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Keep honey bees


A Beginner's Guide to Beekeeping

By

Lauren Arcuri

Lauren Arcuri

Lauren Arcuri Ware runs a small farm and family homestead on 25 acres in Vermont. Her experience includes raising chickens for eggs and meat, growing vegetables, harvesting apples, keeping bees, and canning, freezing, drying, pickling, and preserving food. She's covered those topics for The Spruce for seven years.

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Updated on 04/09/22

Reviewed by

Amanda Rose Newton

Reviewed by Amanda Rose Newton

Amanda Rose Newton holds degrees in Horticulture, Biochemistry, Entomology, and soon a PhD in STEM Education. She is a board-certified entomologist and volunteers for USAIDs Farmer to Farmer program. Currently, she is a professor of Horticulture, an Education Specialist, and pest specialist.

Learn more about The Spruce's Review Board

Fact checked by

Sarah Scott

Fact checked by Sarah Scott

Sarah Scott is a fact-checker and researcher who has worked in the custom home building industry in sales, marketing, and design.

Learn more about The Spruce's Editorial Process

The Spruce / Autumn Wood 

If the thought of keeping your own bees appeals to you, read on. We'll explain the basics of beekeeping for the beginner, whether you're a backyard beekeeper, homesteader, hobby farmer, or a small farmer looking to start a business selling honey and other bee products. It's fairly simple to learn how to keep bees.

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

Study All About Bees

There are lots of books on beekeeping, and learning all you can about these sweet little insects can help you start your hives off on the right foot. Read as much as you can so that when your bees arrive; you'll be ready to go and know how to keep bees.

Learn How Bees Make Honey

Before you jump in and start ordering supplies, let's take a step back and understand exactly how a hive works and what bees do. Bees make nests in nature, fly to flowers and extract nectar, then bring the nectar back to the hive and comb, where it slowly becomes honey.

Connect With Your Local Beekeeping Organizations

In beekeeping, some details can be specific to your local area. The nature of beekeeping means that you'll be most successful if you have strong local resources to draw on: someone to come check your hive or help you find your queen if needed, for example. Reach out and find your local beekeeping association and go to meetings. Some associations offer mentors who can be invaluable in helping you during your first season.

Learn How to Set Up Your Beehive

To keep bees, you need a beehive. In the wild, bees build their own hive, usually in a hollow tree trunk or another sheltered place, but it can be anywhere. As a backyard beekeeper, you will provide a man-made hive for your bees so you can help maintain the colony and easily harvest the honey.

There are a few different choices for the backyard or larger-scale beekeeper. Langstroth and top-bar hives are the most commonly found types.

Learn About Beekeeping Tasks

Illustration: The Spruce

What is involved in taking care of your bees? Much like gardening, beekeeping tasks are best divided by the season. The best time to start your hive is in the spring so that the colony you begin with has time to build up, lay brood (baby bees), increase in number, and store honey before the winter sets in.

Gather Your Beekeeping Supplies

What do you need to really get started beekeeping? Learn about the 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 purchased in person, while others can be ordered ​online.

Order Your Honey Bees

Once you've gathered your supplies and amassed plenty of beekeeping knowledge, it's time to order your bees! You will likely order what are called "package bees" and a queen, or a "nuc colony. " Of the two, a nuc colony is a more established set of bees with a queen who has already started laying brood. It can give your hive a head start if you're able to get one.

Article Sources

The Spruce uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read our editorial process to learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.

  1. Beekeeping - Honey Bees. Penn State Extension.

Everything You Need to Know About Keeping Bees and Producing Your Own Honey

Marina Marchese didn't plan to be a beekeeper; she was working in Manhattan in a design firm and commuting from her quaint cottage in Weston, Connecticut, with no bees on the brain. But a chance encounter with flavorful, raw honey straight from the hive made her fall in love with the sticky, sweet stuff, and set her on a path that's resulted two books, founding the American Honey Tasting Society and selling her very own honey label, Red Bee, which includes her own wildflower honey and honey from beekeepers around the country.

When we last met Marchese, she was showing us the ins and outs of how honey gets made. Perhaps, like me, you're now inspired to get a hive of your own.

Some assume beekeeping is a relatively easy hobby—after all, bees can make honey without our help. But even with the understanding that owning a colony is a huge responsibility, it took Marchese years to learn how best to keep her bees well-protected, healthy, and thriving. Poorly maintained hives can turn weak or fall victim to infestations, and when not given enough room to produce bees swarm to find a larger home, a huge hazard both to neighbors and your honey harvest.

If a colony is properly cared for—protected from predators, given enough space to produce honey, and left enough honey to eat over the winter—you can expect your bees to thrive. And when a colony is healthy, it does magical things, like pollinate our vegetable gardens and make anywhere between 50 and 250 pounds of honey a year.

But should those of us with rooftops or backyards or ample acreage take the plunge and buy a colony or two? What does it take for us to be responsible beekeepers? What equipment do we need, how much can we expect to spend, and how much time should we devote to our hives when they're up and running? If you're with me and curious about making this daydream a reality, consider this your jumping-off point.

Join a Beekeeping Community

In her first book, Honeybee: Lessons from an Accidental Beekeeper, Marchese retells her journey from the moment she first tasted raw honey straight from a hive. But far before taking the plunge with her own hives, she sat in on meetings at her nearby Back Yard Beekeeper's Association. There, she heard how hives were growing and producing in her region of Connecticut, participated in a few hive inspections with nearby beekeepers, and received valuable materials that provided her with the necessary education she needed before becoming responsible for a hive.

If you read that there's "no real maintenance involved" in caring for a hive, don't believe it. Safely transferring a queen and her family into a hive, protecting them from environmental dangers, and bottling an appropriate amount of honey from them is a serious responsibility, and there's no better way to be prepared or walked through the entire process than through community with others around you. To find a local beekeeping club, check out beeculture.com.

Consider Your Environment

Max Falkowitz

As we detailed in our piece on the secret lives of honeybees, honeybees fly an average of three miles from their hive to forage for nectar, pollen, and propolis (a resin from trees and flours). Nectar gets converted to honey, pollen feeds young and is vital to the growth of our edible crops, and propolis helps bees seal up a drafty hive. All are fundamental to a hive's health and prosperity, but not all environments have them in sufficient amounts to support a hive.

In New York City, over 200 hives have been registered since the ban on private beekeeping was lifted in 2010. The New York City Beekeepers Association notes that an area's "carrying capacity" should factor into a beekeeper's decision to raise a hive in a given location, but there's no regulation as to how many hives can fall within a certain space.

So consider your surroundings: do you live by a large park teeming with flowers like New York's Prospect, Central, and Fort Tryon parks? When you walk through those parks, do you see lots of bees at work? If you live in an urban area adjacent to or within flying distance of a park teeming with pollen-producing plants (not all plants are food for bees), chances are your colony will have plenty to forage for. If all you see around you is concrete and steel, question your desire for your own bees.

Yes, bees can travel for what they need. But just like us, bees can tire out from long commutes, and they might lose their competitive edge to other colonies. Putting bees through that much work isn't that fair to the tiny workers, and in dense city areas with limited flora, beekeepers are noting how the rise of urban beekeeping diminishes their hives' honey production.

That said, if you've covered your rooftop with flowering plants or live in a suburban or rural area with plenty of happily growing things, you're well on your way to a healthy hive. If you also have enough space for a small body of water, a birdbath, or even a few buckets for bees to drink from, you're even closer. And if you have propolis-producing trees around for bees to harvest and patch up their hive, and at least a ten-foot flying path for which they can get in and out of their home, you're golden.

Be Equipped

Jacqueline Raposo

It doesn't take a crazy amount of equipment to house and harvest, but you can't just buy a box of bees and call it a day. To start, you'll need:

A Hive: Most people nowadays go for the Langstroth Hive, which looks like a wooden filing cabinet. Frames for shaping hexagonal wax cells sit vertically inside the hive frame; bees use these frame to build brood nests and store honey.

A smoker: Bees need to be tamed a bit before moving homes, hive inspections, and frame removal for honey extraction. To do so, most beekeepers use a small smoker: a small can with bellows attached where newspaper, dried leaves and twigs ignite and get puffed into the hive, calming the bees.

A hat with veil, protective jacket, and long gloves. Obviously you want to keep stinging to a minimum, and these suits are made for both protection and flexibility. A hive tool: Sort of like a crow bar, the hive tool helps gently separate the hive lid or frames that have been sealed with propolis.

You can find starter kits on sites like BetterBee and Bee Thinking, and your new friends at your local beekeeping club will most likely have catalogues and favorite websites to direct you to for their favorite brands.

Pick Your Family

Max Falkowitz

There are several breeds of honeybee; some produce more honey while others are more resistant to illness. Marchese's Italian honeybees are the most common in the United States, beloved for their hearty bodies and enthusiastic honey production. Carniolan honeybees are the second most popular; though they're a little bit slower in production and known to swarm a bit more, they're the gentlest of all honeybees. Others—German Black honeybees, Caucasian honeybees, and Russian honeybees—are all easy to find in the United States as well.

Bee farms sell complete colonies for about $125, with one queen and 18,000 to 20,000 drones and worker bees—the size of the average family in the winter months when honey production is stalled. Believe it or not, bees are sent by the United States Postal Service with the regular mail in three-pound packages that look not unlike shoeboxes. There's a limited supply of colonies to go around, so ask your bee club or a farm you trust about ordering in advance.

Year-Round Responsibilities

Jacqueline Raposo

You can't just set up your hive, walk away for a few months, and expect to harvest pound after pound of perfect honey come autumn. During weekly hive inspections, beekeepers check for healthy egg production, pest contamination, and small burrowing animals. Here are some of the most common predators:

Bears: Winnie the Pooh is not so cute when he decimates your colony. Bears love eating bee larvae and honey and will knock over and destroy hive boxes to get at the frames. The most common solution for those in bear-country is to put up barriers like electric fences. Opossums and skunks: Most small furry predators will try to scratch their way into hives. These scratches can suck moisture out of a colony. Elevating hives with top-opening designs and spreading chicken wire on the ground around the hives all help keep these mammals at bay.

Birds: Martins, swallows, woodpeckers, and sparrows particularly love to eat bees. If you live in an area where they're common, make sure at least you're not tempting them with that pretty bird feeder dangling from a nearby tree.

Mice: Especially in winter, mice like to burrow into hives, crunching their way through frames and building little homes while leaving their droppings behind. When bees are overwintering, reduce the space where bees enter to 1/4 inch with a "mouse guard" sold by many beekeeping companies.

Other bees: Honeybees protect their hive from foreign bees through their queen's pheromones—if workers don't sense them on an incoming bee, that bee doesn't get in without a very generous gift of nectar or pollen. But wasps and yellow jackets are fierce predators. They go after weak colonies, fighting their way past guards stationed at the hive entrance, and then wrestle honeybees to death. The best way to prevent these invasions is to simply make sure your colony is strong and thriving; wasps and yellow jackets won't mess with a tough colony. Also, since they're meat eaters and are usually hungry at the end of the barbecue season, you can leave out sugar water or meat traps on the other side of your property to distract them.

Beetles, moths, mites and fungus: These are the most dangerous predators, since they sneak into a hive when beekeepers aren't looking. Laying eggs or feeding off larvae, these various bee-killers can wipe out a colony, and ways to battle them are varied and plentiful. Before you invest in a colony, refer to Marina's book or attend a class or lecture from your local beekeeping community.

Max Falkowitz

A beekeeper doesn't just protect a hive from predators; she also ensures the integrity of the hive itself. Bees will continue to make honey long after they've stored what they need for winter and, if they run out of space, they'll swarm to find a larger living space. So responsible beekeepers check in on their hives during honey-producing summer months, and if it looks like the bees are running out of room, she'll add shallows to the hive. These frames are set atop the main hive, with a space only big enough for worker bees to slip through. That means a queen can't fit to lay more eggs, guaranteeing the space as a vault to store extra honey.

Once a beekeeper has harvested her haul, she needs to ensure that the bees have enough leftover to eat through the winter. A colony may have a slow season and only produce 50 pounds, and in a rough winter they may eat almost that much. To compensate, beekeepers can bulk up their bees in the autumn with a 1:1 sugar water, fed to them through various kinds of feeders; some that mimic hive frames filled with the solution instead of nectar, others that screw on top of Mason jars, allow bees to safely enter, drink and exit. When plants stop flowering, restless bees may try to steal from other hives, and those pesky wasps will likely try to force their way in.

The weeks before cold weather sets in are also a time to make sure the hive is properly ventilated to avoid wetness and rot, and that the cover fits tightly to prevent rain and snow from seeping in. Some beekeepers tilt their hive so that any excess water runs out of it, or wrap it in cardboard or blankets in particularly frigid climates.

All these steps are vital in maintaining a healthy hive year-round.

And then there's the big picture of hive health. Since 2006, beekeepers and scientists have been looking for the cause of "colony collapse", where about 30 to 50 percent of colonies die off mysteriously. One-third of the food we eat in the U.S. is dependent on or affected by honeybee pollination; without it we'd lose all the almonds, avocados, peanuts, and most of the fruits we so enjoy.

But while putting focus on the "why are bees dying?" argument and questioning uses of pesticides is important, the surrounding panic may be a bit unfocused, and doesn't do much to solve the problem of colony collapse.

Marchese sees the major die-off and disappearance of colonies happening among large-scale agriculture, not small beekeeping. Rather, it's the 1,600 or so commercial keepers who transfer thousands upon thousands of hives to pollinate fields around the country and produce about 60% of our nation's honey. GMOs and various pesticides have been questioned in colony die-offs, but studies haven't concluded they're the major cause in bee deaths.

More prominently, the introduction of the Varroa mite discovered in the 1980's is blamed for the 34% decrees in hive numbers since that decade. In the 2011 to 2012 winter season, beekeepers could blame only 8% of their hive loss to the mysteries of "colony collapse." Scientists are looking more at bee care and health to insure the future of our busy little friends.

Harvesting Honey Already!

Max Falkowitz

A single colony can make up to 250 pounds of honey in a healthy season. But you've got to extract it from the hive first.

Harvesting honey is an exciting, if sticky, operation. The simplest way to do it is to merely slice the combs of honey off of their frames, cut them into bricks, and store them whole for easy eating.

But to extract the liquid honey from the comb you need a few more pieces of equipment: a heated uncapping knife to slice off the wax cappings from the honeycomb; an uncapping tank, where you rest your frames while uncapping them and where excess honey will fall and be stored; and an extractor, which will spin several uncapped frames at once, separating the honey from the intact combs. A mesh strainer removes any leftover wax or bee parts, and the honey can then be bottled for storing, selling, or gifting.

Marchese points out that an additional benefit of being part of a honey club is the use of shared equipment instead of buying your own; it takes a good amount of hands to harvest an entire hive, and fellows often spend days together sharing equipment and grunt-work. It's also a fun opportunity to sample what neighbors' bees have made.

And If You're an Accidental Beekeeper?

Max Falkowitz

Bees will naturally nest anywhere that's dry, where there's enough space, and where they can access a variety of flowering plants. But if that spot is a tree in your yard or an eave of your garage? Call an exterminator or bee-removal company.

Now, it is illegal for them to kill the bees. Most exterminators will give the bees to established beekeepers (another way for them to get new colonies), but don't let them just wipe out the little things.

And to remove the honey from their hive? The kind of extractor you buy to remove honey from framed hives won't work for the free-style shape of a natural hive, so Marchese's short answer: "Eat the honey in the comb, no need to purchase expensive equipment. Or hand crush the beeswax to separate the liquid honey the old fashioned way."

There you have it—a pure, natural product that, if extracted at the right time, is shelf-stable indefinitely, and you can eat it straight from the comb without fear of contamination.

Yum.

Further Reading

Beekeeping for beginners

Even in prehistoric times, honey bees interested people. Cave drawings testify to this. But in those days, hunting for honey was an extremely dangerous undertaking. After all, it was quite difficult to get close to the hollow with wild bees. At the same time, people did not even have basic protective equipment. Today, a person has everything necessary to breed bees in fairly comfortable conditions.

Experienced beekeepers do not recommend considering beekeeping as a business. First it should become a hobby. After all, this business must be loved, putting all your soul into it. And only after successful development, the apiary will be able to please with some return. Over time, beekeeping turns into a real family business with a good income. After all, often almost all relatives take part in the development of the apiary. This is explained by the fact that apiary holders are considered wealthy people. Everyone guesses that certain financial investments will be needed here. But few people know that this sweet business requires huge labor costs.

General information about bees

Bees live in families. The main thing here is the uterus. Against the background of the rest of the inhabitants of the hive, it is quite large in size. Her only duty is to procreate. A fertile queen can lay about 2,000 eggs a day. In order for her body to withstand such a load, special nutrition is required. Worker bees produce special milk for this. You need to know that during the honey harvest, worker bees live less than two months. Therefore, it is extremely important to regularly give new offspring. The death of the queen will mean the imminent death of the entire hive. Therefore, the actions of the whole family are aimed at providing the uterus with a comfortable stay.

There are also drones intended for the fertilization of the uterus. Worker bees also live in the hive. It is they who perform the main functions that ensure the life of the family. Workaholics collect nectar, control the process of its fermentation and honey production, protect offspring and harvested crops from strangers.

One bee colony may contain several tens of thousands of bees. The exact amount is difficult to determine. It all depends on the size of the hive, the power of the family, the season. For example, in a well-developed colony during the honey harvest, there can be up to 50 thousand bees. After wintering, their number may decrease to 30-10 thousand individuals.

If there is a threat, the bee uses its stinger. After some time, such an insect dies. Bees are driven by the instinct to preserve the family, so they are able to give their lives to protect their offspring. For the sake of this, insects collect honey all summer, so that in winter there is food for the whole family.

The process of honey formation

In search of blooming flowers, bees can fly up to three kilometers. On flowers, bees collect nectar, which, while in the honey crop, is fermented. Here complex carbohydrates are broken down, moisture is removed. In general, the transformation of nectar into honey is a complex chemical process. Nectar is transferred from cell to cell a large number of times, which allows you to completely get rid of moisture. Using their wings, the bees ventilate the combs, creating the optimum temperature for honey to “ripen”. After the completion of these complex processes, honey is formed in the combs. Its bees seal it with a thin layer of wax.


To get 100 g of honey, you need to collect nectar from a million flowers. These data allow us to imagine how difficult the work of these small insects is. They literally collect honey drop by drop. But due to the fact that families of ten thousand are a single organism, they are able to please the beekeeper with a good bribe.

Features and risks

As in any business, beekeeping has certain risks that you should be aware of. For example, the amount of honey obtained directly depends on the surrounding honey plants. If the weather this season is unfavorable, this will negatively affect the bribe. Thus, having spent money and effort on creating an apiary, it may not give a profit.

Wintering is an important factor. If the bees are not properly prepared for the cold season, they may simply not survive. Therefore, it is necessary to take care of the proper insulation of the hives. It is not uncommon for beekeepers to leave little honey for them to eat. In this case, the insects die of hunger. It is not excluded the possibility of ruining bee colonies by any rodents. It happens that in winter mice enter the hive, eat honey, leaving the bees without food. If nearby fields are treated with powerful chemicals, it is unlikely that the bees will be able to survive.

One must be prepared for such losses. Even for experienced beekeepers, dozens of hives can disappear over the winter. Although in most cases this is due to the fault of a person. For example, he did not insulate the hive sufficiently, did not notice a large gap through which pests could penetrate, did not cover the lid with waterproof material.

Pluses and minuses

The main advantage of breeding an apiary is getting a healthy and environmentally friendly product. It is enough to eat one teaspoon a day so that the body receives a huge amount of nutrients. When the family already has enough honey, it can be sold. Today, many are trying to purchase natural products. Therefore, there should be no problems with the sale of honey.


As for financial investments, of course, one cannot do without them. But this is a relatively small amount that people with a small income can find. For example, if we talk about inventory, then there is no need to buy it in the store. Today you can buy all the necessary equipment from your hands at a small price. In fact, this is a business with minimal investment. With a successful combination of circumstances, you can recoup the invested funds in the first season.

But the main advantage of beekeeping is that it is the only "animal" that does not need to be fed. If you look at agriculture, chickens, pigs, cows and other livestock need regular feeding. Huge sums have to be spent on feed, which makes many think about the expediency of animal husbandry. As for the bees, they "get" their own food. And all the excess is taken by the person.

However, do not forget about the shortcomings. For example, the life of these beneficial insects depends on factors that a person cannot influence. The main disadvantages include high labor costs. Many people would like to start breeding bees, but there is no time. And it will take a lot of time. This is especially true of large apiaries, where there are several dozen beehives.

Some people have an elementary fear. Despite the availability of modern protective suits, for this reason, many refuse to start an apiary.

Choosing a location

The success of a beekeeping business largely depends on the right location. The closer the apiary is located to the fields where honey crops grow, the more honey will be. That is why beekeeping is predominantly a business for rural areas. It is unlikely that bees will be able to find the required number of flowers in the city. Of course, at the time of the honey collection, the hives can be taken out, placing them directly on the fields. However, there are certain disadvantages here. In addition to the cost of transportation, someone must guard the apiary. And pumping honey in the "field" conditions is almost impossible. Here you will have to build a wooden or tent house.


When choosing a place, you need to take into account that in the summer season you will have to live next to the apiary. After all, during this period, she needs almost daily monitoring. An excellent option would be the courtyard of a private house, which is located in close proximity to the fields. During the honey collection period, the following plants are of interest:

There are many other plants that are considered honey plants. But it is the listed ones that are most often grown on the fields of our region.

Purchase of bees

A beginner beekeeper should not buy 50 hives at once. First, it's quite expensive. Secondly, there is a risk of death of the entire apiary. For the first year, 3-5 hives can be purchased. This will be quite enough to understand the principle of breeding bees, to find out your ability to care for the apiary, to decide whether there is free time for all this.

If the bees survived in the first year, and the desire to deal with them has not disappeared, you can buy a few more hives. Do not forget that with good care, the family develops and grows. At some point, two families can be made from one family. So, from 15 hives in three years, the apiary can be quadrupled.

It is enough to turn to experienced beekeepers with large apiaries. They will sell several families without any problems. But insects have to live somewhere. Therefore, at the same time as the bees, you need to buy frames and hives. Of course, an experienced carpenter will be able to make them on their own. But their cost is not too high, so you can buy. Putting hives on the ground is not recommended, as the tree will quickly rot. Here it is better to use any concrete supports, for example, cinder blocks.

Procurement of inventory and equipment

In the process of breeding bees, you will need various devices that will allow you to safely collect honey. In modern beekeeping stores you can find everything you need. Although it is recommended to look for used inventory. So, the beekeeper will need:

Australian gretta beekeeper suit with face mesh

1. Protective suit. It can be any tight clothing that a bee sting cannot penetrate. On the arms and legs should be tight cuffs. You should try to choose light, but tight shoes.

2. Mask. Usually it is sewn to the suit. The special beekeeping mask has a special design. Due to this, the back of the head is covered with a dense fabric. The mesh covers the face but does not adhere to it. Special metal rings ensure the location of the mesh at a certain distance from the face.

3. Gloves. A beginner who is afraid of bees should use fairly thick but comfortable gloves. Frames should be taken as gently and accurately as possible. Experienced beekeepers work without gloves. You need to know that while collecting honey, the bee has a lot of work, so she will not sting just like that. Aggression will manifest itself only if the bee is accidentally crushed. Often bees crawl on bare hands, and at the same time they do not show any aggression.

White imitation leather beekeeping gloves with Eco XXL oversleeves

4. Chisel. This tool has a special shape that allows you to comfortably remove the ceiling planks. As you might guess, because of the honey, the frames are glued to one another. The chisel allows you to easily get them out of the hive.

5. Smoker. It is enough to inflame the device, sketch out the chips and block the access of air with a lid. The contents will smolder, giving out the necessary smoke. Smoker is not always used. Usually smoke is needed in those situations when the bees do not have a flow, they are restless and aggressively protect their honey.

6. Carry. Taking out the honey frames, the bees rush into the hive. After that, the frames are placed in a special carrier. In fact, these are ordinary boxes, closed on top with a piece of tarpaulin. The drawer can have a shoulder strap, or two handles on the sides. Having selected the required number of frames, they are carried to the place where the honey extractor is located. It can be a summer kitchen, a house, a basement. For this, any room where bees cannot fly is suitable.

Dymar Lux stainless steel D-102mm H-315mm with burn protection with leather bellows without flame arrester and glass

7. Knife. The wax that covers the honeycombs must be cut off. For this, a knife with a special design is used. He carefully cuts off the caps, which are called "zabrus". Before cutting, it is recommended to moisten the knife in hot water so that the wax can be easily cut. Today there are also electrical products. The current heats up the blade, which greatly simplifies the removal of the seal.

8. Plug. It is far from always possible to remove the signet with a knife without damaging the honeycombs themselves. In such situations, a special fork with a large number of thin teeth is used. With their help, the zabrus is hooked to tear it away from the honeycombs.

9. Honey extractor. This is the name of the barrel into which frames with honey are inserted. In fact, this is a centrifuge that spins the frames from which honey “flies out”. It hits the inner walls of the barrel, flowing down. A faucet is installed at the very bottom, through which honey will drain from the barrel. Today there is a huge selection of honey extractors. These can be manual or electric devices designed for two or four frames. A beginner is advised to choose the simplest and cheapest honey extractor.

Mineli manual honey extractor 4-frame fixed basket and stainless steel tap steel legs

10. Food cans. With a small number of hives, honey from the honey extractor can be drained into a regular saucepan. But in the event that the apiary has already become a real business, then more than one can will be needed to store and transport honey. Many people use aluminum "milk" cans for this purpose. However, you can use more modern tanks made of food-grade plastic.

Additional costs (registration and taxes)

There has long been a debate among beekeepers about whether tax should be paid. In fact, this is agriculture, where poultry, cattle and other animals are bred. At the same time, no one pays taxes. So why do you have to pay for bees?

If you sell honey, it will be considered a profit. As you know, any profit is taxed. It is unlikely that the owner of a large apiary will be able to prove that he produces honey exclusively for himself, and not for sale. Of course, no one will believe this. However, do not be upset about this. Only large volumes are taxed, this applies not only to apiaries, but also to animal husbandry. If you have several hives, you don't have to worry about taxes. And for a beekeeper who has a good income from a large apiary, paying taxes will not cause any difficulties.

Apiary - hard work

Looking at successful beekeepers, some also start breeding bees. This is where many will be disappointed, because in order to make a profit, you need to invest a lot of effort. The apiary needs care all year round. For example, in winter, bees need to be checked periodically. This will ensure that there is enough honey in the hives. If the bees eat it before spring, they have to be fed. Without this, the bees will not be able to survive the cold.

Fork for uncapping honeycombs Lux stainless steel straight needle shaped plastic handle (red)

Unlike winter, in summer the apiary needs more careful control. Next to her will have to spend several months. It is necessary to regularly check the presence and volume of honey in the combs. You need to know that if all the frames are occupied with honey, the bees will have nowhere to carry nectar. But these insects cannot just sit idle. It's built in on an instinctive level. During the period of honey collection, when all the cells are full, the bees can go in search of a new home. It is for this reason that many beekeepers lose bee colonies. After all, it is far from always possible to catch a flying swarm.

The process of extracting honey is considered the most laborious. You need to know that in cloudy weather, the bees are in the hive, protecting the harvest. It is unlikely that they will let you calmly pick up the frames. Usually they go out to the apiary in warm sunny weather. At this time, the bees collect nectar as actively as possible, without being distracted by the beekeeper. Thus, one has to work under the open sun in full uniform. Depending on the size of the apiary, pumping out lasts several days. From morning to evening, you have to work in the heat, wearing a mask, gloves and thick clothes. You can imagine how difficult it is.

European beekeeper's chisel polished 205x50x2 mm with plastic handle

Frames filled with honey are heavy. If you put ten of these frames in a carrier, it becomes almost unbearable. Therefore, the pumping point should be in close proximity to the hives. If the apiary is large, then it is optimal for three people to work on it. One is engaged in the selection of frames, the second carries them to the honey extractor, the third removes the cast and pumps them out. With several hives, you can do it all yourself. Often there are situations, after pumping out the last hive, the first one is already filled with honey. Accordingly, you must immediately begin the process of the second pumping.

Bee stings

Any person can simply be afraid of insect stings. Even modern equipment does not provide one hundred percent protection. When working with hundreds of thousands of bees, there is a possibility of a bite. Often clothes are torn in the process. Insects can easily crawl into a small gap. In addition, aggressive bees are able to “pierce” even dense tissue with their sting. Therefore, for people who have a strong allergic reaction to bee stings, this business is not suitable.

But a healthy person can get used to being bitten. Experienced beekeepers no longer pay attention to this. Many work with minimal protective equipment. For example, only pants, a jacket and a mask are used. They do not use tight shoes and gloves. As a rule, 10-20 bees can sting in an apiary a day. For a healthy person, this is not scary. On the contrary, regular bee stings are good for health.

In general, the bee is able to bite with its mouthparts. But usually a sting is used to protect the family. With its help, the insect releases poison under the skin of a person. Leaving a sting, the bee soon dies. Together with the sting, the so-called miniature pouch remains. If you look closely, while outside the bee, it continues to pulsate. This means that from it the poison continues to be pumped into the skin of a person. Everyone knows that after a bite, the sting must be removed. But you need to do it right. Many simply take the sting with two fingers. But in this case, the sac is pressed down, respectively, all the poison enters the skin. To prevent this, it is recommended to get the sting with tweezers or nails. It should be taken in such a way as not to crush the bag.

Beekeeper mask Apiary

Immediately after the sting penetrates the skin, a person feels a sharp pain. But it goes away after a few seconds. In this place there is a slight redness, which usually disappears the next day. In some situations, the affected area may swell. However, this usually passes quickly. The severity of the consequences is influenced by many factors:

As for help, in some cases it may be needed. For example, if a bee stings a child or a woman on the face or neck. In most cases, this does without consequences, but it will not be superfluous to see a doctor. To relieve bites, you can use folk remedies. For example, improvised means will help to quickly get rid of pain and prevent swelling. It is recommended to anoint the bite site with a cut onion or potato, you can apply ice or a soaked validol tablet.

A bee sting is not the worst thing in the apiary. Since there is a large amount of honey here, it attracts other insects. Often in the immediate vicinity of the apiary, wasps equip their nests. As you know, these insects do not work themselves. They attack the bees, taking their honey. Wasps often sting beekeepers. You can also encounter hornets. The bites of these insects are quite painful. There may be unpleasant consequences. If after such a bite the victim's health worsened, it is recommended to seek medical help.

Breeding bees

The process of breeding bees consists in careful control of this process. Insects reproduce on their own. But one has to watch them.

There are times when a colony is about to change queens. Insects build a special mother liquor. Here, the bees create certain conditions so that not a simple bee, but a queen, emerges from the larva. As long as it develops, the old uterus will continue to produce offspring. As soon as the new one hatches, it will take over this duty. The old queen becomes unnecessary, so the bees kill her. Before they have time to do this, there are two queens in the hive. During this period, one of them can take half of the family to fly away in search of a new place. The beekeeper must keep an eye on this. If he noticed that a new uterus has hatched, it is necessary to destroy the old one yourself.

Many people know the concept of "Swarming". This is the name of the process of division of the colony. This happens when there are too many bees in one hive. In fact, it becomes crowded here for insects. This forces them to look for a new place of residence. A swarm can also fly away if the cells are full. Thus, the bees have nowhere to carry nectar, and the queen has nowhere to sow her eggs.

When checking bees, pay attention to the combs. They are checked for any damage. Honeycombs should be even and beautiful. If this is not the case, the bees may not want to store honey here. For eggs, the uterus also chooses only good combs. Thus, damaged frames do not bring any profit. They just stand there, taking up space in the hive. In such situations, it is necessary to replace the foundation. Usually it is sold in specialized stores. A steel wire is stretched over an empty frame. A wax sheet is attached to it. Using a special tool, the wire is pressed into the wax. You need to know, a new foundation is far from a new honeycomb. This is just their foundation. The bees will have to work here to get full-fledged cells.

When choosing frames for pumping, you need to watch not only for honey, but also for larvae that are not covered with wax. Spinning at high speed in the honey extractor, they fly out and die. You need to know, the larvae, which are already a few days old, are quite large. You can easily see them in honeycombs. But there are also one-day larvae. Due to their small size, it is extremely difficult to see them in the cells. Beginning beekeepers often pump out such frames, destroying future offspring.

The beekeeper must also protect the hives from bad weather and other insects. It is not uncommon for wasps to build their nests under the covers of the hives. They need to be destroyed. Do not forget, like any living creatures, bees need water. Therefore, it is necessary to install containers with water in the apiary, to equip special drinkers. All this is the work of the beekeeper in the summer. If five hives can be dealt with quickly enough, then a hundred beehives require daily attention.

Do's and don'ts

There are beekeepers who have a small apiary, but they sell a lot of honey every year. Often this indicates the dishonesty of the beekeeper. As already mentioned, nectar collection can be poor for various reasons. In such situations, some feed the bees with sugar. To do this, make sugar syrup, which is poured into the hive. In such a situation, the bees do not need to fly anywhere, they process this syrup into honey.

But you need to understand that this product is not natural, because honey is obtained, in which sugar is present. There is a high probability that such a product will ferment. It differs not only in texture, but also in taste. True gourmets, who may be among your customers, can taste the naturalness of honey. There are also several other ways to determine the quality of such a product. For example, the genetic memory of honey will allow you to accurately determine its origin. There are also chemical pencils that accurately determine the sugar content of the product. In addition, diabetics often buy honey, since products containing sugar are forbidden to them. For the life of such people, sugar honey poses a serious danger.

Aluminum jar for honey

If a person ever buys honey with sugar, he will never turn to such a beekeeper again. If you engage in such fraud, all buyers will be lost over time. Forget about this business.

When to pump honey

The nectar collection period falls on the period of flowering of the first trees and flowers. Looking into the hive, you can see that some of the frames are already filled with honey. However, this does not mean that it can be pumped out. You should know that honey in open combs is still in the "cooking" stage. You can not collect such honey, because it can ferment. Honey is considered ripe if the bees have already begun to actively seal it. So, only those frames are taken for pumping out, in which at least a third part is sealed. Ripened honey can be stored for several years. When transfused, it should create a small "slide". This will indicate that the honey is ripe.

During the season honey is pumped several times. It all depends on the weather, the bribe and the specific region. Each race gives you the opportunity to get different honey:

1. As a rule, the first race falls on June. This honey is called May. For its production, bees mainly use the nectar of acacia flowers. May honey is considered the most valuable. Usually it is not much, but the cost of such a product is quite high. And there are no problems with sales. Despite the high price, honey lovers are actively buying it.

2. The second pitching gives the so-called forbs. This is flower honey, which consists of many plants. During this period, the bees collect nectar from absolutely all the flowers that they can find. Forbs are also appreciated. Often such honey is compared with May.

3. Subsequent pumping in our region gives buckwheat and sunflower honey. These are the most common crops. In different fields, they can bloom at different times. Therefore, there is not only the third, but also the fourth pitching. In a good year, the fifth roll is also performed. Sunflower is considered the cheapest honey, but it turns out much more. This product also contains a huge amount of nutrients, so it is no less useful.

Starting from the third swing, the beekeeper has to leave several honey frames in the hive. This is what will be the food for the bees for the winter. Frames that remain intact throughout the summer are completely filled and sealed by the end of the season. Insects will hibernate on them. To determine how many of these frames you need, you need to pay attention to the number of bees. For a hive designed for 20 frames, 4-5 pieces are usually left in the winter.

How to store honey

Properly stored, this product will continue to provide benefits for decades. There is a case in history when a container with honey was found during excavations of Egyptian settlements. After his research, it was found that honey can be eaten. That is why, if the product fails to be sold in the same season, it's okay. Honey can be sold in subsequent years.

An airtight container is recommended for storage. This not only protects the product from the negative effects of air, but also prevents small insects from getting inside. If the lid is poorly closed, ants often enter here. In addition to tightness, it is recommended to store a sweet product at low humidity and a constant temperature. Keeping it in the heat for a long time is not recommended. But honey is not afraid of the cold. It freezes, but at the same time all its useful properties are preserved.

But you need to understand that it is quite difficult to create comfortable conditions for storing honey in the house. Therefore, it is not recommended to store this product for more than five years. Although practice shows that if you sell honey, then even from a large apiary it does not remain for such a long storage. As a rule, everything is sold out in the same season.

Immediately before the sale, honey is packaged in glass jars. This is convenient for piece implementation. Everyone chooses individually which containers to use for storage and transportation. The most common option is aluminum milk cans. Also for these purposes, you can use tanks made of food-grade plastic. Such containers should not be too large. For example, a standard milk can holds 40 liters. Honey is heavier than water, so a full can becomes almost unbearable. In wholesale, you have to load about 20 of these containers per season, which requires incredible effort. You can buy plastic cans of 30 or 20 liters. Such containers are much easier to lift.

Sales of honey

Having learned how to serve a large apiary, the beekeeper wants to make a profit. And the main problem he faces is marketing. An inexperienced person simply does not know where to put the harvest. There are several basic methods used by experienced beekeepers. If you apply them simultaneously, you can achieve good results:

1. At the initial stage, local newspapers, bulletin boards, online communities will help. You need to understand that urban residents appreciate the natural product obtained in the countryside. Practice shows that if honey is liked, the buyer will always turn to this particular beekeeper. Nowadays, many people try to give up sugar as much as possible. Even the usual jam is replaced with honey, buying tens of liters per season.

2. Grocery stores. There is no need to be shy about offering honey to stores, because this will allow you to achieve good earnings. Quite often, stores are ready to take honey, which is already packaged in jars. If the store owner refuses to buy honey from you in order to resell it, you can offer him goods for sale. This means that you need to bring a certain amount of honey, and after selling it, the store will give you the money. This option is also suitable.

3. Rent of a trading place in the market. It is here that there is a high permeability of buyers. Although this option is not suitable for everyone. Firstly, due to the rent of the place and additional expenses, it will be more expensive to sell honey. Secondly, such implementation takes a lot of time.

4. Food factories and bakeries. Today, in the assortment of almost every food and flavor enterprise there are Medoviki cakes. To prepare them, you need a large amount of natural honey. These are the potential buyers. Usually such enterprises buy honey in bulk, but at a lower price. This can be called a last resort. If there is a lot of unsold product left, then it can be sold cheaply to a food flavoring factory.

In general, practice shows that it is enough to inform neighbors and acquaintances about your apiary. Potential buyers can be treated with a small amount of honey. This will allow them to try the product. Such actions are justified, because after tasting honey, a person becomes a regular customer. As a rule, there are no problems with the sale of May honey. Its high cost does not deter true gourmets. Therefore, there is no need to look for buyers for May and flower honey. They usually find the seller themselves. As for an inexpensive product from the last pitches, there are also buyers here. In fact, any type of honey has medicinal properties. For many customers, price is the deciding factor. For example, sunflower is twice cheaper than May.

If there is still plenty of honey left by the end of the summer season, don't worry. During this period, people actively harvest vegetables and fruits for the winter. It can be said that at this time they are not up to honey. Usually, this sweet and healthy product is remembered in the fall, when the rains and colds begin. Throughout the winter, honey will also be popular.

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Additional products

In addition to honey, the apiary can produce many other products that are also of high value. These include:

1. Bee bar. These are wax caps that close honeycombs. They cannot be thrown away. Dentists recommend chewing this honey wax regularly. It strengthens teeth and promotes gum healing. Chewing zabrus for a couple of minutes is equivalent to a full-fledged brushing of the teeth with a brush. Wax is collected, melted and exchanged for new foundation.

2. Propolis. In the hive, it acts as a glue. The bees use it to cover existing gaps. Insects also disinfect cells with propolis before sowing. In folk medicine, this substance is actively used to treat a large number of diseases.

3. Royal jelly. It is produced solely to feed the uterus. The rest of the bees do not need milk. It is used not only in traditional medicine, but also in cosmetology.

4. Perga. This is pollen compressed into small clumps that are placed in honeycombs. This is food for the larvae. Perga can also be eaten by people for the prevention of various diseases.

5. Larval milk. Obtained from drone larvae that reach a certain age. It has the same value as royal jelly.

6. Dead bee. For the season from each hive you can get half a kilogram of dead bees. Decoctions, powders, tinctures are made from them.

The main enemy of the apiary

In addition to mice and wasps, bees have an even more terrible enemy - a tick. The danger lies in the fact that this miniature parasite is almost invisible in the hive. Even an experienced beekeeper finds it with a glance is quite difficult. A beginner will be completely sure that there is no tick. If you do not see the parasite, this does not mean that it does not exterminate the bees.

This is a special type of tick. It does not bite the bee itself, but its main food is tender insect wings. Damaged wings will prevent the bees from flying and collecting nectar. Accordingly, such a bee colony is doomed to death. A bee without wings is not a bee. Therefore, among the main tasks of the beekeeper is the extermination of the parasite.

There are many different preparations available in specialty stores to fight ticks. Many of them are presented in the form of rectangular plastic or wooden plates. They are impregnated with substances that have a toxic effect only on the tick. The bee remains unharmed. In the spring, the plates must be placed in the hives, taking into account the manufacturer's recommendations. Before packing the bees for the winter, they are removed.

Overwintering of bees

Many people bring beehives into some utility rooms. But this can be done with a small apiary. If there are about a hundred hives, there is hardly such a large room to store them. If you properly “pack” the bees, they can easily overwinter on the street.

So, in the hive you need to leave only those frames on which honey was collected throughout the season. They are installed opposite the notch. Moreover, the notch must be covered so that only one bee can climb into the gap. This will protect the hive from a mass attack of wasps that are actively looking for food with a cold snap. On both sides, the frames are closed with wooden partitions. All empty frames are removed from the hive, they are not needed here. The upper part of the frames is covered with ceiling boards.

The entire structure should then be carefully covered with newspaper. It is the newspaper that retains heat well and absorbs the available moisture. The newspaper must be covered not only from above, but also on the sides. Then you need foam. Its recommended thickness is 5 centimeters. A piece of the required size is cut out so that it fits tightly into the hive, supporting the structure on both sides. Then all this is covered from above with a dense mattress. And only after that the hive is covered with a lid.

Letok should remain open throughout the winter, so that the bees have the opportunity to fly outside at any time. Do not worry that insects will freeze because of the open notch. In addition to the insulation created by the beekeeper, the bees have the ability to warm themselves. In the hive they gather into a ball. At this moment, the lower bees on the frame are warming up. Periodically, this ball turns, and the bees that were on top of the ball gradually find themselves under it. So it was their turn to warm up.

Practice shows that in winter the bees are not so afraid of frost as the lack of food. Therefore, you should not feel sorry for the honey frames left for wintering. This is the only way the family will be able to survive until spring, in order to please the beekeeper with a new harvest of honey.

Breeds of bees

Surely every beginner beekeeper is interested in what breeds of bees are the most productive. But there is no definite answer here. To get one or another species, you must order the uterus of this breed in a specialized store. There are several main breeds. For example, the "Carpathian" bee is able to please with a good bribe. But you have to order a uterus of this type through intermediaries. Yes, and one such uterus will cost 2000-3000 rubles. For a beginner beekeeper, this is quite expensive.

In general, it is hardly worth buying breeds brought from afar. It is not known how they will behave in a different climate. It is recommended to look at bees that are adapted to certain conditions. Therefore, it is better to give preference to local breeds. Of course, in the future it is worth trying to start new breeds. But this is done as experiments, when the main apiary is already quite well developed.

Approximate calculations

It is extremely difficult to determine in advance the profitability of this business. It depends on many factors. For example, if you buy all the equipment in a store, the investment will be large. Independent production of hives and frames will significantly reduce financial costs. There is also no way to determine how favorable the upcoming season will be. And after the first season, the picture is unlikely to clear up. After all, one year can be very different from another. Therefore, all calculations will be extremely approximate.

A bee colony located on frames 5-8 will cost about 2500 rubles. A used hive costs 1000 rubles. A handmade honey extractor can be purchased for 1500 rubles. As for uniforms, you can find old thick clothes at home, use winter gloves. But you will have to buy a special mask. Its cost is 300-500 rubles. A standard hive is designed for 16-20 frames. Therefore, acquired bees are not yet considered a full-fledged family. As the number develops and increases, more wax frames will need to be added. It's about 500 more. Carrying can be constructed from improvised means. Instead of a special chisel, you can use a regular screwdriver. For a start, this will be enough. If we consider the minimum, then the first hive with a working family will cost 5000-6000 rubles.

Now you need to calculate what you can get from one hive. So, a good family gives:

Thus, one hive during the honey season can produce 40-60 liters of honey. In the harvest year, this volume can increase significantly. Considering the price of different types of honey, you can get 15,000-25,000 rubles from one hive. And this is with an investment of 6000 rubles. The benefit is obvious. In this case, only one hive was calculated. A beginner will have 3-5 pieces. You can put more of them. The standard apiary of an experienced beekeeper has 80-100 hives.

Of course, there will be no time to work with such volumes somewhere else. Although this is not necessary. Such an apiary can provide a comfortable life for the whole family. That is why the business is called a family business. Many are trying to hire workers. But this is not always justified. For example, an outsider can be trusted to carry carriers, do trimming, and other mechanical work. But only the owner should directly monitor the development of bees. It is hardly worth entrusting such a responsible matter to someone else.


Pollination by honey bees | geomed

Reading time: 6 minutes 44 seconds. Post views: 1767

The practice of using bees to pollinate fruit crops is as new as beekeeping in most parts of tropical Africa, although the practice has begun in a few places in northern and southern Africa. This short chapter explains how farmers can put this to great use.

Bees collect large quantities of nectar from flowers to produce honey to feed themselves and pollen to feed their young. During the collection process, the insect pollinates thousands of different plants, including edible and cash crops.

In many parts of the world, the food available has the same variety and nutritional value. If the less fortunate parts of the world improve their diets to include more meat, dairy products, fruits and vegetables, there will be a need for a significant increase throughout the world, not only of crops pollinated by bees, but also of bees and beekeepers in order to continue pollination and, in particular, , to expand knowledge and understanding of what a powerful force in food production and human nutrition is the activity of bees.

In the US and Africa, many crops depend on wind for pollination, including cereals such as millet, sea corn, maize and rice. Plantain, cocoyam and yams also do not need insects for their pollination. But most legumes; cash crops such as coffee, kola nut, cocoa, coconut, palm, cashew and shea butter; fruits such as mango and citrus; and many other plants cannot be pollinated without insects.

Insects collect the nectar and pollen of several thousand species of plants and, in doing so, pollinate a variety of crops essential to the survival of life. While bees may visit many plant species in a day, a forager may also visit a single plant continuously, sometimes for several days, until there is no nectar or pollen left to collect.

Pollen is a vital food for honey bee brood. The bee in the hive needs it, but the flower also needs the bee to fertilize it. The bright color and sweet smell of the flower attract insects. The honey bee, which has a strong sense of smell and keen eyesight, easily attracts the flower. In the process of collecting nectar and pollen, he accidentally transfers pollen from the male organs of the flower, anthers, to the female organ, the stigma. Pollen germinates and penetrates into the ovaries of the plant, where seeds are formed.

The honey bee begins to forage between 5:00 and 5:15 am. The flight usually depends on the weather and temperature. The honey bee will not leave the hive if the temperature is below 14°C or if the wind speed exceeds 30 kilometers per hour. Therefore, for pollination to be effective, pollination must take place in warm, clear weather, but too much heat has the same adverse effects as too much cold. In hot, dry and windy weather, the stigma of the flower can dry out and the deposited pollen will not germinate. Pollen may also not be available in continuous rainy conditions, as there are usually few flowers during the rainy season. Thus, in areas with frequent rains, there are few flowers for bee activity.

The honey bee is the only insect that can be successfully moved from farm to farm. It is estimated that five average colonies (about 50,000 bees each) can manage a two-hectare plantation. This is achieved by moving the colonies and placing them next to the farm.

How to move bees

The beekeeper should carefully study the temperament of his bees and keep a record of the seasons when they are friendly or aggressive in his area, because at certain times of the year the bees can be easily transported without precautions against aggression and stings.

The motorized truck is an indispensable tool for the professional beekeeper. Bees cannot move under load. The top bar hive cannot be transported long distances on bad roads or roads, so hives that need to be transported frequently must be equipped with movable frames. The hives should have a ventilation hole about two centimeters in diameter, covered with a mosquito net. Their bottom board should be covered with thermite paint.

Hives must be light enough to be easily loaded and unloaded. Covered combs should be removed to save weight, and uncovered combs should be left in the hive. Before loading the hives, inspect and close any unwanted openings with wood and wax, as they can cause problems if bees crawl out of them and accumulate outside the hive. However, bees tend to silently congregate in moving vehicles and rarely attempt to fly away or cause harm until the traffic stops.

In general, riding bees at night is not that difficult. The hives should be loaded in the evening when most of the bees have returned from feeding. Bees that have accumulated at the entrance are smoked to drive them into the hive. The entrance is then hermetically sealed and a vent opens to allow air to circulate through the hive. Hives can be placed one above the other. They must be neatly and tightly packed and secured with a tracer rope. Moving and setting up the hives should take place at night: the hives should be unloaded and set up before sunrise because the bees will be ready to leave soon after. To facilitate work at night, it is useful to use a flashlight with a red bulb or covered with red cellophane, because the bees cannot detect red light and therefore are not disturbed.

Pollination programs

Gardeners should be encouraged to keep their own bees so that their crops are properly pollinated. Producers who, for whatever reason, do not wish to keep bees should be advised to use the services of a beekeeper who has families that can move for this purpose.

In order for a pollination program to work successfully, it is important that the farmer and beekeeper work closely together because both play an important role. call before he needs the bees (if there are few bees, a few months' notice may be required), the farmer should contact the beekeeper for detailed arrangements. At this time, they must agree on a number of points, and it is often recommended that the agreement be written into a simple contract. Among the things they need to agree on, perhaps the most important are:

1. Number and number of provided colonies. Rented colonies must be breeding colonies with at least four broods;

2. Terms of delivery and removal of colonies;

3. Distribution of hives on the farm;

4. Commission and payment schedule. This is negotiable and depends on a number of factors, including proximity and transport costs, the quantity and quality of honey produced from the crop, and the risks, if any, associated with the operation. Because the beekeeper may expect two different benefits from the operation, he must be prepared to charge moderate prices;

5. Ownership of honey produced. Usually the honey belongs to the beekeeper. Otherwise, his fee is likely to be higher;

6. Producer's right to check that colonies are healthy. However, the producer should never attempt to open the hives without the consent of the beekeeper. Colonies can simply be inspected by counting the number of foragers who have returned: on a warm, clear day during the flowering period, 100 bees returning to the hive within one minute are generally considered very good;

7. Restrictions on the use of insecticides or pesticides that are toxic to bees, not only during the lease period, but also for a certain period before it begins. This is important because the farmer owes not only to the beekeeper, but also to himself, to make sure that the colonies are strong and therefore he does not kill the bees with the misuse of pesticides;

8. Precautions against forest fires;

9. Liability for accidental bee stings, vandalism, damage to livestock and theft of hives.

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