I just heard it said the other day that chicken-keeping is a gateway drug to beekeeping!  Made me laugh so hard when I heard it! Honestly, it doesn’t surprise me all that much.  Once I discovered how simple it was to keep chickens, it was an easy next step to add bees to the backyard mix.  Knowing that bees are under threat locally as well as globally provided the moral encouragement to try giving them a safe home, too.  Yes, there’s a learning curve to beekeeping– of years.  Best to take a class and have a mentor on speed dial.  And yes, getting stung comes with the territory (thankfully they’re vegetarians).  And yes, the set-up costs aren’t cheap, a few hundred dollars at least.  But I have to say, the endeavor is fascinating and the honey delicious!  If you have chickens, you might just find yourself getting addicted to beekeeping, too.