Basic beekeeping does n’t require huge amount of money of money , time or space , and you could keep bees just about any place where flowers bloom . If like to mizzle gold dear on your morning toast or into green afternoon tea , you might want to try out beekeeping — also call apiculture .
Our country could surely expend some new beekeeper . harmonise to Troy Fore , executive manager of the American Beekeeping Federation , there are an estimated 100,000 hobby apiarist in the United States , down from 200,000 in the 1970s .
urbanisation has play a role in this decline , along with the cattle ranch of parasitic hint that have decreased production and increase beekeeping toll .
“ The possibleness of being stung , problems with mites , and the labor involve couch potential beekeepers off , ” sound out Jack Robertson , a beekeeper with 25 old age experience who go along 250 hives near Olympia , Wash. , with his wife , Virginia .
But small - musical scale apiculture does n’t ask huge amounts of money , clip or space , and it can be done just about any place where flower flower , sustain Howland Blackiston , a Connecticut apiarist with over 20 years of experience and author of Beekeeping for Dummies . ( Here ’s a list ofbeekeeping equipment . )
A few goodly hives will reward you with pound of surplus dearest to savor yourself , bestow on neighbor or sell at your local granger ’s market . As they scrounge in your garden , the bees will also perform the essential task of pollenation — the transfer of pollen that allows flora to multiply .
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“ I ’ve witnessed the miracle in my own garden : more and bigger flowers , fruits and vegetables , ” says Blackiston , adding that many gardener report seeing fewer Apis mellifera these days .
“ million of colonies of feral honeybees have been wiped out by urbanization , pesticides and parasitic pinch . Backyard beekeeping has become vital in our attempt to establish recede colony and offset the natural decrease in pollenation by unwarranted bee . ”
The Hard-Working Honeybee
The honeybee , Apis mellifera , is an awing puppet and — except for the drones — the ultimate workaholic . A aborigine of Europe , Asia and Africa , this louse lives in a complex , three - caste society draw up of thousands of bustling someone .
Although their living are fugitive by human standards , queens , workers and droning cooperate to keep the colony going from class to year and form new colonies by swarming .
actor parent their egg - laying queen , keep the hive cleaner than our own place , protect the colony from raiders , and fly thousands of miles to get together food for thought .
Kioshike/Flickr
Miraculously , they manage to do all this without mobile phone - phones or e - mail , transmit instead through the emission of chemical substances called pheromones and by performing dances in specific patterns .
Unlike that badly - tempered yellow jacket buzzing around your hamburger , honeybees are vegetarians that obtain their protein from pollen and their saccharide from bloom nectar .
After the worker bee industriously gathers these proviso , she hands them off to a younger actor to deposit in hexagonal wax cubicle . The bees add enzymes to the ambrosia , then fan this confection with their wing to melt the water , and gradually it turn to thick-skulled , cherubic honey .
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Come winter , the clustering bee will habituate these food stores to generate heat , contracting their annex muscularity to keep the beehive a toasty 92 degrees F.
History of Bees and Honey
crude societies ostensibly appreciated the sweet of honey as much as we mod man . Cave drawings found in Spain from around the year 6000 B.C. depict human figures scaling a cliff to snatch honey from a wild hive .
Later , ancient the great unwashed of the Middle East , the Mediterranean and Northern Europe learned to exploit the bee ’ leaning for settling within glowering spaces after swarming .
They build hives out of logarithm , clayware vessels , and straw or wicker containers called keps . regrettably for the bees , early beekeepers usually could n’t remove honeycomb unless they defeat the colony with burning sulfur or simmering water .
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In 1622 , the first hive of European Apis mellifera made the journeying from England to the Colony of Virginia . But it was n’t until 1851 , when pastor Lorenzo Langstroth of Philadelphia created a wooden hive with movable figure , that apiculturist were able to effectively — and benignly — wangle their colony .
honeybee shortly reached North America ’s West Coast and colonized most of the rest of the world as well . Today the Langstroth beehive is the most commonly used hive around the ball .
Tips for Beekeepers
The very first thing a start apiarist should do is get a good book on the subject , one that ’s up - to - date and sluttish to abide by , ” advises Blackiston .
He suggest novice look for a book with in force illustrations and photos ( determine Amazon online ) and surfboard the vane for bee resource . “ fall in a bee club , ” he sum up . “ That ’s a great fashion to receive other beekeepers and latch onto a mentor . ”
Before you officially bulge keeping bee , however , discover out if your community nix or restrain beekeeping , or requires registration of your beehive . And essay following a time of year through to see what bloom in your area , says Jack Robertson .
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Near the Robertsons ’ home in western Washington , for example , honeybees gather nectar and pollen from a diversity of sources that admit alder , skunk cabbage , score broom , camas , blowball , poppy and blackberries — essentially anything that flowers .
“ Bees will fell up to three mile for ambrosia , but the further off they have to flee the short their sprightliness distich [ due to flank price and depredation ] , ” he says .
In take a fleck for your new apiary , look for a site that receive lot of sunshine throughout the day ( some shade is necessary in hot climates ) and has serious air circulation and drainage . Picking a secluded expanse behind a fencing or screen of Tree will serve prevent malicious mischief and conflicts with bee - leery neighbors .
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Workers lean to whizz along up as they exit the dependency , so if you stave off pose the beehive too penny-pinching to places shop at by children , PET , pedestrians or traffic — and purport the ingress away from these area — your bees will be unlikely to make job . ensure the bees have access to a nearby lifelike or artificial water source so they wo n’t make a beeline for your neighbor ’s leaky water spigot . honeybees use large total of water supply to regulate temperature and moisture levels in the hive during summertime .
Winter is a ripe time to order your bees and beekeeping paraphernalia so you’re able to get take up in the spring . you’re able to buy equipment used , new , or even make it yourself , but many expert urge that tiro opt for new , since second - hand supplies may harbor disease .
cost change ; expect to drop about $ 200 to $ 400 on a hive , equipment , tools and medicament , Blackiston says . you may order your first parcel of disease - free bees through a reputable supplier ( yes , shipped via UPS or U.S. mail ) for around $ 50-$70 — one software program equals about 11,000 bees .
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Keep in brain that Apis mellifera make out in a variety of types and loanblend tenor . For beginners , Blackiston favors the popular , fertile Italian wash , while the Robertsons recommend the mellowed Carniolan .
Start with one hive until you get the hang of thing , then reckon expatiate to two during your 2nd year , Blackiston says .
“ Recognizing normal and unnatural situation is easier when you have two colonies to liken , and a 2nd hive enables you to adopt frames from a strong settlement to supplement the one that ask a little help . ”
Keeping a Healthy Hive
Beekeeping job change throughout the year and the yearly “ to - do ” calendar will variegate as to where a beekeeper survive . “ When the bee are actively forage nectar and pollen , you audit your hives several times during the season , ” says Blackiston . “ The busiest times are at the outset and ending of the season , when you get them start for the twelvemonth ( springtime ) or put them to bed for the winter ( fall ) . ”
A beekeeper conduct inspection to determine the health and productiveness of the colony , Blackiston explain . When you canvass frames , you ’ll be looking for signs that the queer is alive and laying eggs like she should : cap brood in a thickset blueprint , tiny blanched ballock at the bottom of cells . Depending on the clock time of twelvemonth , you ’ll also assess whether the colony needs additional nutrient memory board , more nectar store space , increased ventilating system , medication , swarm control measures , a newfangled queen and more .
Your colony will also require protection from parasites , diseases , pesticides and marauder . Varroa pinch , a pest from Asia that arrived in the United States during the 1980s , can destroy a colony within a few season . Foulbrood , a bacterial disease , kills larvae and pupa , while the protozoon disease Nosema place the grownup ’ enteric tracts . To combat these and other health problems , the Robertsons medicate their colonies with miticides and antibiotic in the fall and bounce . They scarper spicy - telegram around their apiaries to protect the hives from honey - athirst black bears . Other teasing predators includeants , rodents and racoon .
About Bee Stings
honeybees are essentially harmless insects when not actively defend their beehive from an trespasser . But for a apiculturist who works with thousands of bee per beehive , an occasional sting comes with the territory . The bad tidings ? Bee bunko game injure ( look some swelling , itch and redness ) , and for a small number of people can go to life - threatening allergic reactions . When sting often enough during the time of year , however , apiculturist like Robertson and Blackiston describe that they make up a tolerance and experience lilliputian in the mode of side event .
Still , you may do plenty to reduce the chance of being stung while working your bees . “ The principal thing is to have your bee gear on and have it on aright , ” says Robertson , who recently receive a bunko on the auricle when he neglected to zip his veil all . “ Start your stag party up and before you do anything to the bee , puff once or twice into the bottom of the beehive . Then , before you entirely enter the hive , blow up them again in the top . But do n’t over - smoke them . ”
Blackiston offers these additional tips to keep you from irritating the bees and crying ouch : essay to audit your hive during pleasant daytime weather , when most of the bees are out foraging . Take your time and keep your movements easy and calm — no swatting ! Get a right handle on the systema skeletale so you do n’t dismiss them and avoid causing other bee - disturb vibrations . Wear sporty , faint - dyed clothing ; bees seem to dislike strong body odor and dark colours . Finally , do n’t excite the bee into a feeding craze by pull up stakes sugar sirup or love in open container near the hive .
If you do get atomise , remove the stinger by scraping it out with your fingernail so you forefend shove more spitefulness into your peel . Puff smoke on the land site to cover the alarm pheromone thatmay attract other bees ( workers only twinge once and the one that start you will soon die ) . dampen and dry out the country and practice an frosting plurality . antihistamine can help ease swelling and itching . If you ’re stung on the mouth or throat , experience swelling in these area , difficulty breathing , or signs of shock , call 911 . To be on the safe side , Blackiston keeps an EpiPen emergency sting kit — available by prescription drug — on hand in case a guest has a severe allergic reaction .
Harvesting Honey and Honey Types
It ’s no wonder the Hellenic and Roman gods favored offerings of love . rate in shade from pale gold to gold to copious brown , this viscous fluid is as lovely and fragrant as it is angelic . Honey , used as a come-on long before ashen cane sugar , is a virginal and natural solid food that needs no processing to make it tally for human white plague . Valued as a folk medicine since ancient clip , honey has antimicrobic and wound - healing dimension and also contains sanitary antioxidants . Last year Americans consumed over 381 million pound of this sticky ambrosia .
Beekeepers can harvest honey in several forms , let in coxcomb — which requires special hive equipment — and extracted , the most democratic type here in the States . After the first season , a respectable hive can produce anywhere from 45 to 100 Irish pound or more of extract honey each year , depending on where you live , the atmospheric condition and other broker . To harvest this treasure trove , you ’ll need an uncapping knife to prune start the wax combs , an separator to spin the honey out , and a strainer to separate out out bits of wax and other debris . A five - gallon charge card pail with a spigot is utilitarian for bottle the laboured honey . Extractors are n’t tinny ( $ 250 and up ) , but apiculturist with only a few hives can see into renting or take over one from their local beekeeping association .
If the only dearest you ’ve try is commercial clover , you ’ll be surprised to discover that dearest made from different ambrosia sources have varied tastes , colors and odor . Sweet - scented lavender , exquisitely flavor fireweed , dark Fagopyrum esculentum : these honey gain their name from the dominant prime travel to by the bees . apiarist invest their hive within large tract of the specific source and crop honey immediately after the bloom culture . When bees gather nectar from a wide variety of nectar plant — as they do for most hobby beekeeper — the resulting harvest is call up wildflower honey .
The Robertsons ’ hive yield wildflower , hiss , fireweed , blackberry bush and cook honey . They trade these natural ware from home and from their cubicle at the Olympia Farmer ’s Market . For every 100 pounds of honey glean , the beekeeper harvest one or two pounds of beeswax , which Virginia Robertson transforms into long - burning , dripless candle and honey - scent figurines . “ I also sell a lot of wax to customers who make salve , soap and unction , ” she say .
Another product valued by beekeepers is propolis , the sticky , flora - derived substance bee use for hive improvements . “ Propolis has noteworthy antimicrobial qualities ; the Chinese have used it in music for K of days , ” explains Blackiston .
Many apiculturist also obtain income by renting their bees out to pollenate harvest . With their bodies coat in branched , pollen - snag pilus , Apis mellifera can efficiently pollinate hundreds of different plants as they collect nectar and pollen for the colony ’s use . About 90 crop in our country depend , at least to some extent , on bees for pollination , include apples , alfalfa , blueberry , cotton fiber and cucumbers . The increased agricultural product connected to honeybee pollenation is estimated to exceed a whopping $ 14 billion a twelvemonth .
If the art of apiculture seems a bit complicated — specially after you start dipping into bee books and buzzing about the nett — don’t despair . “ Get in tactile sensation with local beekeepers . They ’re more than happy to share the information they have , ” says Virginia Robertson , who wryly notes that her hubby sometimes overlooks customers when he ’s talk about beekeeping with someone . “ Beekeepers love to talk bees . ”
This clause first come out in the October / November 2003 issue ofHobby Farmsmagazine .
