So, you want to be a beekeeper.
The Benefits of Beekeeping
Honey is by no means the only reason to keep bees. Without the bees’ help, many commercial crops would suffer serious consequences. Even backyard beekeepers witness dramatic improvements in their gardens’ yields: more and larger fruits, flowers, and vegetables.
Harvesting honey from your beehives
How much honey can you expect? The answer to that question varies depending on the weather, rainfall, and location and strength of your colony. But producing 30 to 60 pounds or more of surplus honey isn’t unusual for a single colony.
Recognizing the value of bees as pollinators
Any gardener recognizes the value of pollinating insects. Various insects perform an essential service in the production of seed and fruit. The survival of plants depends on pollination. Sixty percent of the fruits and vegetables we rely on to feed our families need honey bee pollination. The value of honey bee pollination to
U.S. agriculture is more than $14 billion annually, according to a Cornell University study.
In many areas, millions of colonies of wild (or feral) honey bees have been wiped out by urbanization, pesticides, parasitic mites, and a recent phenomenon called Colony Collapse Disorder. Collectively, these challenges are devastating the honey bee population.
As a beekeeper you continually discover new things about nature, bees, and their remarkable social behavior. Just about any school, nature center, garden club, or youth organization loves for you (as a beekeeper) to share your knowledge. Spreading the word to others about the value these little creatures bring is great fun. You’re planting a seed for the next generation of beekeepers.
Improving your health: Bee therapies and stress relief
There’s something about being out there on a lovely warm day, the intense focus of exploring the wonders of the hive, and hearing that gentle hum of contented bees that reduces stress.
Any health food store proprietor can tell you the benefits of the bees’ products. Honey, pollen, royal jelly, and propolis have been a part of healthful remedies for centuries. Honey and propolis have significant
antibacterial qualities. Royal jelly is loaded with B vitamins and is widely used overseas as a dietary and fertility stimulant. Pollen is high in protein and can be used as a homeopathic remedy for seasonal pollen allergies.
Apitherapy is the use of bee products for treating health disorders. Even the bees’ venom plays an important role here — in bee-sting therapy. Venom is administered with success to patients who suffer from arthritis and other inflammatory/medical conditions. This field of study and treatement has become a science in itself and has been practiced for thousands of years in Asia, Africa, and Europe.
How to Know if You’d Make a Good Beekeeper
How do you know whether you’d make a good beekeeper? Is beekeeping the right hobby for you? Here are a few things worth considering as you consider beekeeping as a honey-producing pastime.
Beekeeping environmental considerations
Bees are remarkable creatures that do just fine in a wide range of climates. Beekeepers can be found in areas with long cold winters, in tropical rain forests, and in nearly every geographic region in-between. If flowers bloom in your part of the world, you can keep bees.
You don’t need much space. Beekeepers in Manhattan have a hive or two on their rooftops or terraces. Keep in mind that bees travel miles from the hive to gather pollen and nectar. They’ll forage an area as large as
6,000 acres, doing their thing. So the only space that you need for your bees is enough to accommodate the hive itself.
Zoning and legal restrictions related to beekeeping
Most communities are quite tolerant of beekeepers, but some have local ordinances that prohibit beekeeping or restrict the number of hives that you can have. Some communities let you keep bees but ask that you register your hives with the local government. Check with your town hall, local zoning board, or state agricultural experiment station to find out about what’s okay in your neighborhood.
Beekeeping costs and equipment
What does it cost to become a beekeeper? All in all, beekeeping isn’t a very expensive hobby. You could invest about $200 to $300 for the beehive, equipment, tools, and medication. In addition, you’d spend $75 to $150 for a package of bees and queen, or a nucleus hive (“nuc” for short). For the most part, these are one-time expenses. Keep in mind, however, the potential for a return on this investment. Your hive can give you 30 to 60 pounds of honey every year. At $5 to $7 a pound, that should give you an income of $150 to $400 per beehive!
How many beehives do you need?
Most beekeepers start out with one hive. And that’s probably a good way to start your first season. But most beekeepers wind up getting a second hive in short order.
What kind of honey bees should you raise?
The honey bee most frequently raised by beekeepers in the United States today is European in origin and has the scientific name Apis mellifera. Of this species, the most popular bee is the so-called “Italian” honey bee. These bees are docile, hearty, and good honey producers. They are a good choice for the new beekeeper.
Time and commitment for beekeeping
Beekeeping isn’t labor intensive. Sure you’ll spend part of a weekend putting together your new equipment. But the actual time that you absolutely must spend with your bees is surprisingly modest. Other than your first year you need to make only eight to ten visits to your beehives every year. Add to that the time that you spend harvesting honey, repairing equipment, and putting things away for the season, and you’ll probably devote 35 to 40 hours a year to your hobby (more if you make a business out of it).
Beekeeper personality traits
If you run every time you see an insect, beekeeping will be an uphill challenge for you; But if you love animals, nature, and the outdoors, and if you’re curious about how creatures communicate and contribute to our environment, you’ll be captivated by honey bees. If you like the idea of “farming” on a small scale, or you’re intrigued by the prospect of harvesting your own all-natural honey, you’ll enjoy becoming a beekeeper.
If you’re going to become a beekeeper, you can expect to get stung once in a while. But, when you adopt good habits as a beekeeper, you can minimize or even eliminate the chances that you’ll be stung.
All bee stings can hurt a little, but not for long. It’s natural to experience some swelling, itching, and redness. These are normal (not allergic) reactions. Some folks are mildly allergic to bee stings, and the swelling and discomfort may be more severe. The most severe and life-threatening reactions to bee stings occur in less than 1 percent of the population. If you’re uncertain, check with an allergist, who can determine whether you’re among the relatively few who should steer clear of beekeeping.
How to Order Beehive Kits and Parts
Beekeepers use all kinds of fantastic tools, gadgets, and equipment. Part of the fun of beekeeping is putting your hive together and using the paraphernalia that goes with it. The makings for a beehive come in a kit form and are pre-cut to make assembly easy. The work is neither difficult, nor does it require too much skill. Some suppliers will even assemble the kits for you.
Honey bee hive manufacturers traditionally make their woodenware out of pine and/or cypress. Hardwoods are fine, but too expensive for most hobbyists. A standard pine or cypress hive will cost about $100 to $150.
Any of this stuff is available from beekeeping supply stores. Most of these vendors are on the Web.
Don’t wait until the last minute to order your first startup kit. Springtime is the beginning of the beekeeping season. If you wait until spring to order your kit, you will likely have to wait to get it (the suppliers become swamped with orders at that time). Ideally it’s best to get all the stuff you need a few months before you plan to start your hive.
Many suppliers offer a basic startup kit that takes the guesswork out of what you need to get. These kits often are priced to save a few bucks. Make certain that your kit contains these basic items:
Honey super (shallow or medium)
Frames and foundation for both deeps and the honey super
Hardware to assemble stuff (various size nails, foundations pins, and so on)
How to Obtain Your Initial Bee Colony
Where do the bees come from? You have several different options when it comes to obtaining your bees. Some are good; others are not so good. Here are some bee-ordering options and their benefits or drawbacks.
One of your better options and by far the most popular way to start a new hive is to order package bees. You can order bees by the pound from a reputable supplier. Bee breeders are found mostly in the southern states. They will ship just about anywhere in the continental United States.
A package of bees and a single queen are shipped in a small wooden box with two screened sides. Packaged bees are sent via U.S. Mail. A package of bees is about the size of a large shoebox and includes a small, screened cage for the queen (about the size of a matchbook) and a tin can of sugar syrup that serves to feed the bees during their journey. A three-pound package of bees contains about 10,000 bees, the ideal size for you to order. Order one package of bees for each hive that you plan to start.
Package bees are shipped in screened boxes. Note the feeding can and queen cage.
Buying a Nucleus (“nuc”) bee colony
Another good option for the new beekeeper is to find a local beekeeper who can sell you a nucleus (nuc) colony of bees. A nuc consists of four to five frames of brood and bees, plus an actively laying queen. All you do is transfer the frames (bees and all) from the nuc box into your own hive. The box usually goes back to the supplier.
If you can find a local source of bees, it’s far less stressful for the bees (they don’t have to go through the mail system). You can also be reasonably sure that the bees will do well in your geographic area, and having a local supplier gives you a convenient place to go when you have beekeeping questions (your own neighborhood bee mentor).
A nuc or nucleus consists of a small wooden or cardboard hive with three to five frames of brood and bees, plus a young queen.
Purchasing an established colony
You may find a local beekeeper who’s willing to sell you a fully established colony of bees. This may be too challenging for a new beekeeper. First, you encounter many more bees to deal with than just getting a package or nuc. And the bees are mature and well established in their hive. They tend to be more protective of their hive than a newly established colony (you’re more likely to get stung). Their sheer volume makes inspecting the hive a challenge. Furthermore, old equipment may be harder to manipulate (things tend to get glued together with propolis after the first season). More important, you also lose the opportunity to discover some of the subtleties of beekeeping that you can experience only when starting a hive from scratch: the building of new comb, introducing a new queen, and witnessing the development of a new colony.
Capturing a wild swarm of bees
Here’s an option where the price is free. Capturing a wild swarm is a bit tricky for someone who never has handled bees. And you never can be sure of the health, genetics, and temperament of a wild swarm.
How to Identify the Three Castes of Bees
Three different castes (worker, queen, and drone) make up the total population of a bee hive. Each has its own characteristics, roles, and responsibilities. Upon closer examination, the three types of bees even look a little different, and being able to distinguish one from the other is important.
Her majesty, the queen bee
The queen bee is the heart and soul of the colony. She is the reason for nearly everything the rest of the colony does. The queen is the only bee without which the rest of the colony cannot survive. A good quality queen means a strong and productive hive.
Only one queen lives in a given hive. She is the largest bee in the colony, with a long and graceful body. She is the only female with fully developed ovaries. The queen’s two primary purposes are to produce chemical scents that help regulate the unity of the colony and to lay LOTS of eggs. She is capable of producing more than 1,500 eggs a day at 30-second intervals. That many eggs are more than her body weight!
The majority of the hive’s population consists of worker bees. Like the queen, worker bees are all female. Workers are smaller than the queen, their abdomens are shorter, and on their hind legs they possess pollen baskets, which are used to tote pollen back from the field.
Like the queen, the worker bee has a stinger. But her stinger is not a smooth syringe like the queen’s. It has a barb on the end. The barb causes the stinger, venom sack, and a large part of the bee’s gut to remain in a human victim. Only in mammals does the bee’s stinger get stuck. The bee can sting other insects again and again while defending its home.
The only male bee in the colony, drones make up a relatively small percentage of the hive’s total population. At the peak of the season their numbers may be only in the hundreds. You rarely find more than a thousand.
New beekeepers often mistake a drone for the queen, because he is larger and stouter than a worker bee. But his shape is in fact more like a barrel (the queen’s shape is thinner, more delicate and tapered). The drone’s eyes are huge and seem to cover his entire head. He doesn’t forage for food from flowers, and he has no pollen baskets. He doesn’t help with the building of comb, because he has no wax-producing glands. Nor can the drone bee help defend the hive — he has no stinger and can be handled by the beekeeper with absolute confidence.
An organ inside the queen called the “spermatheca” is the receptacle for the sperm. The queen will mate with several drones during her nuptial flight. After mating with the queen, the drone’s most personal apparatus is torn away, and it falls to its death.
Where to Keep Your Hives When Beekeeping
You can keep honey bees just about anywhere: in the countryside, in the city, in a corner of the garden, by the back door, in a field, on the terrace, or even on an urban rooftop. You don’t need a great deal of space, nor do you need to have flowers on your property. Bees will happily travel for miles to forage for what they need.
You’ll get optimum results if you follow some fundamental guidelines.
Basically, you’re looking for easy access (so you can tend to your hives), good drainage (so the bees don’t get wet), a nearby water source for the bees, plenty of sunlight, and minimal wind. Keep in mind that fulfilling all these criteria may not be possible. Do the best you can by
Facing your hive to the southeast. That way your bees get early morning sun and start foraging early.
Positioning your hive so that it is easily accessible come honey harvest time.
Providing a windbreak at the rear of the hive. You can plant trees, stack hay bales, or erect a fence made from posts and burlap, blocking harsh winter winds that can stress the colony.
Putting the hive in direct sunlight. Ideally, late afternoon/evening shade is beneficial, but avoid deep, dark shade, because it can make the hive damp and the colony listless.
Making sure the hive has good ventilation. Avoid placing it in a gully where the air is still and damp. Also, avoid putting it at the peak of a hill, where the bees will be subjected harsh winds.
Placing the hive absolutely level from side to side, and with the front of the hive just slightly lower than the rear (a difference of an inch or less is fine), so that any rainwater drains out of the hive.
Locating your hive on firm, dry land. Mulch around the hive prevents grass and weeds from blocking its entrances.
How to Put Your Bees in the Hive
As a new beekeeper, one of your first steps is actually putting your bees in their new hive. Take your time and enjoy the experience. You’ll find that the bees are docile and cooperative. Read the instructions several times until you become familiar and comfortable with the steps. Do a dry run before your girls arrive.
Ideally, hive your bees in the late afternoon on the day that you pick them up, or the next afternoon. Pick a clear, mild day with little or no wind. If it’s raining and cold, wait a day.
To hive your bees, follow these steps in the order they are given:
Thirty minutes before hiving, spray your bees rather heavily with sugar syrup.
But don’t drown them with syrup. Use common sense, and they’ll be fine.
Using your hive tool, pry the wood cover off the package.
Pull the nails or staples out of the cover, and keep the wood cover handy.
Jar the package down sharply on its bottom so that your bees fall to the bottom of the package.
It doesn’t hurt them! Remove the can of syrup from the package and the queen cage, and loosely replace the wood cover (without the staples)
Examine the queen cage. See the queen?
She’s in there with a few attendants. Is she okay? In rare cases, she may have died in transit. If that’s the case, go ahead with the installation as if everything were okay. But call your supplier to order a replacement queen (there should be no charge). Your colony will be fine while you wait for your replacement queen.
Slide the metal disc on the queen cage to the side slowly.
Remove the cork at one end of the cage so that you can see the white candy in the hole. If the candy is present, remove the disc completely. If the candy is missing, you can plug the hole with a small piece of marshmallow.
Out of two small frame nails bent at right angles, fashion a hanging bracket for the queen cage. Spray your bees again, and jar the package down so the bees drop to the bottom. Prepare the hive by removing five of the frames, but keep them nearby.
Remember that at this point in time you’re using only the lower deep hive body for your bees. Now hang the queen cage (candy side up) between the center-most frame and the next frame facing toward the center. The screen side of the cage needs to face toward the center of the hive.
Spray your bees liberally with syrup one last time.
Jar the package down. Toss away the wood cover and then pour (and shake) approximately half of the bees directly above the hanging queen cage. Pour (and shake) the remaining bees into the open area created by the missing five frames.
When the bees disperse a bit, gently replace four of the five frames.
Do this gingerly so you don’t crush any bees. If the pile of bees is too deep, use your hand (with gloves on) to gently disperse the bees.
Place the inner cover on the hive.
If you’re using a hive-top feeder, it is placed in direct contact with the bees without the inner cover in between, so skip this step and go to step 12. The inner cover is used only when a jar or pail is used for feeding. The outer cover is placed on top of the hive-top feeder.
Place the hive-top feeder on top of the hive.
Alternatively, invert a one-gallon feeding pail above the oval hole in the inner cover; add a second deep super on top of the inner cover; and fill the cavity around the jar with crumpled newspaper for insulation.
Plug the inner cover’s half-moon ventilation notch with a clump of grass (some inner covers do not have this notch).
You want to close off this entrance until the bees become established in their new home.
Now place the outer cover on top of the hive. You’re almost done.
Insert your entrance reducer, leaving a one-finger opening for the bees to defend.
Leave the opening in this manner until the bees build up their numbers and can defend a larger hive entrance against intruders. This takes about four weeks. If an entrance reducer isn’t used, use grass to close up all but an inch or two of the entrance.
If you are moving bees to a new location that is a mile or two away, no problem. But if you are moving the hive to a location much less than this, you may lose all of your field bees because they will return to where the hive used to be. If you only need to move your hive a short distance (like across your yard), move the hive a little bit at a time (a few yards each day until you reach the desired destination).
From: Howland Blackiston from Beekeeping For Dummies, 2nd Edition
The honey bee is the only insect that produces food eaten by man.
A honey bee can fly for up to six miles, and as fast as 15 miles per hour, hence it would have to fly around 90,000 miles -three times around the globe - to make one pound of honey.
It takes one ounce of honey to fuel a bee’s flight around the world. Honey is 80% sugars and 20% water.
Honey bees produce beeswax from eight paired glands on the underside of their abdomen.
Honey bees must consume about 17-20 pounds of honey to be able to biochemically produce each pound of beeswax.
Bees maintain a temperature of 92-93 degrees in their central brood nest regardless of whether the outside temperature is 110 or -40 degrees.
A populous colony may contain 40,000 to 60,000 bees during the late spring or early summer.
The queen bee lives for about 2-3 years. She is the busiest in the summer months, when the hive needs to be at its maximum strength, and lays up to 2500 eggs a day.
The queen may mate with up to 17 drones over a 1-2 day period of mating.
The queen may lay 600-800 or even 1,500 eggs each day during her 3 or 4 year lifetime. This daily egg production may equal her own weight. She is constantly fed and groomed by attendant worker bees.
Worker honey bees live for about 4 weeks in the spring or summer but up to 6 weeks during the winter. The average honey bee will actually make only one twelfth of a teaspoon of honey in its lifetime.
Honey bees fly at up to 15 miles per hour.
The honey bee’s wings stroke 11,400 times per minute, thus making their distinctive buzz. A honey bee visits 50 to 100 flowers during a collection trip.
Honey bees, scientifically also known as Apis Mellifera, are environmentally friendly and are vital as pollinators.
Fermented honey, known as Mead, is the most ancient fermented beverage. The term “honey moon” originated with the Norse practice of consuming large quantities of Mead during the first month of a marriage.
http://www.americanbeejournal.com/
