Beekeeping
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Fall Management for Beekeepers
When the weather starts to get colder and daylight gets shorter, you know fall is approaching. For beekeepers, there are certain tasks that must be done in fall in order to prepare their hives for winter. Why Fall Management is Important Fall management is important for your hives because you want to make sure that your bees can survive the winter and then build up quickly in the spring. You want your colonies to stay healthy, well fed, and disease free. While the bees do most of the hard work to prepare for fall and winter, there are a few things that the beekeeper can do to help them out. …
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Is Beekeeping Legal in my City?
There are many reasons to start beekeeping. You may want to harvest your own honey and beeswax, add pollinators to your garden, or you may just find bees fascinating. And with urban beekeeping on the rise and beekeeping supplies easy to obtain, there’s no better time to become a beekeeper. But, before you start you must ask this question – is beekeeping legal in my city? If you live in the US, beekeeping is probably legal in your city. However, your city will have ordinances in place that must be followed. Scroll down to see beekeeping ordinances by state. The absolute first thing you should do before becoming a beekeeper…
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Turning Beekeeping Passion into Profit: A Guide
Worldwide fans have long been enthralled with beekeeping, an ancient method of raising honey bees. Whether you relish the curative quality of attending to bees, the sweet nectar they produce, or their contribution to the ecosystem, there are methods to convert your ardor for beekeeping into a business endeavor. You may start beekeeping as a pastime and grow it into a successful company with the aid of this guide. 1. Discover the Beekeeping Basics You must first create a strong foundation in the fundamental abilities and information if you want to start a successful beekeeping enterprise. Consider enrolling in a thorough course, taking part in seminars, or joining a neighborhood…
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Best Beekeeping Books for Beginners
It’s a question many experienced beekeepers are asked – What advice do you have for someone interested in beekeeping? The answers may vary, but most will say, “Do your research!” What they mean by that is that you should take time to read about your new hobby. In particular, learn as much as you can about how bees function. Learn about their life cycle and why they do the things they do. It’s all very fascinating, so even non-beekeepers would enjoy learning these things. Luckily, nowadays there are tons of free information on the internet. Tons of resources about beekeeping are at your fingertips. However, some people may enjoy having…
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When to Harvest Honey From Beehives
It’s the most exciting part of beekeeping – the honey harvest. After all those months of caring for your bee colony you finally get to reap the rewards of your hard work. If you are new to beekeeping you may not know much about harvesting honey, but that’s okay. This article will go over how and when to harvest honey from beehives. How Bees Make Honey First, let’s have a quick review of how bees make honey. First of all, not all bees make honey. Some bees collect and store pollen. The honey bee however, collects pollen and nectar to create honey. They store the honey to be eaten during…
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How to Use a Robber Bees Screen
It’s something all beekeepers have to deal with at one time or another – robber bees. Left unattended, robbing can be a big problem for colonies. Using a robber bees screen is a great way to prevent robbing from starting in the first place. What Are Robber Bees? Robber bees are bees that enter a different colony with the intention to steal their honey. These are forager bees that simply want to collect food to bring back to their own colony. Since robbing isn’t an easy task, robbers will target a weaker colony to steal from. To enter the hive she must first fight the guard bees at the entrance. …
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Do Ants Harm Beehives?
“There are ants in my beehive!” is a common complaint among beekeepers. It’s not surprising because ants are often attracted to sugary foods. So finding a beehive full of sweet honey must be like hitting the jackpot for them. But for beekeepers, while ants are a nuisance, at what point do you step in and get rid of the ants? Do ants harm beehives? Why Ants Like Beehives Like most creatures that try to invade a beehive, ants are attracted to the smell of honey. Just like ant traps use a sweet smelling bait to lure ants, honey is the reason ants will enter a hive. Furthermore, if you are…
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Maintaining Strong Bee Colonies: A Step-by-Step Beehive Inspection Checklist
Beehive inspections are an important part of beekeeping. It is the only way to determine the colony’s health and wellbeing. Beehive inspections can be intimidating to new beekeepers because it is so hands on, but they quickly get the hang of it and find it enjoyable. This post will talk about the importance of hive inspections, as well as discuss how and when to do hive inspections. Beehive inspection lists are very useful to keep track of your hives. For your convenience, there is a beehive inspection list pdf included at the end of this post. Why Do Beehive Inspections? Beehive inspections tell the beekeeper what is going on inside…
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Foundation vs Foundationless Beekeeping
One of the big debates in beekeeping is whether or not to use foundation. Each method of beekeeping has it’s advantages and disadvantages, so it’s best to do your research before deciding on what is right for you. Read on for all the details on foundation vs foundationless beekeeping. What is Foundation? Foundation is a sheet made of plastic or wax that is placed in the middle of the frame. Foundation forms the base of one honeycomb, therefore giving the bees a guide on which to build the rest of their comb. It looks like a flat sheet with a hexagonal pattern molded into it. Plastic Foundation Plastic foundation is…
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How to Use a Honey Extractor
It’s what beekeepers look forward to all year – harvesting honey. If you have top bar hives, you will use the crush and strain method. But if you have Langstroth hives, you probably want to use a honey extractor. Honey extractors spin the frames and comb, using centrifugal force to remove the honey from the comb. The honey then collects at the bottom of the extractor’s drum. The drum has a tap that drains the honey into a container of your choice. Using a honey extractor is a huge time saver, as several frames can be spun at once. Another benefit of using a honey extractor is that the wax…
