Bee KeepingMany find joy in bee keeping, the endeavor of maintaining honeybee colonies for the purpose of collecting honey and beeswax and to pollinate crops. In order to gain success as a beekeeper, one should have the appropriate equipment and understanding on the life cycle of the honeybees including how they communicate with others. Bee Keeping Basics The basic beekeeping equipment for keeping bees is to have a beehive, which can be purchased from a shop or built by your own. Ready-to-use beehives, at times, come with bees as package. They are also available in different sizes. Normally, a beehive consists of a bottom board, hive body, frames and foundation, queen excluder, honey supers, inner cover, and outer cover. The bottom board serves as a stand where the hive is resting. The hive or brood chamber is a box called ‘super’, where frames of comb are held. The frames and foundation are made of wood as well, and are used in holding the foundation of beeswax and in building straight combs by the bees. In order to make the queen stay in her brood nest instead on the honey, an excluder device serves that purpose. Honey supers are shallow supers where the bees store the excess honey. To prevent bees from attaching a comb to an outer cover, an inner cover is required. An outer cover, on the other hand is a protection against the weather. There are three types of bees in a bee colony. Each bee is tasked to fulfill its own rule. A female bee that is incapable of reproduction is called the worker bee. It is the most common bee in every colony. During the first two weeks of the worker bee’s life, it is responsible for housekeeping which includes repairing the damages in the hive, feeding the queen with royal jelly, and clearing away the bee carcasses. After two weeks, the worker bees fly to collect nectar and pollen. After that, they serve as a guard on duty and protect the hive entrance from any intruders. Having the sole role of breeding with the queen, the drone bees are not a permanent resident of the colony. They are only granted access to the hive when they are mating with the queen. After breeding in autumn, they are sent out by the worker bees. Since they do not have the tools to collect nectar or pollen, they do not have anything else of use to the hive and so they are left to die in winter. The queen is the most important part bee keeping and of the colony. Though her only role is to breed with drone bees, a hive’s existence is within her powers. To sustain the hive throughout the year, the queen lays enough eggs which when hatched, become the worker bees. She knows when to start laying eggs when winter comes. Bee keeping can be a satisfying hobby. It can also be a lucrative undertaking. Similar Posts _________________________________________________________________ Top of Bee keeping Listed under Landscaping Ideas |