Beekeeping - Part II

Your First Year with Bees

“My son, eat thou honey, because it is good; and the honeycomb, which is sweet to thy taste.” – Proverbs 24:13

                In order to get ready for your bees, you must first plan your apiary site. Things to consider are dependable nectar sources (bees travel approximately 12 square miles), fresh water sources, and avoiding areas that flood. When you place your hives, you should situate them so they face the morning sun. This wakes the bees up earlier in the morning and can deter hive beetles who like the darkness. You should also consider how easy it is for you to access your site and how the location might affect your neighbors.

                Purchasing your bees will require research. There are many different varieties of bees (Russian, Italian, Hybrids, etc.). Each variety has its own temperaments and pros/cons. Usually, bees are purchased as a 3 lb. package with a queen. Surprisingly, the reason why the queen is shipped in its own little box is because it is not related to the other bees. She comes with several attendant bees who feed on the queen candy and produce royal jelly for her to eat. This tiny box has an entrance/exit hole plugged with a cork and queen candy. This is sometimes fondant or another hard, sugary substance. Be sure to hang this between two frames with the hole facing skyward so the queen will be able to exit the box even if her attendant bees should die. This separation period allows her pheromones to permeate throughout the hive and for the others to have time to accept her.

                Bees can be purchased in a nuc (a mini-hive with only 3-5 frames) with a queen or in a package that you end up shaking over a regular hive. There are usually 10-12,000 bees in this small package. Queens can also be sold separately. Be sure to order your bees early because they start shipping out in mid-April here in zone 6.

Shipment Package for Bees

Courtesy of PlanterTomato.com

                After setting up the hive and installing your bees, you will need to set up a feeder until they find sources of food on their own. This can be as simple as an inverted mason jar filled with syrup (one part table sugar to one part water). Poke a few tiny holes in the lid so the syrup can dribble out. Be sure to check on this often as they can drain a quart a day sometimes. You will know when you can stop feeding because they will quit draining the jar.

Homemade bee feeder

Courtesy of GardenPlotter.com

A healthy queen will start laying within 24 hours. After 10 days, you should start to see capped brood cells. By 3 weeks time, you will see developed worker bees emerging from the brood frames. When examining your frames, remove the second frame from the outside and work in. This keeps you from smashing your bees that are hanging on the outside frame. Be sure to put them back in the same order and the same orientation.

Beekeeping - Part I

And thou shalt write upon them all the words of this law, when thou art passed over, that thou mayest go in unto the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee, a land that floweth with milk and HONEY; as the LORD God of thy fathers hath promised thee. - Deuteronomy 27:3

Although bees are not native to North America and technically therefore an invasive species, many people enjoy raising them. What other livestock can you raise 100,000 head in such a small space? Tinier than any other animal on the farm, but they are much smarter than any chicken or sheep. They exemplify teamwork, steadfastness, and personal sacrifice for the common good.  

I have been attending beekeeping classes at the local university; three hours per session and a three part series. I would like to start keeping bees this year but need to watch my schedule. Beekeeping, much like chicken rearing, is a process of learning that should not be taken lightly. I learned much about my chickens just by sitting outside and watching them for hours at a time. The more time you spend with your animals, the easier it is to recognize sickness, the foods they desire, and pecking orders. I have come to recognize vitamin deficiencies by watching them eat certain plants and what I deem inedibles. Bees are no different.

When I start beekeeping, I want to sit outside and study them for hours. One of the things that amazed me during class was the rainbow colors of pollen. Bees will only gather from one species of plant every trip and pack that into its own waxy cell.

Different colors of pollen - Courtesy of The Vintage Bee Company

As to what kind of beehive, ­­­Robo at Bushkill Farms has a wonderful analysis on his youtube channel and his blog. You can find him at http://robo.bushkillfarms.com. Although, I am drawn to the top bar hive due to its cheap status and hippy-ish design (it was created for the people of Africa to house bees who have no access to traditional lumber as we know it); I am also interested in the Langstroth hive for its traditionalism and ability to stack supers on top of one another. Once I get started on this project, I may just have to try both! One of the great things about the Langstroth hive is the ability to integrate a Freeman Beetle Trap which is becoming a rather big problem here in the South. 

Langstroth Hive - Courtesy of NC State University 

Top Bar Hive - Courtesy of The Garden Hive

Freeman Beetle Trap in Action

A super is a box where surplus honey is stored by the hive. Boxes are added as needed and removed during the honey harvest. For those that are small-framed women, the Langstroth honey supers can prove too heavy to safely lift but there are options. Supers come in three sizes: shallow (approx. 35 lbs. full), medium or Illinois super (50 lbs.) and the traditional deep (90 lbs.). I will mostly be sticking to the shallows and mediums. It will probably not occur your first year, but during the second, you may be stacking your supers way over your head. Balancing heavy boxes full of bees and honey on a ladder may not be the best situation.

Courtesy of the University of Missouri

Beekeeping links:      

http://beekeeperlinda.blogspot.com

www.beesource.com      

www.beekeeping.com/articles/us/small_beekeeping/index.htm

http://www.freemanbeetletrap.com/