Keeping bees for beginners

We will explain the basic principles of beekeeping for the beginner, whether you are a backyard beekeeper, a farmer, an amateur farmer or a small farmer who wants to start a business selling honey and other bee products. It is quite simple to learn to keep bees.

There are some factors to consider before embarking on a beekeeping adventure, so before diving, consider whether keeping the bees is right for you.


Study all about bees

There are many books on beekeeping, and learning all you can about these sweet little insects can help you start the hive with your right foot. Read everything you can to get your bees; You'll be ready to go and know how to keep the bees.


Learn how bees make honey

Before jumping and starting to order supplies, let's take a step back and understand exactly how a hive works and what bees do. Bees make nests in the wild, fly to the flowers and extract the nectar, then carry the nectar to the hive and the comb, where it slowly turns into honey.

Connect with local beekeeping organizations

In beekeeping, some details may be specific to your local area. And the nature of beekeeping means you will be more successful if you have strong local resources to take advantage of: for example, someone to check your hive or help you find your queen if necessary. Search and find your local beekeeping association. Go to meetings. Some associations offer mentors who can be invaluable in helping you during your first season.

Get the bees

Catch a wild swarm. A wild swarm is a swarm of bees that is far from its hive. During the spring, you can find wild swarms hanging from the branch of a tree or a bush and are usually quite docile as they prepare to form a new hive. Therefore, this method is the cheapest but also the most dangerous. [7]

You can trap the swarm with its queen and place it in an empty hive (always using your protective equipment).

Place a box under the branch or shrub in which the bees have agglomerated. One option is to shake the branch so that most of the bees fall into the box, although this could make them angry. It is best to simply cut the branch and place it inside the box. [8]

You should not try this method without the supervision of an experienced beekeeper.

Learn how to set up your hive
To keep bees, you need a hive. In nature, bees build their own hive, usually in a hollow tree trunk or other protected place, but it can be anywhere. As a backyard beekeeper, you will provide an artificial hive for your bees so you can help keep the colony and easily harvest the honey.

There are some different options for the backyard or the large-scale beekeeper. Langstroth and top bar hives are the most commonly encountered types.

Determine the best place for the hive.
Most of the land of the houses have enough space to comfortably house a bee colony. However, although this may indicate that you can place the hive in your backyard without problems, you should take into account other factors: [3]

Find out the local zoning rules regarding bee colonies.

Make sure no one in your family is allergic to bees.

Inform your neighbors about your plans to have a hive in your backyard in case they have any concerns regarding their families or their health.

Know the tasks of beekeeping
What does the care of your bees involve? Like gardening, the tasks of beekeeping are better divided according to the season. The best time to start your hive is in the spring so that the colony with which you start has time to build, put baby (baby bees), increase in number and store honey before the winter begins.

Gather your beekeeping supplies

What do you need to really start beekeeping? Get information about essential supplies and what you can do without for now. Remember: start small, so you can make adjustments if you change your mind later. Some supplies are better bought in person, while others can be ordered online.

Request your honey bees

Once you have gathered your supplies and have accumulated a lot of knowledge about beekeeping, it's time to order your bees! You are likely to order what is called a "pack of bees" and a queen, or a "colony of nuc". Of the two, a colony of nuc is a group of bees more established with a queen who has already begun to breed. You can give your hive an advantage if you can get one.

How to build a beehive

A hive is composed of the support, the lower board, the body of the hive, smaller boxes called hikes of honey, and a cover. The lower body of the hive is separated from the upper hikes by an excluder.
Beehive support.

Bee Hive Stands




It is the support that elevates the hive above the ground and can have an angular landing platform for bees. Although technically you do not need a “hive support”, you will need a support of some kind to raise your hike above the ground. A small board or a bench built to house your honey box will serve in case you look for a home substitute.


2. Bottom board.

bottom board




This is the first section or layer of the hive. It is a piece of flat wood that serves as the basis for the rise. The lower board can be solid or with mesh. The only difference is that the boards with mesh serve better to avoid the pests and to have something more of ventilation.


3 Input reducer.


input reducer




It is a small piece of wood that blocks part of the entrance in the lower board. The entrance reducers help the small colonies to avoid the entry of pests and thieves.


4 Frame with ribbons.


As it sounds, it is a flat wooden panel crossed by other wooden slats, which form a grid with slats. It is placed between the lower board and the incubation chamber to provide ventilation, make access to the incubation chamber easier and prevent the formation of honeycombs in stairs. This piece is optional, but it’s worth adding it.

Make a Honey Bee Box 

5

Deep lift. The deep rise is the big box where bees build their hive. A deep boost is the largest section, and you will need 1-2 for each box of honey. Each deep rise comes with 8 or 10 structures.



6

Deep boost frames. They are frames inserted individually in the deep rise. The frames hold the foundations, composed of wax and wire, that the bees use to start their own wax construction. You need 8-10 frames for your deep boost, depending on your size.



7

Queen excluder. The queen should not lay her eggs in honey, so a queen excluder is added in the box. It is a flat grill with small holes for the use of the workers, but they are too small for the queen.

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8

Hike for honey. The boost for honey, such as the deep boost, is where bees store their honey. It is a long box placed on top of the deep rise, with the queen excluder placed between the two. In general, it is easier to work with shallow or medium-sized honey combs, as it may be too heavy to lift the box full of honey.



9

Frames for the honey boost. The honey frames are made of wood or plastic panels that are inserted in the honey rise. It is here that the bees build their wax and their honey, and can withdraw from the rise. Frames can be ‘shallow’ or ‘medium’ to match the size of the honey rise used, and have a similar base to the frames of the deep rise.


10

Indoor cover. This is the final layer in the box of bees, a type of cover with an entrance that is placed on the rise for honey. The interior covers have two sides: one for autumn and winter, and another for spring and summer. [1]

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eleven

External cover. It is a metal lid that is used to avoid the interference of adverse weather conditions in the box for bees. This is the lid that crowns the box and is placed on the inside cover. [2]

Part 2

Build the box


1

Buy the materials. You have three options to get a bee hive: buy a complete hive for a lot of money, buy the separate pieces and set it up for less money or buy all the parts from scratch and save more than 50%. Regardless of the option you choose, you should always buy the materials from a trusted beekeeper vendor. Cheap materials not only do not last long, but they can also harm bees (and honey!).

Always use wood without traffic, usually pine and cedar. [3]

None of the hives or hikes have inferior pieces, so you only need wood to build the outer edges of the multiple hikes.

Some materials, such as frames and the outer cover, are difficult to make, so you’ll have to spend the money and buy them.

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2

Build the deep hikes. There are two short sides of 41 x 25 cm (16.25 x 9.56 inches) and two lengths of 51 x 24 cm (20 x 9.56 inches). All four sides have tongue and groove joints and tongue and groove ends. Cut the wood according to these measurements and create the right joints along the ends.

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3

Build the honey hikes. The size of honey hikes will vary according to whether you want ‘shallow’ or ‘medium’ hikes. The length and width of the hikes will be the same as that of the deep hitch (length of 51 x 24 cm and width of 41 x 25 cm), but the height will vary. For a shallow rise, the hive must be 15 centimeters high.

beekeeper suit

Recognize the loss of a queen.

A hive can not survive without its queen, but it is a misconception that colonies that have lost theirs will alter their behavior, in a dramatic or obvious way, as indicating that something is wrong. There may be good bee traffic at the entrance, and after an inspection, find lots of honey and bees inside. But if you look more closely, you will understand what really happens when a colony loses its queen. Little by little, the population of your.

How many bees in a hive

Hives in the west can contain from 10,000 to 60,000 honey bees. The larger the hive the more effective it is at producing honey. A hive of 30,000 bees produces one and half times more honey than two hives of 15,000. You can see that the Queen keeps busy laying eggs

Hive will be reduced.

The first sign will be the lack of eggs, then a lack of young larvae, and eventually the colony will have no breeding at all. It might seem contradictory, but you will usually see an increase in honey and pollen, since, without any larvae to take care of, the bees focus completely on finding nutrients, in the pecoreo. If your colony is without a queen for too long, it will reach a point of no return.

So what should the novice beekeeper do to control the presence of the queen? Search Eggs. Find the eggs, and do not talk about operculated larvae or pupae (crowns of cells sealed with wax), but only of the eggs. If there is egg laying means that the queen has been active breeding at least three days ago, which is the most important of its functions. I encourage you to check if there are eggs every time you check a hive, and do it by giving them shade, preventing the sun's rays from hitting them directly.

Beekeeper suit

beekeeper suit

beekeeper suit

When working with bees, it often gets so hot that you wonder if you are going to pass out. Having an aerated suit like the Humble Bee 420 allows you to get much needed airflow, which is priceless.

Bees for sale

beekeeping equipment

What tools do you need to enter the world of beekeeping? Here is a list of the equipment necessary to start this great task.

The beekeeper gloves

There are leather, nitrile, cotton injected rubber and every day more materials. Although the most marketed are usually these two: leather gloves that are more comfortable, and nitriloque gloves are more resistant

The blush with caret

There are expensive and expensive. The important thing is that it is comfortable, with a reasonable price, that lasts a few seasons and a few washes.

With what face?
There are different types, for all kinds of tastes. That is at the whim of each one.

And remember it is important that the chosen color is clear. Finally, it will not hurt if you get some comfortable boots.

Spatula

A simple tool, simple and without major complications of use. Scrape, lift, separate, resist abuse. They are combined with rose-squares, flat and several etceteras. When you choose it, judge the length of the sheet well, that a good lever will be important.

The smoker

This is another of the big investments of the beekeeper. There are cheap ones but they are usually bad and good but they tend to be expensive. If you are really going to dedicate yourself to this business, buy yourself a good one.

The brush

This serves to remove the bees that stay in the inadequate places and avoids the noise to crunchy cake that those poor bugs make that you tighten when you put the lid of the hive.

In a normal hive there are thousands of bees, but you have no right to take their lives, please use it.

How much do beekeepers make a year

If you work for a commercial beekeeping organization, such as one where your job is to keep the hives healthy while keeping track of honey, wax, and royal jelly production, the pay is a bit more likely to move you toward the career's salary average of about $72,000 a year