Here’s something nobody tells you when you start keeping bees: at some point, without a ceremony or a certificate, you became the expert. Yep, you!

Situations will come up, and you’ll be the one making the call. A friend or family member will ask whether you’d put a hive in their front yard, right out by the sidewalk. A neighbor will mention that a colony has been living in the electrical box for three years and wonder if you’d mind coming over to take care of it. Those are two of the hundreds of questions and requests headed your way now. Why? Because you’re the expert. You’re the beekeeper!

When something doesn’t feel right, or it goes against what you were taught, you’re allowed to say, “No, thank you.” You can offer a reason grounded in best practices or in your own judgment as a beekeeper. You can say, “That’s not something I’ve been trained to do yet,” or, “That’s not why I got into beekeeping.” All of those are honest, respectable answers.

Remember, you’re the expert now. Others may want this or that and expect you to pull a rabbit out of a hat, or honey out of a feral hive. In the end, though, you’re the one who can make the best beekeeping decision. They are laypeople. You are the beekeeper.

So go ahead and have fun with it. Do fun stuff with your bees. Enjoy yourself. Push your limits. Learn new and exciting things. But if your gut says “no,” then say no. That may be the best beekeeping decision you make all year.