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Bating a hive
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Why keeping Bees?
a. Pollination- helps crops to produce
more fruits.
b. To make money-on the products of the
hive.
c. To have honey –and other hive products
to use and sell
d. Make pastures available to livestock
e. Some people use a be sting to treat
arthritis
Products of the hive
a. Honey
– in liquid or honeycomb form, it does not spoil if harvested properly.
b. Candles, furniture polish cosmetics
c. Propolis-used
to attract bees as well as the use in antibacterial purposes
d. Pollen-used
by the bees for food, as it is high in protein and vitamin
e. Larvae-these
are immature bees some people eat them identifying the bees
a. Healthy
hive can have up t 30,000 bees! This is called a colony
Three type of bee
i. The
Queen Bee: her job is to populate the hive keep order, there is only one
queen, and she mates only once to fertilize all of her eggs- she can live for
up to 3 years.
ii. The Drones: These are male bees with no
stringers. Their only job is to fertilize the queen. When this job is over.
They will die.
iii. The Workers: These are bees that have
all of the jobs of the hive foraging, cooling, nursing, cleaning, and
ventilation and so on. The workers are all female and they all have a stinger.
Things that
make bees upset
a. Heat-
always place hives in the shade and work on them in cool evenings.
b. Quick
movements- never walk in front of the hive or knock on the box
c. Disturbing
the queen –the bees will attack you if they feet their queen is in danger
d. The
scent of a bee stringer- if you get stung, remove the stinger quickly
e. Perfumer
–any strong scents disturbs bees.
Bee Stingers
a. They
only sting if they feel that the queen is in danger
b. Once a
honey bee strings, the scent of it alerts other bees to sting.
c. What
to do if you get stung
i. Move
slowly from the hive (remember to avoid quick movements)
ii. use
your nail or blade to scrape off the stinger
iii. Do not
squeeze the stinger – this only empties more poison into your skin and courses
more pain
Tools for
the Beekeeper
a. Clothes-
Tailoring the bee suits are business opportunity!
i. New veil: The most important tool use a
hat with dark net.
ii. Light Colors: Wear whit or yellow or some light color
iii. Loose Fabric: if you wear loose fabric
bees cant sting you
iv. Tuck In: tuck in your shirt to your
trousers, an your trousers into your socks- any opening the bee will find and
go into!
vi. Socks, Shoes: protect your feet!
b. Smoker-
using a small amount of smoke will make
the bees eat lots of honey and get sleepy. This means that they will be less
likely to sting.
A smoke is a simple tool that needs to be used
carefully.
i. Use
only natural materials to create smoke coconut husk, leaves, grass.
ii. do
not use plastic or paper to make smoke, it will kill the bees.
c. Exercise
Book & pen – it is good idea to make notes when you are at the hives.
i. Report
the date and any unusual activity at the hive
ii. Report
on what work you accomplished at the hive
iii. Report
on how many frames of honey you harvested from the hive.
d. Shape
Wire of sharp knife – a simple tool that will help to loosen wax as you work.
e. Bee
Brush- you can use a soft paintbrush or even some grass of leaves to gently
move the bees off the frames.
f. Attitude
– a good calm attitude is needed for the hives.
i. Always
try of feel loving and thankful thoughts for bees
ii. If
you feel frightened or scared, the bees will sense this and become upset.
iii. Always
have a plan, this will help you to complete you business in an organized
fashion with careful, deliberate movements.
iv. No
sudden movements, always work from the back of the hive Bucket with a lid- a
place to put honey comb if you harvest. You need a lid protect the harvested
honey from robber bees and other insects.
BEE HIVE
CONSTRUCTION AND ARRANGEMENT OF THE COLONY
There are so many different kinds of hives
a. Natural
Hives- these are good for one- time use, very hard to harvest quality honey
from. Usually, smoke is used to kill the bees.
i. Logs, baskets, clay, raffia
B, Frame
hives- these are modern hives, there are two main versions parts specific
measurements are needed to have this be successful. In addition, there are more
parts to this hive, which make it more expensive.
iii. Kenyan
top bar hives (KIBH): some Canadian scientists developed these in Kenya in the
1970s. Easy to build, easy to mange, they produce lots of honey and wax! There
is only one dimension that needs to be specific: otherwise. The shape can vary.
Materials are easy to find and are inexpensive.
2. Plans
for Kenyan top bar hive.
a. You
will need for one beehive:
i. One
12x12”x1” plank of softwood panned so that it is
ii. One
12’x4” board of hardwood cut into thirds.
iii. Something
for a lid
. Here is how you should divide up the
plank.
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Bees forming the comb
honey
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Honey
Harvest
Honey harvest time is the reward for all of your work
and organization through the seasons. Depending on the flow of nectar in your area,
you may find it necessary to harvest small amounts frequently or perhaps do
fewer, larger harvest.
1. You can harvest either comb honey or
liquid honey
a. Collect your tools
b. Open the hive
c. Blow some smoke over the bars
d. Remove a few of the bars and set aside
e. Blow some smoke into the hive
f. Remove
clean, light colored honeycomb and cut it from the top bar- leave a little comb
on the bar and return this bar to the hive.
g. Place
lid on your bucket, and it home.
2. The
collection steps are the same except for the liquid honey, you will need to
strain it.
a. Follow
the same steps as above. However, you will need to build a strainer to remove
the wax from the honey. You will need, at least 3 buckets, a net bag, a piece
of timber measuring 1”x”x24”, a piece of timber 2”x4”4’.
i. Bore
holes into the bottom and along the top of one of the buckets and place the
2”x”4” piece of timber in the bottom of this bucket make a large hole in the
top of one of the lids arranged the net bag into the top of the bucket with the
holds
ii. Mash
the harvested honey with the piece of timber to break up everything.
iii. Place
the lid with the hole on top of the bucket that has no holes, place the straining
bucket on top of this other bucket.
iv. Pour
the mashed honey & wax into the net bag and seal with the good lid
vi. Leave
it to strain for 2 days, this is almost no work at all, and it works!
vii. Now you
are ready to bottle and sell your honey!