Archive for January 2012
The A, Bee, and Cs of Beekeeping!
Article by Val Wilson
Beekeeping, also known as apiculture, is mans way of imitating nature by maintaining real bee colonies in artificial constructed hives. Apiculture can be a full time business, a sideline offering, or even enjoyed as just a hobby. Beyond the obvious reward of honey, other great products like pollen, propolis, and beeswax can be collected and add to the beekeepers profits.
Beyond the products we get from the bees, their services have expanded to performing some general labor for us as well. Bees are transported inside their hives, and distributed among crops to aid in massive pollination for industrial farmers.
While over 20,000 species of bee have been recorded to date, honey production is reliant on just 2 of these. They are the Apis cerana and the Apis mellifera or European dark bee. Apis mellifera are able to produce hybrids by inter-breeding. For this reason, science and breeders prefer this bee as they are able to create hybrids that exhibit preferred characteristics.
The practice of beekeeping dates back hundreds if not thousands of years and was recorded as an activity performed by our ancestors. It is still thought to be practiced traditionally in Australia, Asia, Africa, and South America. Early beekeeping, would involve smoking out nests created in hollowed out trees, and would break up the whole colony just to get to the honey. This evolved to keeping bees in a skep (a type of basket), but again the colony had to be destroyed to get the honey.
Today methods have been greatly refined. The use of tools such as artificial hives, natural smokers, and replaceable frames can keep the colony intact and produce more effectively.
In addition to needing specific knowledge about bees and their behavior, the beekeeper’s work is hands-on. Like similar types of labor jobs, this requires it’s own uniform and tools. Attire will consist of a bee suit, (or at least a smock with veil), gloves, and boots.
There is a wide range of additional beekeeping tools, but the essentials are a beehive (either a top bar hive or a Langstroth type hive), a hive tool, a bee feeder, and a smoker.
Smokers today are small canisters that can use natural elements which won’t harm the bees or the honey they provide. Small puffs of smoke are an early warning sign to the bees, making them gorge on honey in case they need to make a quick exit from the hive. This makes the bees less aggressive and much easier to work with.
About the Author
Val Wilson is passionate about all things beekeeping! It is an incredibly rewarding hobby in so many ways, with more and more everyday people realizing the joys of hobby beekeeping. If you would like more information about how to start beekeeping, go to http://www.bestbeekeeping.com and sign up for the FREE 7 day beekeeping ecourse.
Beekeeping Guide Is the 1 Sure Way to Success
Article by Robert Fenn
Beekeeping guide is like a road map. I travel on vacations to new places I have never been before. I like to have a feel for where I am going. What kinds of roads, streets and lanes will I find etc? New places have a way of surprising us and some of us do not like nasty surprises or dangerous turn of events. So a guide of some sort into any new venture is a wise habit to obtain. The web today is full of information. But a specific guide will save us time, energy and money in the long run.
When I start a new venture I like to have some sort of introduction to it by some one who knows about that venture. Most of my concerns and questions are usually addressed in the introduction and where to find the answers. See the guide you want to buy has this type of introductory information. This should introduce you to the whole guide.
In any new hobby there are equipments, gadgets, tools, protective clothes and footwear that have to be obtained. This will make this more meaningful and rewarding. Typically a guide should discuss these issues and give an understanding of why and what you need to procure before beginning beekeeping hobby.
Honey production and keeping bees are regulated by most cities and towns. You need a guide to help you find the resources to locate this information. The city may require you to obtain a license and operate within its terms and conditions. So get a guide to find this out before starting your beekeeping hobby.
A guide should teach you how to buy bees and in what form and type. This is your first and foremost requirement for your beekeeping hobby. There are colonies you can buy too. A good source of where to buy will help you.
The hives are where the bees are housed and honey is collected. There are two kinds, they are frames and comb types. A guide should teach you about this. There are some who even build their own home made hives. Find out more about this in a guide.
When the honey is ready to be harvested you need to know the techniques to collect them without injuring yourself and wasting a lot of honey. Do not depend on your own smart thinking and ingenuity. You can be dead wrong so follow instructions in a guide very carefully.
There are smokers to help you work away and around the bees and also centrifuge extractors that you will need to collect honey. If you do not know how to do it, go and get a beekeeping guide. That is the best thing that can happen to you.
Wish you a happy beekeeping! Go and get a good guide to help you make your hobby a success.
Robert is a beekeeping expert. For more great information on http://www.beekeepingsecretz.com/beekeeping-guide/ “”> beekeeping, visit http://www.beekeepingsecretz.com/beekeeping-guide/
About the Author
Robert is a beekeeping expert. For more great information on href=”http://www.beekeepingsecretz.com/beekeeping-guide/”> beekeeping, visit http://www.beekeepingsecretz.com/beekeeping-guide/.
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