Archive for January 2012
How to Start a Beekeeping Business – Generate Honey and Earn Money
How to Start a Beekeeping Business – Generate Honey and Earn Money
Article by Ajaero Tony Martins
Learning how to start a beekeeping business begins by understanding what beekeeping is and what it does. Beekeeping or apiculture is a method of generating honey either for consumption or for wax and other bee products. They can also be sold or made into useful items. If you are interested in learning how to start a beekeeping business, you should take into account that you do not really need land to house your bees. You can keep your bee hives in small gardens or your backyard. In this article, I will be explaining in detail how to start a beekeeping business from home and make a success out of it. But before I go into the details of starting a beekeeping business, I want to emphatically state that the information provided in this article does not in any way replace the need for you to conduct a feasibility study, write a business plan and do your own due diligence. Secondly, the information shared in this article is applicable to any locality; be it USA, Canada, UK, Nigeria, Ghana, etc. Without wasting your time, below is my step by step approach to starting your own beekeeping business from home with little or no money.
Know Your OptionsBees are ideally kept in areas full of nectar-producing plants (clover, and other meadow flower varieties). You can be certain of your beekeeping business success if you know and understand your bees and their needs, especially with what they can tolerate from you. Beekeeping is just synonymous to other animal husbandry types; it demands constant care, time, maintenance, and handling skill. The only difference is that bees are not domesticated animals. They do not rely on humans to live and they are perfectly content on staying inside their hives.The Role of the BeekeeperHive management in such a way that it maximizes honey production should be your main agenda here. Beekeepers inspect the hive on a regular basis just to make sure everything is running well. They need to make sure that the queen is continuously laying eggs and that the worker bees are happily singing songs while collecting both nectar and pollen. They are also tasked to watch out for any signs of diseases and distress among the bee population. Unhappy hives are never productive. The queen’s mood often influences her subordinate bees, and in many cases, she will have to be replaced to turn things for the better.What You Are Going to NeedMinimum equipment will be needed to operate a hive or two. You need a hive tool for certain purposes, like opening and inspecting the hive, a smoke box and protective clothing. You need smoke because it has a calming effect on bees. It’s very handy whenever you invade their privacy. Most of the equipment required is not expensive; you can even rely on second-hand equipments from specialist suppliers.
How to Start a Beekeeping Business – Starting Your Own ColonyThere are primary ways to get bees; you can obtain colonies from existing hives, through a swarm and through the nucleus. The first may be the costliest, but it’s also the easiest method you can adapt. You can look up ready-made colonies from specialist suppliers and established bookkeepers.The nucleus introduces a queen and some of her worker into a certain hive. You can feed the hive with sugar water just until additions are fully established on the new hive. The swarm on the other hand is the cheapest method to start a colony, yet very difficult to achieve, and potentially dangerous.Growing bees and maintaining their hives are not the only considerations when learning how to start a beekeeping business. You also need to immerse yourself with some legal obligations to avoid getting into trouble during operations. You have to check with local state-laws for guidelines on how you can set up your business operations in the area. It would also be smart to join forces with the local beekeeper’s association so you can avail various services and other benefits to help you establish your business.
About the Author
And just before i drop my pen, i am giving you a once in a lifetime opportunity to download my Master List of Best Startup Business ideas and learn How to Make a Million Dollars Fast in less than a year.
Beekeeping in an Urban Setting and How Not to Annoy the Neighbours
Beekeeping in an Urban Setting and How Not to Annoy the Neighbours
Article by Ben Gibson
It is possible to keep bees almost anywhere including cities and towns and in fact beekeepers often find that honey production is better in an urban setting than a rural setting, as there are often more varied flora for bees to be found in urban gardens. However those wishing to keep bees in a city or town should check with their local authorities first as there are still some who do not permit urban beekeeping.
Once you are satisfied that you are allowed to keep bees it is important to take certain precautions to ensure that your bee hives do not become a nuisance to those living nearby.
Bee colony temperament
First of all it is important that you only keep bee colonies with gentle temperaments, so only purchase bees that have been bred for gentleness. If your bees sting a lot or are aggressive and follow you after the hives are closed up you should requeen as soon as possible as this will usually change the temperament of the bee colony within four to five weeks.
Water source for the bees
You should provide a source of water near to the bee hives as this will prevent the bees looking for a source in the neighbours pool, bird bath or hanging laundry. This can be a real problem, as once bees have become accustomed to a watering source, they will continue to use it in large numbers throughout the season and it is almost impossible to stop without moving the bee colony some distance.
Locating an urban bee hive
With a basic understanding of bee behaviour it is possible to locate your beehives so as to ensure they cause no problems to the people and animals around them. For example most bee colonies have a basic flight pattern as they leave and return to the hive. So it is important to ensure that people walking by are not likely to be within this pattern. Always ensure if possible that the beehives are not facing walkways or paths, children’s play areas or others gardens. In addition bees tend to release their body waste soon after leaving the hive so consideration should be given to spotting of laundry or cars underneath, especially if you are intending to keep several colonies of bees.
Bees will tend to fly straight out of a hive and ascend slowly if they can, so a good way of controlling their flight pattern is to build a fence or locate the hive opening towards a hedge, ideally this should be at least 6 feet high which will force the bees to fly above head level and thus reduces the chance of encounters with pedestrians. Fences and hedges also keep colonies out of view, which will help reduce theft or vandalism and also out of sight out of mind may be better for those more nervous neighbours.
Good bee colony management
When opening and inspecting your bee hives in an urban setting, you must think about the welfare of those around you. The weather and time of day influence the mood of a colony, just as bee colonies kept in the shade tend to be more defensive. Ideally you should inspect your bee hives on warm, sunny days, between the hours of 10 a.m to 4 p.m when most of the flying workers will be out foraging.
You should always use a well-lit smoker properly to control the bees and help prevent defensive behaviour. During a nectar dearth, keep robbing at a minimum as robbing stimulates defensive behavior. Keep examination time to a minimum and make sure honey supers and frames not being inspected are covered. All spare equipment stored outside should be bee-tight.
Swarming bees can be a major concern for neighbours. Even though swarming bees are quite gentle and seldom inclined to sting, the presence of a swarm in the neighborhood tends to worry people and your apiary, rightly or wrongly, will likely be seen as the source of the swarm. Having sufficient equipment to manage your colonies and reduce swarming is a must (see our Swarm Management section).
Part of being an urban beekeeper is good public relations and beekeepers who allow their bees to become nuisances force communities to bring in banning orders which spoils it for everyone else. Exercise proper control and management of your bees and never keep more colonies, than the available forage in the area can support or more than you have time to care for properly. Sweeten the neighbours with the occasional jar of honey or if they are interested let them see inside one of your hives. Follow these guidelines and you and everyone else arround you will be able to enjoy your urban beekeeping.
About the Author
Ben Gibson is a professional beekeeper, writer and naturalist. For more information about beekeeping and bees see http://getbuzzingaboutbees.com
Honey Bees vs Bumblebees
Article by Robert Mccormack
Honey bees are among the most helpful creatures on earth; not only do they supply us with honey and alternative byproducts that we will consume as food, but honey bees and alternative bees play an important role in the pollination of plant life. It has been estimated that up to 30 % of the food that humans consume around the planet is reliant upon pollination by bees. However, we are just as doubtless to search out bumblebees in our gardens as honey bees; how do these 2 sorts of bees differ?
Both are members of the family Apidae; honey bees belong to the genus Apis and bumblebees to the genus Bombus. Though there are far more than 250 known species of bumblebee, there are solely 7 recognized species of honey bee. Both play a role in the pollination of plant life. Each are social animals, living in colonies, and thus worker bees gather nectar from flowers to require back to their colonies, for consumption and to feed to their young.
Beekeepers raise honey bees for honey, beeswax, and different commercial products; bee colonies kept by beekeepers can last many years, and people bees within the wild additionally tend to establish permanent homes. Typical honey bee colonies have 30,000 to fifty,000 bees, whether domesticated or within the wild; the overwhelming majority of the bees in a very colony are feminine worker bees, who are sterile and perform nearly all the work of the colony. Colonies additionally contain a queen, who is capable of laying eggs and manufacturing young; and some hundred male drones, whose only perform is to mate with the queen.
Bumblebees, on the other hand, have abundant smaller colonies — sometimes fewer than a hundred bees. Bumblebees do not construct permanent homes as honeybees do; they usually nest in tunnels in the bottom, though sometimes they will manufacture a wax cover for protection. Bumblebee societies are structured similarly to those of honey bees, with workers, drones, and a queen all fulfilling specific functions, but bumblebee workers don’t seem to be sterile; they are ready to lay haploid eggs that develop into male drones. Only queens are able to get diploid eggs that may mature into feminine workers and queens plus males.
This reproductive competition between the queen and the employees ends up in colony behavior that differs from that of honey bees. Early within the reproductive season, the queen will suppress the egg-laying ability of her employees by physical aggression as well as pheromonal signals. The queen can thus manufacture all the primary male larvae of that season, as well as all the female larvae. Because the queen’s ability to suppress the employees wanes later within the season, worker bees, too, will begin to lay eggs that manufacture male larvae.
When they need matured, new males and queens can be driven from the colony; these outcasts spend nights on flowers or in cavities within the ground. The queens and drones can additionally mate with each different; a mated queen can seek for a appropriate location to hibernate through the winter. The following spring, the queen can emerge from hibernation and realize a location for a nest. The queen, then, forms a brand new colony and broods her eggs on her own.
Bumblebees do produce honey, from the nectar they gather from flowers; the method is the same as that of honey bees. However, honey bees tend to provide more honey than they need; it is thus simple for beekeepers to reap honey from domestic hives while leaving enough for the bees’ own needs. Because bumblebee colonies are so much smaller, they’re barely in a position to provide enough honey for themselves; beekeepers therefore do not try to lift bumblebees for his or her honey. Additionally, it is difficult and sometimes damaging to extract honey from wild bumblebee nests. Bumblebee honey is perfectly edible, but thinner and additional watery than honey bee honey.
It sometimes could be arduous to tell apart between a them, however they’re distinct animals with completely different habits and life cycles.
About the Author
Robert Mccormack has been writing articles online for nearly 2 years now. Not only does this author specialize in Bee-Pollen-Health, Honey Bees vs Bumblebees, You can also check out his latest website about:
Bee-Pollen-Health
Honey Bees vs Bumblebees
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