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Raw Honey and its Many Uses

admin — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 01:50:32 +0000

Raw honey is one of the most sought after products on the market to date. Although it can be gathered from certain flowers and other insects the main source of honey is bee keeping. Bee keepers will have acres of large bee colonies in order to meet the consumption demands of the world. Everyone loves honey with breakfast, but it has many medical uses as well. Raw honey is one of the best sweeteners available at the moment, and has been for centuries. It is unburdened by processing, and needs no additives to achieve its sweetness. It is mainly 38 percent fructose, and 31 percent glucose. People love to use it as an alternative sweetener and the demand for it makes bee keeping a very profitable industry. Bees secrete the honey as a form of food to use during the winter months when other sources run low. A typical beehive has one queen, a few hundred males, and up to forty thousand female workers. There are many types of honey and the taste is determined by the flower the nectar came from. Most common honey that you buy in stores is a blended variety coming from several different flowers. Raw honey is taken from most modern bee hives simply by pulling out a wooden slide that has a comb structure built into it. This structure is used by the bees to store the honey so all one has to do is drain it and reinsert it. This leaves the colony intact and only the extra honey is taken. After all taking all the honey would leave none for the bees and a dead bee hive would be bad for bee keeping. Another application that some believe raw honey has is allergy relief. Some people believe that ingesting honey that hasn't been filtered and still has traces of the sealing wax, and other materials can increase allergy resistance. Food agencies have yet to determine if this actually works or not. Regardless bee keeping is a very busy job, and protecting oneself is important. Bee keepers will wear complete screen suits when they walk around their bee hives. Even though they aren't directly threatening the bees there's still the chance of being stung. Of course even with the use of the latest protection one or two stings still manage to get through. Most domesticated bees aren't overly aggressive, but if you threaten their colony you may have a problem on your hands. When trying to get raw honey from a natural hive in the wilderness you run two risks. Number one you are climbing a tree so you could break your neck. Number two if you disturb the hive when everyone is home you may not make it out alive. This is why bee keeping is a safer alternative to natural gathering. Regardless of if you want raw honey for food, or for medical purposes chances are you're not going to get it out of a tree. Most honey that is in stores now is made via bee keeping and is perfectly safe to eat. It's good on everything from biscuits to pancakes, and makes a great sweetener for hot drinks. Some people have even used it to treat burns in emergency cases. Mail this post

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Beekeeping Equipment that all Apiary Managers Must Have

admin — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 01:43:19 +0000

Beekeeping is a hobby for some people and it has become a career for others. If you are going to be working with these insects you will definitely need the proper beekeeping equipment before you begin. It is important that you have all of the necessary bee equipment in place prior to the delivery of your bee colonies. A Place for Bees to Stay You have to have the right type of beehive for honeybees. Be sure to place the beehives in areas where pets and humans will be less likely to come in contact with them. The hives need to be protected from strong winds as well. Each of the hives must contain 5 supers. These are the areas where the honey is going to be stored and it also serves as the nursery for the new generations of bees. Beehive supers will contain 9 or 10 individual frames, and they can be either shallow or deep. The deeper supers are convenient bee equipment items because you are only required to buy foundations that are one size. However the disadvantage involves the weight of these deep supers once they are full of honey. Each super can weigh 100 pounds or more when it is full. Bee Equipment Includes Your Personal Gear Anyone who is involved in apiary work needs the right kind of protective garments. A veiled head-cover, gloves and a beekeeper jacket are all useful items to have. There is also a full body suit available that offers beekeepers complete protection from head to toe. Choosing the right beekeeping equipment for your personal needs to be one of your top considerations. Spacers and Smokers Spacers and smokers are necessary beekeeping equipment that you will need to have on hand. The smoker will be used less often than the spacers but both are critical to the success of your endeavor. The articles of bee equipment known as spacers are relatively simple items. These are used to maintain equal spacing between the frames in the super. A smoker is another essential piece of beekeeping equipment. Smokers are used mostly when it is time to harvest the honey from the hives. The parts of a smoker include bellows, a funnel and a chamber that is used for combustion. The bellows helps you keep the fire going in the combustion chamber. You can use the funnel to aim the smoke directly into the hive to make the bees leave while you complete the harvesting. Metal Hive Tool This tool is best described as your all in one bee equipment assistant. It has a special design that allows it to be used to open the hives, perform frame scraping tasks and even assists in separating the components within the hive. Bee Brush You should not consider that you have all of the beekeeping equipment necessary unless you have included a small bee brush in your tally. This brush helps you move the bees aside when you need to check the frames or perform other hive related duties. Fumer Board This is a piece of beekeeping equipment that helps you get the bees out of the hive. If you want to remove the honeycombs a fumer board is what you need to get the job done. This useful beekeeping equipment has been impregnated with chemicals that act as a safe bee repellent. Mail this post

Technorati Tags: Bee Hives, beekeeping, beekeeping equipment, honey bees

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

Technorati Tags: Bee Hives, beekeeping, beekeeping equipment, honey bees