Bee Keeping

admin — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 01:13:00 +0000

Bee keeping is a great hobby that will allow you to reap some great rewards from it. This is how we get the raw honey that many people like to have with a various number of foods or drinks and even in some medicine. Honey is not the only reward that we can receive from bee keeping. We can also obtain bee wax and bee pollen that are used in many different types of items that we use on an everyday basis. One of the first things that you want to consider when thinking of bee keeping is whether you or any member of your family is allergic to bees. If the answer is no, then you can go ahead and start your new hobby. This is a very important question as many people are so allergic that it can place them in the hospital or even become fatal if stung. Getting a started in bee keeping, you do not need to spend a lot of money. You can start your hobby with one hive for around $300 dollars. This is plenty for you to get started with. If you wish, you can expand later and purchase more hives and bees to keep your hobby flourishing. You also do not need a lot of space to have as your hobby area. You want to choose an area somewhere in your yard but far enough from your home that you feel comfortable with. One thing to consider is if you are permitted to keep bees in your local area. Some areas may have laws or ordinances against it. Now, where to get the bees from? There are three ways for you to obtain the bees that you need. You may get them from an existing colony, a nucleus, or a swarm. Of these three methods, the one that will cost you the most is that of obtaining an existing colony. This can usually be done by purchasing them from established beekeepers and supply stores. A nucleus is where a queen bee and several hundred worker bees have left a hive to form their own colony. Obtaining a swarm of bees is by far the most dangerous of the three methods but is also the cheapest. To get swarm you must first locate it. Hives are usually found hanging from the branches of trees. Once you have located a hive, place a box below the hive and shake the branch firmly until the hive falls inside. When you have done this, turn the box upside down and place a stick under the box to allow any scout bees to get back to the hive. The scout bees are the ones that search the area for suitable homes for the colony. Now that we have our hives and the bees, we can start our hobby of bee keeping. There are many techniques that are used for handling bees and retrieving raw honey. It is recommended that you research and know what to do before going headfirst. Providing honey and bee's wax for people that need it is a very rewarding sensation and is a great hobby for anyone that can handle it. Mail this post

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Bee Hives and Proper Handling

admin — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 00:41:57 +0000

When talking about bee hives and raw honey people often think of having to scale a tree to get them. This is often not the case as several professional bee keepers have popped up around the globe and have their hives at ground level. This makes extracting honey from the hive easier, and safer. There is however still the risk of getting stung, but at least you don't have to worry about breaking your neck. Bee hives have been the primary source of raw honey since the dawn of recorded history. Archeologists have found cave paintings of people climbing trees to get honey out of suspended hives in various locations. History does not tell us when we started domesticating bees but we do know that we were actively practicing it around 2400 BC. Historical evidence shows that early bee keepers used logs, pottery, and even baskets for bee's to build their colonies in and raise young. Early beekeepers had to use crude methods of obtaining honey from bee colonies that they tended. In most cases, they suppressed the bees with smoke then smashed into the hive and ripped out the honeycombs. These were then mashed up and the honey was mixed with the larval eggs, the material of the honeycomb itself, and then crudely strained. This worked in getting the honey but destroyed the hive completely. Luckily, bee hives have evolved considerably since those times and extracting the raw honey does not harm the colony. Modern bee farmers use slide out hives that have a comb like structure that can easily be emptied, and then replaced. This ensures that the bee colony will be safe, and can produce more honey later. Honey that's harvested is then run through a complex system of filters to make sure it's clean, and safe for consumption. Until the 18th century, we didn't really know much about bees. What we did know revolved around superstition, folklore, and old wives tales. Scientists at the time had had enough of this and started actively dissecting and analyzing bee hives, bees, and the raw honey they produced. This laid the foundation for what we know about bees today. Insect behavior is quite complicated, even though it appears simple. Bees communicate with body language, pheromones, and sometimes a combination of the two. This can lead to some interesting activity if you have a colony with a glass window. People have been observing bees and other insects like this for decades and it never ceases to fascinate the curious mind. Not only do bees produce honey, but they are essential to the ecosystem of our planet. These sometimes-tiny insects can pollinate many hundreds of flowers in a day. These flowers then support a myriad of other insect and animal life that makes up our food chain. Even the smallest of bugs can have an insurmountable impact on our planet. At the moment, bee hives are still the only source of raw honey we have. Sure, you can try to imitate it with artificial flavors but nothing comes close to the real thing. Honey is an integral part of breakfasts across the globe and many start their day with it. It also has many medical properties that make it highly sought after. Mail this post

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Bee Keeping

Bee Hives and Proper Handling