for you.

But, if it’s honey, it’s a hobby that will enrich your life.

“I love eating honey, but what I really enjoy about beekeeping is the learning process and the camaraderie with other beekeepers,” Finnern said. “You never stop learning.”

Finnern is a wealth of information when it comes to bees. As he led a tour of his hives, he explained everything from the lifecycle of a bee to how they work together as a community to how to extract honey from the hives.

Did you know all worker bees are female? Or that the average lifecycle of a worker bee is just 35 days, but a queen can live several years.

Finnern said he is still learning something new every day. He is currently trying his hand at breeding his own queen bees.

How to get started with beekeeping

Finnern started with one hive, ordering bees in the mail. You can order a box that comes with a queen and about 3 pounds of bees. “They will ship bees all over the country,” Finnern said. “But most come from here in the South due to the weather here.”

Over the years, he has added hives to his apiary by collecting bees that have built nests in homes and yards across the Mid-South. “The Memphis Area Beekeepers Association has a ‘Swarm List,’” he explained. If you have a bee nest on your property, a beekeeper like Finnern will come and remove the bees, bringing them home to create a new hive.  

Finnern said the Memphis Area Beekeepers Association is an invaluable resource.

The organization not only mentors new beekeepers, but also provides resources to current members to borrow honey extractors during harvest season, monthly newsletters providing timely information on local, state and national beekeeping concerns, as well as holds a monthly general membership meeting with seasonally appropriate presentations, keeping everyone up to date on the art, science and practice of beekeeping.

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Words of advice

Before jumping into beekeeping and ordering a box of bees, Finnern recommends educating your self as much as possible. Here are his top five pieces of advice on getting started beekeeping.

Tip 1: Read. Read. Read

Finnern recommends reading and watching videos on beekeeping to self-educate yourself to see if this is something you really want to do.

Tip 2: Take a class

The Memphis Area Beekeepers Association hosts an annual workshop on beginning beekeeping. For 57 years, the MABA Short Course has been training amateur beekeepers. The workshop is usually held at the end of January. Visit memphisbeekeepers.com for more information.

Tip 3: Get a mentor

Finnern recommends that you find someone to work with who has been beekeeping for a while. “Think of it as an exchange,” he said. “You can help them with their hives, while they help educate you on yours.”

Tip 4: Join a beekeeping organization

Finnern suggests the Memphis Area Beekeepers Association, which hosts monthly meetings as well as offers resources for members. “You get so much information talking to other beekeepers,” said Finnern, adding that one thing he enjoys about the club is the diversity of the membership. “It’s really a cross-cut of society.”

Tip 5: Make your own equipment

Beekeeping can be a costly hobby. To save money, Finnern recommends building as many things as you can. For example, fabricate your own boxes, or if ordering ones, get a kit you can assemble yourself rather than a finished box. Finnern has even built his own extractor from bicycle wheels and a food-grade barrel. “I enjoy it just as much as the bees,” said Finnern of fabricating his own hives.

Finnern is also quick to add that harvesting honey is a hot, sticky mess. But, as he meanders between his hives and talks about all things bees, you can tell that his bees bring more joy to his life than headache — or stings. 

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Jennifer Chandler is the Food & Dining Reporter at The Commercial Appeal. She can be reached at jennifer.chandler@commercialappeal.com and you can follow her on Twitter and Instagram at @cookwjennifer. 

Cooking with honey

A spoonful of local honey is a sweet treat on its own, but it is also delicious used in more than just hot tea.

Susan Finnern, Mike’s wife, likes to drizzle it over banana bread or grilled pineapple slices. Here is her recipe for Honey Baked Chicken.

Honey Baked Chicken

1 whole chicken (3 lbs.), cut into pieces

½ cup butter, melted

½ cup honey

¼ cup prepared yellow mustard

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon curry powder

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Place the chicken pieces in a shallow baking plate, skin side up. Mix the melted butter, honey, mustard, salt and curry powder in a small bowl. Pour the mixture over the chicken.

Bake in a preheated oven for 1¼ hours (75 minutes), basting every 15 minutes with pan juices, until the chicken is golden and tender and the juices run clear.

Serves 4.