Posts Tagged ‘Beekeeping’

1. Seasonal activities of the bees
Bees can make honey only during the warmer months when there are a lot more flowers blooming and there is plenty of pollen for them to feed on, but during the cold winter months there is less honey produced by the bees. Bees like humans can sense the changes in weather and environment.

2. The life of the bees as compared to humans
Bees have lives very much like that of the humans. They organize themselves and their work according to their designations and have a method in all that they do. The only difference between the queen bee and women is that the queen bee is permanently pregnant with her first nuptial flight and stays in her hive producing eggs until the sperm runs out. The queen bee mates with 2 or 3 drones and this impregnates her for the next two or three years. The queen bee lays around 2000 eggs per day and lives for around two years after her period of producing young is over. After this a new queen takes over the hive. Mating is seasonal and the pattern differs from one species of bees to another.
The queen bee, like the dignitaries among the humans, is protected by worker bees and drones who keep buzzing around her to protect her from any kind of harm. These worker bees and drones will give their lives to protect the queen bee. The queen bee’s buzz is very different to that of the other bees and is a high pitched buzz. The other bees recognize this sound and keep swarming around her constantly.

3. Close knit colonies of bees
The entire bee colony is working towards a single goal which is to protect their w queen, bring up the young and make honey. Their final deliverance from all the hard work is their death, which they sometimes bring on themselves by the never ending work that they do. The queen bee also lives only to continue the linage and lay eggs to multiply the numbers in their colony and their hive. Most of the bees in the bee colony are females, but only one will make it as the queen. Beekeepers still find the ways of the bees and their behaviour a mystery and never really fathom the life of a bee. Technology and science is trying to learn more about the colonies of bees and maybe learn a lesson or two from them in living together compatibly instead of working at cross purposes in the same family most of the time.

1. Cross pollination and the consistency of honey
Beekeepers rely on the several thousand varieties of bees to cross pollinate their flowers and create new species of flowers and also several different consistencies of honey. The beekeepers keep a track of the bees and their cross breeding so that they know where the bees originated from and their origin. This way they also know the consistency of the honey that various bees produce.

2. Origination of bees
Bees generally originated from Asia, Africa and Europe and were brought to America centuries ago by immigrants from all over the world. The only place where there are no bees is the Antarctica. Bees are related to wasps, but unlike the bees wasps do not pollinate flowers like the other species of the same category which are beetles, butterflies and flies.

3. The two categories of bees
Beekeepers learn to manage their bees with the two categories which are males and females. Generally there are only a few males and the females that are more in number fight for control of the bee hive with each other.

4. African bees are not aggressive
People feel a fear when they hear about the African bee and think it is a poisonous killer bee, but this is not so and the African bee is not dangerous at all. These bees are the most popular with the bee keepers and also in most of the beekeeping industry too. Clover honey is produced by the African bee and is the most popular and most utilized honey. These bees never attack anyone, but will do so only if they are defending their hive and the safety of the queen bee is a concern. The queen bee lives inside the hive permanently once she becomes pregnant and will never be seen again. Beekeepers remove parts of the hive but never touch the area where the queen bee lives.

Though bees may be of a passive nature by and large, it is quite annoying to have them buzzing around you while you are out at a picnic. This is because there sense of smell is stronger than their eye sight and they come because of the smell of food. It is their sense of smell that guides them to the flowers and pollinates them. Sometimes the food people consume could smell very much like flowers and the bees go for this. Bees sometimes hover around trash cans because of certain foods that are dumped in them. So farmers should be careful when dumping food in the trash cans because this could lead the bees to the trash cans instead of their natural habitat.

I know we are in the middle of winter at the moment, but let’s look forward to later on in the year. From midsummer in a good year, many hives will be approaching a crisis point. The worker/gatherer bees, numbering anything around 50,000 in a decent colony, will have brought back home huge quantities of nectar and pollen, and the vacant cells are overflowing.

The Queen has increased by many thousands the number of her brood, and now finds herself encroached upon, and pushed for space in her domain. The hive is extremely crowded, all the combs are fully occupied, and the “fanner” bees, who have the unenviable task of keeping the colony cool, are finding it difficult to cope, and returning bees cluster around the entrance, unwilling to enter this situation.

To add to the pressure, a newly hatching brood due in a week will add to the congeston even more. Something has to be done about this state of affairs, and it has to be done at once. Inactivity (except in winter) is anathema to the bee, and not tolerated in their world.

So the bees prepare to swarm. Of course, the bees who remain with the hive to form the nucleus of a new colony must have a Queen. The original Queen will go with the swarm. Ever efficient, the bees cater for any unexpected accident by preparing for many new Queens. The workers construct special cells by sacrificing other cells around them. These special cells are larger, with thicker walls.

The existing Queen then lays into these specially prepared cells eggs, which would usually hatch into worker bees. However, the nurse bees feed these eggs with richer food, and more of it, enlarge the cells more as the larvae grow. Until the cells are capped, with the new virgin Queens emerging in a week.

At this time restlessness seizes the old Queen, who rushes about, trying in vain to assert her authority, even threatening the young Queens-to-be, and order breaks down. The temperature rises to a point where things are all but intolerable and the bees swarm from the hive. The Queen, having finally left her old home, will settle not too far away initially, in some nearby bush, tree, old log or suchlike, the bees will cluster around her, forming the familiar ball shape of the swarm. This is the time that the beekeeper, if he has been watchful, can gather them up and transport them to a new hive to start anew. Otherwise, within a short time scouts will have found a new permanent home, and the swarm will be lost.

The original hive, now depleted by more than half, now returns to it’s life as though nothing had happened. A few days later the strongest of the new Queens-to-be lets it be known that she is ready to emerge. She will cut the capping of her cell, which has previously been thinned and smoothed by the nurses to aid her exit, press against it, force it open like a hinged lid, and step out onto the comb. The nearest honey cell has her first attention, feeding hungrily. She then devotes her attention to her sisters, finding all the other Queen cells, ripping them open and killing her rivals.

If she is not quick enough, or is not allowed by the other bees, she will wait to fight to the death any other potential Queens that may emerge. Alternatively she may decide not to fight for the position of Queen here and join an “afterswarm”. The bee law remains intact. A law of bee life, having very few exceptions, has been upheld. “One Queen – one kingdom”.

1. Safety equipment for bee keepers
Beekeepers have to wear suits that cover them and protect them completely from head to toe and that cannot be punctured by the bees, and through which the bees cannot sting them. To protect their face they have a mesh screen and also use smokers to calm down bees that have become very agitated. The smoker calms down the bees while the beekeeper gets the honey out of the hive. They also have to check that the bees are in their hives getting on with the honey making procedure and the only way they can do all this is if the bees are calm. Beekeepers also have a crowbar to scrape the honey out which can be quite difficult to remove. The bee hives are usually placed in secluded areas so that the bees do not become a menace to those who are moving around in that area. This is also to ensure that the bees are not disturbed by too much of noise and human traffic which will antagonize them and make them swarm.

2. Beekeepers get their tools on the internet
Most beekeepers prefer to get their bee keeping equipment on the internet as this way they can access hundred of different companies and get exactly what they want. The need among other things, tools for grafting the comb apart for scraping up the honey, comb cutters, special cages for capturing the queen bee, and many other things like containers for the honey. Honey is the favorite food of grizzly bears and bee keepers have to safe guard their bees from pests which could eat them up. Bees also have to have particular kinds of feeds which keep them healthy. Bee hives also have to have treatment against invasion from flies and moths which carry infection and diseases from compost and animal manure to the hives.

3. Expenses incurred by the bee keepers
The body suits that the beekeepers wear are fairly cheap, and do not dent the finances of the bee keeper, but what is an expense is keeping the hive safe from pests. This is not an easy task as the hives are situated in places like dense forests where there are many pests and birds to disturb the hives. So the beekeepers have to keep abreast of the new techniques to maintain their beehives in a healthy manner and safe guard them against pests.

Bee keeping dates back to the 13th century BC when it was practiced by ancient Egyptians. Once it was introduced by John Harbison to the United States, it became more modernized with updated techniques and became the main profession and financial sustenance for beekeepers. There are other by products that are derived from honey which is propolis and royal jelly which are used for medicinal purposes. Not much has changed since ancient times in the use of products derived from beehives.

1. Different varieties of bees brought into the US
Bees of different species were brought from various countries like New Zealand and Europe. This was more of a hobby for those who lived on farms than a main means of earning their keep. Farming was the main occupation and beekeeping was just a side hobby that was followed by the relatives of the farmers, who had access to space on the farm and found it easy to keep bees. This hobby then was passed from generation to generation.

2. From honey and bee wax the bee hive changed with science
In early days, bees were maintained just for their honey and for the bee’s wax that they produced for their hives, and which was used for making candles and various other products. Later L. L. Langstroth an American scientist brought more scientific methods into bee keeping and brought into practice the beehive frame that was removable. Later it was found that bees could be influenced into building their own frames that were straight by giving them some wax as a foundation. The bees would then make use of this foundation and build their own honey comb with holes that were octagonal in shape to keep their larvae in until they had developed enough and hatched. The methods for beekeeping kept getting more and more developed and a helpful and practical invention was the smoker, which assisted the beekeepers as a safety device.

3. The art of beekeeping
For any successful beekeeper, this art should be second nature to them and they should know all that there is about bee keeping. It is always easier for those who are born into beekeeping families to work on such projects as this has been their life from the time they were born. With beekeeping being the family business the new generation will have no problem in picking up the strings as easily as it would be to learn how to walk and talk!

4. Apiculturists are agriculturists who are bee keepers
Bee keepers are agriculturists of sorts as their profession is closely related to the farmer’s profession, who breed cows and grow food side by side on the same farm. The same way, many farmers have bee keeping as an additional source of income and a hobby for the others in the family to carry on some trade and earn some extra money. Of course bee keeping is also a full time profession for some. The Department of agriculture refers to bee keepers as apiculturists.

Beekeepers who know about entomology and biology are more successful in their bee keeping business and can advice those who are in need of some more know how on bee keeping. They can help many a bee keeper with their knowledge and if they pass it on to other apiculturists they will be helping them with their business too.

1. Beekeeping needs hard work and dedication
For anyone who wants to start a beekeeping business, one thing that they should remember is that it involves a lot of hard work and is not something that is easy to maintain, especially if they want a good profit from this business. Doing it as a hobby may not need as much of an effort as when it is one’s livelihood and takes up most of one’s time. More money would be invested in beekeeping as a livelihood than if it was just a hobby and if you done this then you definitely need to earn that money back. Not only would you need a good quantity of produce from the beehives you would also need the top quality honey so that your products are sold more in the market. The beekeeper should also get the latest equipment and keep to the latest technology to make sure that his produce of honey is the best in every way.
Most beekeepers have been in the business for a long time and know all the ropes of the trade. They also have a website which advertises their goods and gets them a lot more customers. If you do not have a website then the number of your customers will be very limited as you will not be able to spread the word about your farm products to anyone else apart from those who stay in your locality.

2. Beekeeping is a competitive business
When compared to the commercial beekeepers the small business beekeepers will have a hard time competing with them. It takes a lot of effort to produce even a small quantity of honey and if the technology and equipment is not the latest in the market then the produce falls even lower and the profit after all the hard word will be negligible at the end of the day. To make the smaller beekeepers remain in business the commercial ones usually take advantage of the situation and buy up or sub contract the produce of the smaller business’s and add it on to their own. Other agricultural businesses have co operative societies but bee keeping does not have any such way of helping the smaller beekeepers. However, by subcontracting the smaller beekeepers this is beneficial to both parties.

3. Sub contracting is not a safe bet
Though subcontracting may sound like a very good idea it is not all that secure as the company that is subcontracting you could suddenly back off if they are not happy with the products or for any other reason. So this could run out to be a risky affair as you cannot tell what he outcome of the business will be and how the season will be for your products. Beekeepers have to worry about their financial gain and keep wondering whether the market demand would be worth while or not in the future. There produce is not as dependable as a farmer who knows what his farm will give him if the climate is suitable and the weather good for his crops.
When you are in the beekeeping business you have to depend on the activities of the bees and how much they produce. This also depends on the weather and the temperatures which have to be suitable for the bees.

When the bee keeper removes the honey from the honey combs he has to process the raw honey immediately to prevent it from crystallizing. Once the row honey comes into contact with the oxygen in the air it reacts and begins to crystallize immediately. This does not happen in the honey comb as the wax caps over each cell in the comb keeps the honey away from the air.
Apart from processing the raw honey to prevent crystallization, the bee keeper has to kill some very potent bacterium in the honey to prevent poisoning. This is the bacteria that cause the symptoms of botulism in humans. These symptoms are better known as ‘food poisoning’ and are removed by heating the raw honey for some time at temperatures between 150 to 170 degrees centigrade.
Honey is naturally sweater than processed sugar and is stored in its natural color. Sugar made from sugarcane is bleached to remove the natural brown color of sugar. This is why table sugar is white and crystallized.
Honey is a whitish substance that is very gooey in nature in its raw form. It is only the pasteurizing process that causes it to get that yellowish color. When the honey is processed on a hot fire it begins to caramelize, very much the same way sugar does. Honey has a very long shelf life and cam be kept for years after processing. People buy honey for it’s medicinal value as it has many vitamins and an extremely high amount of antioxidants and digestive enzymes. The healthy properties of honey cannot be enumerated in this short article.
Honey is fast taking its rightful place in society by replacing many substances that aggravate diabetes. For instance corn syrup is being replaced by honey as corn syrup is a known cause of diabetes. Corn syrup is a product of man through many automated and mechanical processes where as honey is only processed to remove bacteria from its constituents. Any sweet produced by man is a sure cause of diabetes. Natural sugars are not.
Honey has a lot of medicinal values too. For instance it is used as a topical application to treat conditions like MRSA, this is a type skin infection. Honey is also known to be very good for the treatment of laryngitis. A bit of honey mixed with a bit of lemon will sooth your throat as it does contagious conjunctivitis.
Beekeepers across the world like to stick to the organic way of processing honey because they do not believe in using harmful chemicals to purify their produce. These chemicals if used will destroy the many benefits of honey in its natural form. This is something the large manufacturers of honey cannot guarantee, many of them do use harmful chemicals to process the honey they sell. This is the reason people stick to local farmers for their supply of honey.

Bee populations are declining worldwide.  Scientists are frantically researching the causes for this change and trying to come up with a way to reverse this.Many people do not realize that bee populations have a direct impact on human life.Bees are essential for pollinating a lot of the world’s crops.Without the pollinating powers of bees it would be almost impossible to artificially pollinate the world’s crops on the scale that is required to maintain our food supply.Therefore the role of beekeepers in our society is more important than ever.If you are considering beekeeping as a hobby or business, you should feel proud that you are doing such an important service for the earth.Even if your main objective is to make profits from beekeeping, you are still making a positive impact on the environment.Contrary to popular belief, beekeeping or apiculture as it is also known is not such a difficult business or hobby to start.All it takes is just the space of a small garden or rooftop and you can begin your own bee hive.

Then you just need to learn about beekeeping techniques and the right equipment to buy.

Many beekeepers start by joining local beekeeping associations.  However there are also some great resources available right on the web.

If you would like to learn more about exactly what equipment you will need to get started and proper beekeeping techniques, visit http://www.thebeekeeper.info.This site has numerous beekeeping articles and can give you all of the helpful tips that you will need to get started as a new beekeeper.

Beekeeping is a popular hobby practiced all over. People in rural areas and in the city can keep bees, and it can be either a hobby with a little return (in the form of wax and honey) for the family, or it can be a profitable business. However, not everyone should keep bees. While it’s a fun and rewarding hobby for many, it’s not right for everyone. Let’s take a look at what goes into beekeeping to see if bees are the right choice for you! For the right person, this is a great opportunity to enjoy some real, homemade honey, and possibly even earn a little bit of money. You’re going to need an acceptably sized space to keep your bees (a large back yard is a minimum for all but the most resourceful beekeepers), and food in the immediate area (a two mile radius) to help them survive and produce honey. You’ll need time to invest in keeping the hives in good shape and money to invest in hives and basic supplies for your beekeeping operation. You’re also going to need to be the kind of person who doesn’t mind being around bees! Make sure no one in your area or household is allergic to bees before you start your beekeeping operation, and remember that you might need to do a little bit of outreach to your neighbors. Many people don’t know the difference between a bee and a wasp, and might mistake your beekeeping operation for a hazard. Try explaining what it’ll do for their rosebushes and that bees sting infrequently, and things will be much easier. If you know that you’re the kind of person for whom beekeeping will be fun and enjoyable, you can start looking at what you’ll need to do it. There are plenty of places online where you can order the equipment you’ll need, but don’t jump right in before you know what you’re going to need. Decide how many bees you want to keep (if you’re planning this as a business, you’ll need more than if you just want a couple of hives in the back yard) and what you’re going to do with their produce. Honey and wax can be useful at home, or they can be sold off to local buyers for a profit, as long as you know what you’re doing and how to market them correctly. Just make sure that if you don’t feel ready for a business venture, you don’t rush into it. Poor planning has been the death of many great businesses, before they ever got off the ground. Remember, you can always stick to beekeeping as a hobby and enjoy some delicious honey while you decide how to turn your beekeeping into a money maker. Basic beekeeping equipment will require hives, a smoker, a hive tool and a bee suit with veil. Don’t buy used hives, especially if you don’t know where they came from. Bee mites and other invasive pests have become a really problem, and can come along with a set of disused hives. Remember – you don’t know why a used hive is empty, and the things that come with it could seriously threaten your beekeeping. Mites, foulbrood, beetles and waxworms, diseases and all kinds of other issues can kill a hive, and they might still be there. Once you’ve set up your hives, you’ll need to get some bees. For beekeeping purposes, they can be purchased by the pound, and will come with a caged queen. Place her in the hive before you shake the other bees in and they’ll eat the plug to release her into the colony. You’ll want to wait two weeks before disturbing your bees again, but then you should check to make sure the queen is laying and honey is being stored. When it comes to using beekeeping as a business, make sure that you’ve got a business plan before you begin. Then, stick to that plan. It’ll keep you on track and help you make money, not lose it. You’ll know when to market and when to expand your operation if you take the time to put together a business plan. Remember that you’ll have to establish a market and produce an attractive product if you’re going to sell. A beekeeping business can be a really rewarding one if you know what you’re doing, however. Keeping bees is a profitable business, a fun hobby, and a public service, too. If you’re interested in finding out more, do a little beekeeping research, then enjoy your bees!

People who look for the perfect home business, often overlook a great option…that of beekeeping. Apiculture, as its also known is a great business, because the cost is minimal, there is a need for the product, and it is all natural and environmentally friendly. It’s a great way to make extra money for your family, while at the same time supplying yourself with honey, wax and other useful products.
-What You need to Start your Beekeeping Business-
You really don’t need a lot to start this type of business. You don’t even really need a lot of space, because hives can even be kept in a small garden or even in a rooftop garden. But they should be kept close to plants that produce nectar, like meadow flowers, or clover. Bees also like oilseed rape, so if you are in an area where that is grown, a beekeeping business would be ideal. Now this doesn’t mean it has to be right next door, because bees travel as many as four miles to get their nectar.
Now, once you have decided where to have your bees, you need to choose the type of hive you want. The type of hive that is most used in beekeeping is the Langstroth hive, so called because it was the name of the inventor. This is the wooden box with frames of wax that come in the honeycomb pattern.
-Learn Before You Start-
A beekeeper manages the hive in such a way that the honey production is kept at a maximum. It does take some knowledge and skill, and anyone who is thinking about starting a beekeeping business, needs to learn, maybe not everything about beekeeping, but at least the basics. If you are seriously thinking about this new enterprise, then you should pick up a few books on the subject, and if possible join a local beekeepers association. You will learn a lot from being around other beekeepers.
-The Tools you will need-
The great news is that beekeepers don’t need a lot of tools, especially if they are only managing one or two hives. You will need a hive tool, which will let you open the hive and inspect it. You will need the hive and the bees. You will also need some protective clothing and a smoke box.
You want a smoke box because it has a calming effect on bees, and when you puff some smoke into the hive it calms the bees, and lets you inspect better.
-Getting Your Bee Colony-
The easiest way to get your bee hive is to buy a ready made colony, which you can buy from a beekeeper supplier. If this way doesn’t appeal to you, then you might want to find a nucleus, which is a queen and several hundred workers that come from another colony. You can place them in your hive and then feed them with sugar water until they are established, and can find their own nectar.
The third way of getting your bee colony is the most dangerous and involves getting a swarm. You have to find a swarm which is comprised of a queen and her thousands of worker bees. You will find these in trees. All you have to do is cut the branch or shake the branch and make the bees fall into your box. Take your box to the hive and lay a sheet on the ground. Shake the bees out of your box onto the sheet and the bees will usually crawl up into your hive.