How to keep bee hives

Buying Your First Hive – Bee Built

Free Shipping & Returns on Orders $75+

Learning is the first stop in beekeeping.
Beekeeping is as old as any agricultural practice.
Just as there are hundreds of ways to successfully grow a crop, there are also that many ways to manage bees.

Learning is the first stop in beekeeping.

Beekeeping is as old as any agricultural practice.

Just as there are hundreds of ways to successfully grow a crop, there are also that many ways to manage bees.

Our first advice for every beginning beekeeper is to learn as much as you possibly can.

Books, beekeeping videos, online forums, local beekeeping associations will all be invaluable to your learning and research. Beekeeping management books are key, as are hive specific books that explain management in specific hive types. Bee biology books written specifically with beekeepers in mind will build a solid foundation for your learning, successes, and knowledge base.

Many new beekeepers fret long and hard about where to place their hives. We can make it easy.

If you have a spot that has early morning sun and some shade in the afternoon that is also easy for you and your family to maneuver around, perfect. If you're in a very warm climate, you will probably want more afternoon shade. Bees are very adaptable creatures and can usually make almost any location work as long as there is food and water in the surrounding area.

Beekeeping is geographical.

Where you are and where your bees are living will dictate the seasons they encounter, the forage they gather, and the extremity of temperatures they might experience. Of course, beekeeping in Maine is very different than beekeeping in Arizona!

We suggest finding local beekeepers to talk to and local groups to meet up with.

Even if you don’t agree with a beekeeper's management style or advice, you can learn a lot about what your local beekeeping experience might be and how seasonality will play out in your area.

What do your bees need besides a sturdy well-made hive?
Food and water, of course!

Something that often surprises new beekeepers to learn is that bees struggle to thrive in rural areas, as there is often not enough seasonally staggered forage to allow them to build up large enough food stores. Monoculture means large swaths of one plant blooming at one time; bees need food at every part of each season, spring through autumn. For this reason, bees often do very well in populated areas. A density of people also often means less usage of agricultural chemicals, which can be hard on and harmful to bees. And since urban areas tend to have an array of plantings, there is usually something for the bees to be foraging upon!

Water is very important for bees. Not only do they need it for hydration, they also use it to bring nectar to the right consistency to create honey or bee bread. A simple way to keep your bees out of your neighbor’s chlorine treated pool, is to provide them with a slope sided bird bath and fresh water or a shallow bowl with a few pieces of floating bark or cork — just something they can safely stand upon while drinking.

Packages of bees can be ordered from breeders and shipped through the USPS. A package of bees is about 10000 bees inside a screened box, with a queen in a cage inside. Once received, a package of bees can be gently installed into a hive, with the queen being placed inside. There is a small piece of candy plugging her cage and the bees will eat through that to release her.

These are good options for Langstroth Hive users (more on hive styles later, but a Lang is the most common hive type, the kind you see on the side of the road in crops when driving down the highway).
A nucleus is a number of fully drawn combs of honey inside a box with bees and a queen. The advantage of a nuc is that the existing comb gives the bees a head start and can be installed right into a hive.

In spring, local feral colonies often grow so large that about half of the colony will leave in search of a new home. This is when a cluster of bees will settle on a branch, an eave, a mailbox, or a fence while scouts fly about determining the best place to take up permanent residence.

As a beekeeper, it’s a great time to step in and usher the bees into a box and take them home to your hive. The bees are most often very docile at this time, as they have no brood to actively protect while in the swarm cluster, and have gorged on honey to sustain them for the flight.

An easy swarm catch would be a large cluster on a low branch that can be shaken into a box.

We do not recommend doing swarm catches that require climing high up on a ladder. Most often, it just isn’t worth the risk of falling or losing the swarm.

Natural beekeeping can be defined several ways, but overall, natural beekeeping means letting the bees do what they have done for millions of years with minimal human intervention.

It also means fostering stronger genetics, bees that can thrive in the face of the chemicals, pests, diseases and imbalance our environment presents to them, by increasing strong colonies, and letting weak colonies die off. This can sound harsh, but the difference is propagating strong genetics or fostering weak ones in a species that is already facing so much difficulty.

One of the biggest differences between natural and conventional beekeeping is the use, or not, of foundation. Foundation is a pressed wax (or plastic) sheet that is shaped like honeycomb. The idea is that it urges uniform cell size for brood development and gives bees a “head start” so they don’t have to build all of their own wax.

There are multiple problems with foundation. For one, bees do not prefer a universal cell size. In response to the local bee population’s health and propagation and their own colony’s needs, a colony needs to decide for itself how many drones are needed at any given time. Drones need a different cell size than foundation provides (as conventional beekeepers try to deter drones, seeing them as “unnecessary” to the beekeepers goal or more honey).

In studies done by Penn State, pressed wax foundation (which is made from the wax harvested in commercial hives that are trucked throughout the country for the pollination of monocrops) has been shown to be riddled with agricultural chemicals, environmental chemicals and medicated treatments. The introduction of it into a hive absolutely starts the bees off with a less than ideal hive environment.

Furthermore, when given the option of foundation or foundationless frames in which to build, bees always choose to make their own comb. After all, it’s what they are built to do! They can control the cell size, the cleanliness, and rate of production.

So often beekeepers fuss with their bees or take unnecessary, interfering steps in order to feel a sense of management over their colonies, but bees are already equipped to take care of themselves; they have been doing it for millions of years! Giving them the best chance at success by providing logical, regular management and an excellent environment to thrive in goes a long way to foster healthy colonies and genetics.

As natural beekeepers, we do not use or endorse the use of chemicals in the hive whatsoever. We are focused on giving bees a healthy environment and promoting healthy genes. In our own apiaries, colonies that succumb to Varroa or other pests and diseases are not increased the next season. Those that survive, we split from and increase our stock.

As backyard and hobby beekeepers, letting bees do what they do best allows them to satisfy their own colony's needs by relying upon the myriad abilities they already inherently have.

There are many natural beekeeping clubs, forums, and high profile natural beekeepers to learn from and be inspired by.

Philosophy

Natural beekeeping can be defined several ways, but overall, natural beekeeping means letting the bees do what they have done for millions of years with minimal human intervention.

Now that you know a bit about the basics of beekeeping,
it’s time to learn which hive is best for you.

Now that you know a bit about the basics of beekeeping, it’s time to learn which hive is best for you. Each hive style has different benefits and drawbacks regarding management time, honey yield, and weight.

Each hive style has different benefits and drawbacks regarding management time, honey yield, and weight.

The most common hive design with the most resources
Yields the most honey
Needs a moderate amount of management
Can require heavy lifting (60-80 lbs)

Requires no heavy lifting (5-7 lbs)
Yields the least honey
Most frequent but simplest management
Satisfying to work in
Great for education

Yields a medium amount of honey
Requires some lifting (30 lbs)
Needs the least management
Gives bees a natural colony experience

Where to Get Bees For Your Beehive – Bee Built

Free Shipping & Returns on Orders $75+

Whether you are a seasoned beekeeper or a new-bee, you will want to populate your hives in the spring. For us here in the Pacific Northwest, that means April through early June. The increasing popularity of beekeeping however, requires that bees be purchased, reserved or planned for months in advance. We recommend securing your source for bees by January if you plan to start a hive the following spring.

Below are some of the most common ways to obtain honeybees for your hive.

swarms

Swarming is the natural method honeybee colonies reproduce as a whole. The original colony replaces the old queen, who leaves the hive with roughly half the worker bees and as much honey as they can carry. Swarm clusters land on a structure near their original hive location, while scout bees leave the cluster in search of a new hive location. It is in this stage that swarms can be captured and used to populate an empty hive. Swarms are ready to start building comb in their new home immediately.

Swarms are local to the area they were found in. They are guaranteed to have survived the winter in that climate, and were a strong enough colony to split in early spring. This method of obtaining bees aids in the goal of propagating strong genetics for local honeybee populations. We have had the greatest success with bees caught from swarms in our apiary and find that swarms fare better than bees trucked across the country in packages.

For more information on swarm catching, watch this helpful video.

BAIT & TRAP

When scout bees find a suitable hive location, they return to the cluster and direct the swarm to the new hive location with the waggle dance. Once the swarm reaches their destination, the first worker bees on the premises gather at the entrance and fan their nasonov glands, releasing scout pheromone to direct the rest of the bees into the new hive. This pheromone resembles the scent of lemongrass oil, and beekeepers can use small amounts of the oil in their hives or in swarm traps to lure in a swarm.

Check out these books for more information about how swarms find new hive locations, and about setting swarm traps.

SHOP LEMONGRASS OIL

packages

Honeybee packages are screened boxes that contain a single inseminated-queen in a cage, and 3 pounds of worker bees (about 10,000 individuals). Packages come from breeders, and can be used to populate any hive style. They sell quickly so find an apiary near you to reserve one as early as possible for a guaranteed source of bees for the season. A simple internet search for “package bees” will yield many results. Quality of bee packages varies, based on the source.

How to buy a bee package
Watch a video on installing a package

Learn about how to buy package bees

Nucleus boxes

A nucleus colony is essentially a mini-hive with 3-5 built out frames of honey and brood, with 1 queen and enough worker bees to maintain and expand the hive. They are available from breeders and apiaries, and are most commonly offered as deep Langstroth frames in a wooden or cardboard box. These frames can be transferred into full-sized deep Langstroth hive boxes, and often build up faster than packages since they already have eggs, larvae, and honey stores.

Empty nuc boxes make great swarm catching containers; you can allow your swarm to start building comb in the nuc box and transfer the comb into a compatible hive, rather than needing to install a swarm into their permanent hive right away. We will soon offer top bar nucleus boxes, and already offer deep Langstroth nucleus boxes.

SHOP NUCLEUS BOXES

SPLITS

A method used to populate new hives by beekeepers of all hive types, is splitting strong existing colonies. Splits are done by moving frames or top bars of brood including unhatched eggs, honey, and nurse bees from a full colony to a new hive. Make sure the old and new hives have either an existing queen or unhatched eggs; the queenless hive can raise a new queen by feeding a larvae from an unhatched egg only royal jelly. Once the egg has hatched and has already been fed bee bread, the bee is destined to be a worker, and cannot be made into a queen. Some beekeepers choose to buy a queen and add her to the queenless colony. We don't use this method because the colony can requeen on their own, and often we don't support the methods used to raise and inseminate most queens.

WHERE TO BUY ETHICALLY RAISED QUEENS:

Anarchy Apiaries

April Lance Bees

TREATMENT FREE PACKAGES AND NUCS

Honeybee Genetics

Bee Weaver

Parker Bees

How to make a beehive and keep bees

R Working with bees is fun and rewarding. Watching the life of bees, you will learn a lot of interesting things about them and you can become beekeepers yourself.

Anyone who has at least a small area can start a bee apiary with three to five hives.

Building a hive, breeding and caring for bees is not difficult, but requires serious attention and patience.

COMPOSITION OF THE BEE FAMILY

P chelas live in families. The size of the bee family varies depending on the time of year, the amount of nectar in the flowers, and the weather.

In summer, up to 60-70 thousand bees live in strong bee colonies in one hive.

By autumn and winter, the colony is reduced to 10-15 thousand bees. In the spring, with the onset of warm days and the appearance of nectar in flowers, it increases again.

Bees live in hives and are placed on wax combs built by the bees themselves.

The composition of the bee family includes: the uterus, worker bees and drones (Fig. 1).

They are easily distinguishable by their size and body shape.

The queen has a brown body, comparatively longer than that of worker bees and drones, with a pointed rear part of the abdomen.

The worker is almost half as long and smaller than the queen, gray or darkish in color.

The drone is larger and thicker than the worker bee, and its body has a blunt end of the abdomen.

Fig. 1. a - uterus; b - worker bee; c - drone. nine0013

Queen is the only female in the bee family that can lay fertilized eggs in the cells of the honeycomb, from which the bees hatch.

In the event of the death of the queen, the birth rate, and hence the increase in the number, of bees stops. The uterus reaches its greatest strength in laying eggs by the age of two, and by the age of four or five, it stops laying eggs and dies.

Worker bees make up the bulk of the bee colony. They perform the following types of work: they extract nectar and pollen, care for and educate young bees, maintain cleanliness in the hives and guard the entrance to the hive. nine0005

Worker bees live for a relatively short time in summer - from 35 to 50 days. Their loss in the hive is replenished by breeding young bees from eggs laid by the queen.

Young bees immediately after their birth for nectar do not fly until about twenty days of age, and at this time they perform work inside the hive.

Only those bees that were born at the end of August and in September remain for the winter and overwinter, but they also gradually die. In the spring they are replaced by young bees. nine0005

Drones do not carry out any work in the bee colony, but are necessary for the fertilization of young, still infertile queens. A queen that is not fertilized by a drone will lay unfertilized eggs, from which only drones will hatch.

The life of drones is short-lived. They come out in the summer. In autumn, the drones are expelled from the hives by bees and die.

Bees are insects with complete metamorphosis.

The entire period of development of a worker bee from the moment of laying eggs to the release of a young bee lasts 21 days and proceeds through the following stages (Fig. 2):

1) the egg stage continues from the 1st to the 3rd day;

2) the larval stage lasts from the 4th to the 9th day;

3) the pupal stage lasts 12 days.

The period of development of the uterus, from the egg to the emergence of the young uterus, lasts 16 days.

Drone development lasts 24 days.

Fig. 2. The development of a bee from egg to pupa.

The first two stages of development of the worker bee and the drone take place in open cells. At this time, the larvae of drones and worker bees receive during the first three days a special food - "milk" - produced by worker bees, and in the following days, the bees feed the developing larvae with a mixture of honey and pollen (pollen). nine0005

Cells with worker bee larvae are sealed by bees with wax caps on the sixth day, and with drone larvae - on the seventh day.

Larvae in open cells are called "open brood" and those in sealed cells are called "printed brood".

Printed brood develops normally at an internal temperature of 34-35°C. At a higher temperature, development proceeds abnormally, and at a temperature inside the hive of 40 °, the brood dies.

If the temperature drops even by 1°, development is delayed by 1 day. At a temperature inside the hive below + 25 °, about 70 percent of the brood dies. When the temperature in the hive is below 20°C, the brood freezes and dies. nine0005

The necessary temperature for the development of the brood is created by young bees, covering the printed brood with their bodies.

HOW TO MAKE A HIVE

P chelas live in wooden beehive houses. Hives come in different systems, but the most common is the "Russian standard hive".

The first wooden collapsible frame hive was invented by the Russian beekeeper P. I. Prokopovich back in 1814. In the future, the system of his hive was modified and improved. nine0005

The hives are single-walled, when the side walls are made the thickness of one board, and double-walled, when the hive walls are made double. In double-walled hives, the space between the walls is filled with some kind of insulating material.

Single-walled hives are used in the south and central regions of the country, and double-walled hives in more northern regions.

The single-walled hive is the most affordable for making on your own.

To make it, you need to have the following tools: a hacksaw or bow saw, a hammer, tongs, a planer, a chisel with a narrow blade. nine0005

The hive consists of three parts (fig. 3):

1) body with bottom,

2) magazine extension,

3) covers.

Use boards 30 to 40 mm thick for the walls and bottom of the case and walls of the magazine, and boards 20-25 mm thick for the lid.

Fig. 3. General view of the hive and its individual parts.

The best materials are: spruce, pine, poplar, alder.

Case is a four-walled box 45 cm long and wide (inside) and 34 cm high from the hive floor.

When you cut the boards for nailing the body and the bottom of the hive, plan them well with a planer. This is necessary in order to make it easier to clean the bottom and walls of the hive.

The boards prepared for the body of the hive are hammered together with large nails, observing the internal dimensions of the hive (45 x 45 cm) and the height of the walls (35 cm).

Make a cut 3-4 cm wide and 1 cm high in the lower part of the front wall of the housing. This will serve as an opening for the entry and exit of the bees into the hive.

Before knocking down the walls of the body in the upper part of the hive, make a recess (folds) 1 cm wide and 2 cm deep with a chisel.

When the walls of the hive body are firmly nailed together, nail the bottom of the hive to the underside of them.

Since it is rarely possible to find boards that in their width would correspond to the height of the walls of the hive or the width of the floor, the walls and the floor sometimes have to be made from two or three narrow boards, putting them together. In this case, it is imperative that the sides of the boards be aligned well so that they fit snugly against each other and there are no gaps in the floor and walls. nine0005

Coat the joints of the boards with putty or clay. This is important to keep the hive warm and to protect against insect pests getting into the hive.

Make hive magazine from boards of the same thickness as the hive body.

Internal dimensions are the same. The height of the walls of the store is 16.5 cm. Be sure to make notches in the upper part of the walls of the store, as well as in the body of the hive. Shop put directly on the body of the hive.

On the outer side of the walls of the store, also make recesses (folds), on which the hive cover will rest with its walls. nine0005

Make the cover single-sided so that one of its walls is lower than the other. When the roof of the lid lies on them, a slope (slope) is formed in one direction. Rainwater will roll off the hive cover along this slope. The lid of the hive with its walls should rest firmly on the folds of the walls of the store and fit snugly against them.

Cover the cover of the hive with roofing paper or a sheet cut from old iron to make it completely waterproof. The hive, magazine and lid must be painted on the outside. This will protect the hive from the effects of dampness. nine0005

12 frames are placed inside the hive body. Wax is stretched over these frames and bees are placed on them. These are nesting frames (Fig. 4).

Make them from well planed wooden blocks and planks.

Make the top pieces 47 cm long, 2.5 cm wide, 2 cm thick.

4. Nest frame.

On both sides of each top block, make cuts 26 mm long, 1 cm wide. The frame will rest with its shoulders on the folds of the upper walls of the hive body and will be in it in a hanging position. nine0005

Make the side planks 29 cm long, 2.5 cm wide and 8 mm thick.

The length, thickness and width of the top bar of the magazine frame is the same as the top bar of the nesting frame, but the length of the side bars is 16.5 cm. These frames are often called half frames.

If you put a magazine with half frames on the body, then the distance between them and the upper bar of the nest frame should not exceed 8-10 mm.

If this distance is less, then the bees will glue the half-frames with the nesting frames, and this will create great inconvenience when working with the bees. If the distance is greater, then the bees will build it up with honeycombs and again make it difficult to work with the hive. nine0005

There are usually 10 magazine frames per magazine.

In this case, the bees lengthen the cells of the half-frames and thus create the possibility of storing a large amount of honey in the half-frames.

In warm summertime, when in nature there is an abundant secretion of nectar by flowers, the uterus intensively lays eggs in the nesting frames, and the bees do not have enough space to store honey and pollen (perga).

In this case, stores are placed on the bodies of the hives, and the bees quickly fill the store combs with honey. nine0005

When the bribes (abundance of nectar) cease, the stores take off; with the onset of cold weather, they are again placed on the cases and filled with pillows with insulating material.

In addition to the body of the hive, magazine, frames, make two insert boards for the hive. They will be needed in order to shorten the bee nest or insulate it.

The dimensions of the top board are the same as the nest frame with hangers. Make the height in such a way that the insert board with its underside does not reach the bottom of the hive at a distance of 5 mm. This is necessary for the passage of bees. nine0005

Frames with honeycombs cover from above with one common "canvas" (from burlap, canvas or plain canvas) the size of the internal area of the hive.

BEEKEEPING EQUIPMENT

D To work with bees, you need to purchase or make the following inventory yourself:

1. Smoker . Serves for fumigating bees during the inspection of the bee colony (Fig. 5).

Fig. 5. Smoker.

2. Face mesh . It protects the face from bee stings (Fig. 6).

Fig. 6. Face mesh.

3. Beekeeping knife . Serves for printing honey in combs and for trimming incorrectly built combs (Fig. 7).

Fig. 7. Beekeeping knife.

4. Pattern board for making frames (fig. 8).

Fig. 8. Board pattern.

5. Spur for framing (fig. 9).

Fig. 9. Spur for framing.

6. Awl for pulling the wire onto frames.

CARE OF THE HIVES, THEIR MAINTENANCE, LOCATION

D To place an apiary or arrange a hive with bees, it is necessary to prepare a place.

The place for the bees should be protected by a high fence or dense tree plantations from the cold northern winds.

The hives should be located east or south. nine0005

The land in the apiary must be cleared of grass and debris.

In order for the bees to work normally and bring as much honey as possible, they need careful care. Depending on the seasons, care and maintenance work will be different.

Spring

In in the spring, when the snow melts and the air temperature rises above 12-14°, the hives with bees are taken out and placed in a pre-selected place.

Beforehand, for each hive, 4 pegs are driven into the ground strictly horizontally, up to 30-35 cm high from the ground. On these pegs they put beehives. nine0005

As soon as the bees feel light and warm, they will start flying out of the hives together. Notches in the hives at this time must be opened to their full length. After flying and circling for about 1-1/2 hours, the bees begin to gradually return to the hive.

This is the first spring cleansing flight, when the bee cleans its intestines.

Since the end of February and the beginning of March, queens in strong bee colonies begin to lay eggs, from which young bees emerge.

On the first warm days, armed with a net and a smoker, check if there are queens in the hives. This can be done without especially disturbing the bees and without looking for the queen. It is enough to see open brood on the combs to judge its presence. nine0005

If the uterus lays eggs in the entire middle part of the combs, without missing almost a single cell, it means that she is healthy, good.

If the sowing of eggs occurs in separate areas, with gaps in cells, this is a sign of a bad uterus.

There are cases when the uterus dies during wintering.

The bee colony will not live without it.

If the uterus is old or diseased, it must be replaced with a young one. An experienced beekeeper will always help you with this.

In order not to crush the uterus, it is taken and placed in a special uterine cage made of wire mesh. nine0005

Having brought the queen, open the hive, place the box with her between the frames and immediately close the hive.

After a day or two, open the hive and see how the bees behave towards the queen. If the cell is surrounded by bees and they stick their proboscises through the holes to the uterus, then this means that they feed it. Such a queen can be released from the cell, and the bees will accept her into their family.

When the bees bend the rear end of the abdomen and try to push it through the holes in the mesh of the cell, this means that they do not want to accept it, but try to sting it. In this case, you need to keep the queen in the cage longer until the bees get used to it. If you did not manage to get a young fetal uterus, then you need to give the bees the opportunity to bring it out themselves. nine0005

If the queen in the hive is old and does not lay eggs well, remove her. The bees will then select a few cells with fertilized eggs and begin to expand and lengthen them. Such cells protrude above the combs, have the shape of a small acorn and are called "queen cells".

The larvae in the queen cells all the time receive abundant nutritious food - "milk".

On the fifth day, the bees seal the mother liquor with a wax cap.

On the sixteenth day after the egg is laid, the queen hatches. In clear and warm weather, the young queen flies out of the hive. She mates with a drone and becomes able to lay fertilized eggs. nine0005

Once you have checked the hive to make sure it has a queen, start cleaning the bottom of the hive.

The hive must be absolutely clean. This work is done using a special chisel with a bent end (Fig. 10).

Fig. 10. Chisel for cleaning the beehive.

When working, do not open the canvas covering the frames all at once. It is necessary to open it to the width of two or three frames, pull the frames out of the hive and place them in a box specially made of plywood. Close the box tightly with a lid. Clear the freed part of the bottom of the hive from debris. After that, take the frames from the drawer and put them back in the cleared place, again covering them with canvas. Then unfold the canvas another two or three frames wide, pull them out of the hive, put them in a box, clean the bottom and rearrange the frames from the box to the hive. nine0005

Do this until the entire hive is cleared. Such gradual cleaning is necessary in order not to cool the whole hive and not to let in other bees.

The third type of spring work is the insulation of the bee nest. In spring, the weather often changes: after warm days, a cold snap can suddenly set in, and in the hive, where at this time there is an increased reproduction of bees, a constant temperature of at least + 35 ° is needed.

In order to maintain the proper temperature, it is necessary to shorten the bee nest. All frames with honeycombs on which bees do not sit and in which there is no brood are removed from the hive. The remaining frames are placed in the middle of the hive and are limited on both sides by insert boards. The space behind the insert boards is filled with insulating pillows. From above, the frames are also covered with pillows or other insulating material. nine0005

Make insulating pillows from burlap to the size of the inner area of the hive. Stuff them with tow or dry moss.

Lay them on top of the canvas and on the sides inside the hive.

When you clean and warm the hives, immediately pay attention to whether the bees still have honey reserves. Indeed, in spring, honey consumption increases: at this time, a lot of honey goes to feed the larvae and young bees. If you find a shortage of honey, you need to feed the bees.

Top dressing can be prepared in many ways, but the most affordable way is a mixture of two parts sugar and one part water. nine0005

First boil the water, then put it off the heat and add the sugar, stirring all the time, until all the sugar has dissolved. Let the syrup cool down to 40-45°C and then pour it into the feeders.

Feeders are placed in the hive either between the last frame and the insert board or behind the insert board.

Immediately give the bees in the feeders two or three kilograms of sugar syrup. Top dressing is done in the evening, when the flight of bees ends. During the night, the bees will choose top dressing from the feeder and transfer it to the combs. nine0005

Feeders should be prepared in advance; make them from store half-frames. The entire length of such a half-frame is nailed to the bottom and side planks on both sides with carnations, one plywood board the size of the entire width of the half-frame. The plank does not reach 25-30 mm to the upper block-semi-frame.

To prevent the feeder from leaking, fill the joints of plywood with half-frame planks with melted wax or resin, and to prevent the bees from drowning in syrup, put small thin chips on the bottom of the feeders. When you pour the syrup into the feeders, the slivers will float to the top and bees will be placed on them. nine0005

Metal cans can also be used for feeders. In this case, rinse the jars well with boiling water, fill to the top with syrup, cover with pieces of old chintz and tie the ends around the jar with twine.

After opening the hive, and then removing the top insulation and cover sheet, place two wooden planks or two twigs on top of the frames; on them, turning upside down, put cans, cover with a canvas, lay insulation and close the hive.

The bees will gradually suck out all the syrup through a cloth. nine0005

As the weather gets warmer and nectar collection increases, the queen will increase her egg laying all the time (up to 1,500-2,000 per day), therefore, the bee colony will grow. The bees will try to fill all the free cells in the combs with honey, and there will be no place for the uterus to lay eggs. We must follow this.

It's time to expand the bee nest. Expansion can be done by substituting frames with artificial foundation stretched over them into the hive. Foundation can be bought or exchanged for wax. There are wax foundation workshops in every district center, as well as in large apiaries of collective farms. nine0005

Wax is attached to the top bar of the frame and then rolled with a special spur to the wire stretched inside the frame.
This should be done on the board (Fig. 8).

The method of stretching the wire and attaching the foundation to the frame is very simple. Stepping back from the edges of 10-12 cm, make holes in the lower and upper strips with an awl. At the holes in the top plank, drive in a small carnation so that their heads stick out above the plank. Fasten the end of a thin wire to one of the studs and pull it through the hole in the top bar, then through the hole in the bottom bar below it, then through the second hole in the bottom bar and the hole in the top bar under it. Stretch the wire well and fasten its end to the second nail in the top bar. Now drive the nails into the frame to the end. Make holes on the side planks, stepping back from the edges by 7-8 cm, and in the same way as in the first case, pull the wire. nine0005

On sheets of artificial foundation, bees begin to build cells of honeycombs, as beekeepers say, "pull" or rebuild the foundation.

Strong bee colonies do this sometimes in four or five days, turning artificial foundation into finished combs.

Summer

H The hot summer is coming, and with it the hot season in the life of bees. This is the time of the greatest bribe.

The bee colony by this time reaches its full strength, the number of worker bees reaches 50-60 thousand. All 12 frames in the hive are filled with bees placed on them. The upper part of the combs, and sometimes all the combs, are filled with honey. The uterus does not have enough empty cells for laying eggs. The bees get crowded in the hive. And now comes the period of swarming. nine0005

The bee colony should split into two colonies, or, as they say, “should swarm”.

What is being done at this time in the hive?

The bees start laying several queen cells to hatch a young queen.

On one of the warm, clear days, the old queen leaves the hive with some of the bees. It flew out a swarm. A swarm of bees, circling for several minutes near their hive, is attached somewhere on a branch of a nearby tree. The bees huddle together in one dense lump and sit like that for a while. Then they rise and fly away, finding a place for themselves somewhere in the forest in the hollow of a tree, or fly into other apiaries and settle there in an empty hive. nine0005

In order to prevent the swarm from flying away, it is carefully shaken off the branch into a box or into a sieve, and then brought to the prepared hive, into which three or four frames with honeycombs or artificial foundation are placed in advance, and the swarm is shaken there.

In the new hive, the bees get to work together.

The bees left in the old hive breed a young queen.

This way you can increase the number of bee colonies. This is the so-called natural swarming.

It is possible to propagate bee colonies by branching. nine0005

If you want to get more honey from bees, then you need to take measures to prevent swarming.

How to limit the swarming of bees?

The main cause of bee swarming is an excessively large bee colony; because of this, tightness and insufficiency of empty cells for laying eggs arise in the hive.

To eliminate these causes, the following methods are used:

1. As the bees fill the frames with honey and pollen (perga), they are taken out of the hive and frames with empty combs or with artificial foundation are put in this place. nine0005

2. On the body of the hive, place magazines with half frames, to which artificial foundation is attached. The bees quickly build the foundation into ready-made combs and fill them with honey.

Store the removed frames with honey in separate, tightly closed boxes, and in the spring, when there is not enough food for the bees, substitute them in the hives.

Autumn

About in the canopy, the queen begins to reduce the laying of eggs and the bee colony gradually begins to decrease. The bees drive the drones out of their hives and begin to prepare their home for the long cold winter. They cover all the cracks in the hive with a special glue - propolis, so that heat remains in the hive. Less and less often they fly out of the hive. nine0005

It is necessary, while there are warm days, to find out the amount of honey from the bee colony.

With the onset of cold weather, when the temperature in the yard is below 12°C, the bees stop moving freely around the hive and gather in groups - small balls in several tiers on top of each other between the frames (in the "streets"), settling on honey reserves. They cannot move from one frame to another.

Therefore, it is very important that on the sides of the frames (in the "streets") where the bees are located, there is such a supply of honey that would be enough for the long months of winter. nine0005

All frames from the hive not occupied by bees are removed and stored until spring in special boxes adapted for storage.

At least 18-22 kilograms of honey should be left for wintering bees in hives.

Hive entrances are reduced to the size required for the passage of one bee.

Hives need to be insulated.

In this form, the hives can stand until the onset of frost.

Winter

E Even before the onset of frost, you need to think about the room where the bees will winter. nine0005

In order for the bees not to freeze and winter safely, it is necessary to create appropriate conditions for their wintering.

For normal wintering, it is important that the temperature inside the hive is not lower than 14-25°. At temperatures below 14°, the bees will not be able to move inside their ball, between the streets, and may die.

In order to maintain the proper temperature, the hives must be placed in a room where the outside temperature would be at least 2-6°C.

Such a room must be found in advance. nine0005

The room must be dry and completely dark. There should not be any noise. All this will disturb the bees, badly reflected in their wintering.

Bees should be brought into the "winter house" when permanent frosty weather sets in (puddles freeze) and snow falls.

Leave the entrances open to a width of 1-2 cm and wire them with pieces of metal mesh so that fresh air can pass through, but cannot get into the mouse hive.

Hive lids should be removed to better ventilate the hive. But if mice are found in the winter hut, then this should not be done, but it is better to grate the ventilation holes in the lid with a metal mesh and keep them open. nine0005

It is necessary to enter the winter house as rarely as possible: in winter - once or twice a month, and in spring, before the snow melts and the exhibition of bees in the apiary - more often. You can not light a lantern, and if a lantern is needed, then its glass must be covered with red paper or red cloth. Red light doesn't bother the bees.

You can listen to the bees by putting your ear to the notch. Smooth, barely audible noise indicates a successful wintering.

The rustling sound, where the ringing sounds of individual bees are heard, is a sign of starvation of the bee colony. The absence of noise is a sign of the death of the family. nine0005

If it turns out that the bee colony is starving, then it is necessary to feed.

To do this, bring the hive into a warm, darkened room and let the hive warm up. Then, without disturbing the nests of the bees, substitute two or three cans of sugar syrup on top of the frames. Do this in the same way as you did with spring dressing.

Candied honey (settled, hardened) can be wrapped in gauze, rolled into a cake and put on top of the frames.

It is necessary to bring the hive into the room only when the temperature in the winter hut is below 2-3°C; in this case, the bees in the hive will be almost motionless and will not feed. nine0005

If the temperature in the winter hut is 4-7°C, then top dressing can and should be done without taking the bees out of the winter hut.
That's all the bee care you need to know.

* * * *

Stings, but also treats. Is it possible to have bees in the country and not quarrel with the neighbors?

07/21/2021

Which product can be stored for thousands of years without spoiling? The correct answer is honey. Confirmed fact: archaeologists found amphorae with honey in the pyramids, and it could be eaten. The benefits and taste are hard to dispute, and to get it you just need to get bees. “I retired, I want to organize a small apiary in the country. Is it allowed? - Ilya Nikitin asks us from Ochakovo-Matveevsky. nine0005

Is it so easy to breed bees in a summer cottage, and what a novice beekeeper needs to know, we decided to find out with the help of Alexander Bagrov, a long-time beekeeper, a member of the "Bee" club. Members of this club periodically gather in the SMART-library No. 197 named after. A. A. Akhmatova on the street. Krylatskie Holmy, 34. In connection with the pandemic, meetings of beekeepers are held via Skype conferences. To get an answer to a reader's question, we joined one of the online meetings. And here's what we found out. nine0005

WHERE TO KEEP PEACEFUL BEES?

– Beekeeping is regulated by Federal Law No. 490 of December 30, 2020 and Order of the Ministry of Agriculture No. 194 of May 19, 2016. According to these documents, any private person can start an apiary,” Alexander Viktorovich told us. “But for this you need to follow certain rules.

First of all, you need to issue a veterinary and sanitary passport. It is issued by the veterinary station of the district where the dacha is located. nine0510
Apiaries should be located at least 100 m from various institutions and roads.
On the plot itself, hives with bees must be placed at a distance of at least 3 m from the borders of neighboring plots. If there is a blank fence with a height of at least 2 m, you can put it next to it.
It is important to know that only peaceful breeds of bees are allowed to populate hives in settlements.

- If your dacha meets all these conditions, you can safely become a beekeeper, - Alexander Bagrov smiles. And he gives advice to his future novice colleagues. nine0005

NEIGHBORHOOD RELATIONS

- The law does not mention the need to obtain consent from neighbors to place an apiary on your summer cottage, - says Alexander Viktorovich. – But to prevent possible conflicts, experienced beekeepers recommend:

Do not anger the bees. You can anger them by frequent intrusions into "personal space". It is not necessary to check the hives often and without purpose, 1-2 times a week is enough.
If an "invasion" is necessary, warn your neighbors that they are at increased risk of meeting your "ward".
Tell your neighbors how not to behave with bees: don't try to swat them, wave your hands at them. It is also not recommended to leave sweets such as jam or sugar in the open air.
Explain the benefits of being close to an apiary. Bees pollinate flowers and fruit trees not only on your site, but also on your neighbors.
Treat your neighbors with what your bees give. They can't buy this in any store. nine0510

ANTS, HORNETS, MICE

Although bees can stand up for themselves, they have enemies that they cannot cope with without human help. According to Alexander Viktorovich, first of all, these are ants:

- These are well-known sweet tooth, stealing a lot of honey. To prevent their "raids", usually the legs of the hives are placed in containers with water and lubricated with technical oils.

- There is still such an enemy, - Alexander Viktorovich jokes, - like a wax moth. She lays larvae in the hives that feed on the wax of the honeycombs. To combat them, the hives must be kept clean, periodically manually destroy the caterpillars. In the same unfriendly group, wasps and hornets. They hunt bees, feed their offspring with bees. Salvation, advises the beekeeper, is only in the destruction of their nests. nine0005

– And separately about mice, – our interlocutor continues. “They are dangerous for hibernating hives. Therefore, for the winter it is necessary to strengthen their bottoms and cover the notch with a limiter so that the mouse cannot climb into the hive.

About ticks. These are unpleasant enemies of bees that cause diseases. In this case, the entire apiary should be quarantined and treated. Every year, the beekeeper must check his wards at the veterinarians.

Birds. Natural enemies of bees. It is not recommended to kill them or destroy nests. Experienced beekeepers use special bird scarers that imitate the cries of feathered predators. nine0005

RESIDENTS ARE INTERESTED

“Which breed of bees is better for a beginner beekeeper?” - asks Andrey Svetlyakov from Krylatskoye.

How to keep bee hives

Buying Your First Hive – Bee Built

Where to Get Bees For Your Beehive – Bee Built

How to make a beehive and keep bees

Stings, but also treats. Is it possible to have bees in the country and not quarrel with the neighbors?

Learn more