Beekeeping Kit

A bee keeping kit is the most important part of beekeeping. You will need all the protective gear and honey removing apparatus that you can get to give you sweet, sugary honey. It is a sweet source of nutrition and income for the whole family.

The basic bee keeping kits come with a hive that has its own specialties according to the one you order, a swarm box or catch box, beekeeping protective wear (that is, a veil and a suit), a hive tool, a smoker with a heater guard, PVC gloves with material arms and elbows, queen excluder and a bee brush.

The uses of each of the above items that are included in a bee keeping kit are as follows:

* The hive is where your bees are going to stay and make honey
* The swarm box is used to collect bees and keep them there
* Protective gear is a must if you want to avoid getting stung badly by the bees. Of especial use is the veil that keeps you head out of reach of the bees.
* A hive tool to a beekeeper is like a hammer to a carpenter. It is used to open hives, pry frames apart, scrape the wax and propolis from the hive parts.
* A smoker is useful to keep the bees at bay. The smoke when injected in the hive can make the bees think that there is a fire. So, they store up the honey in themselves and are less likely to bite you.
* A queen excluder, as the name suggests, is to exclude the queen bee from the other bees.
* PVC gloves are a part of the protective gear.
* The bee brush is used to brush bees away from the frame where you want to work. It gently moves the bees out of the way.

Along with a bee keeping kit you will need bees, too, if you are intent upon beekeeping! You can get them from a local beekeeper association or a vendor. There are some other things that you must keep in mind. You should be ready with all the equipment before you get the bees home. You should always keep referring to good beekeeping books and magazines to update your knowledge. Make a journal for keeping records of bee activities, the plants growing in the area and the important dates such as when the hives were medicated and the honey is harvested.

You should also have the phone and address of the local beekeepers association and the names and numbers of other beekeepers. If your budget allows you get some bee-sting cream, butane lighter for the smoker, a five gallon bucket with a cloth caddy to hold the tools, a sweatband, blank labels for jars and a honey recipe book.

As you advance in your beekeeping practices, you can take other tools and equipment that you may think suitable. Usually this basic bee keeping kit can last you long. You may not need replacements. Beekeeping is a profitable occupation that gives you honey and wax for sale. You can have the honey for your family too and still be able to sell. That's the beauty of it all. You can gain a lot from beekeeping besides sheer enjoyment.

Beekeeping For Beginners

Keeping a bee as a pet in a house, might be an unusual idea for most of us. However, there are many people involved in a beekeeping program and earning bucks regularly. Beekeeping is now been considered as one of the profitable business. Beeswax and honey are the two major products extracted from beekeeping. Apart from this, some people are in beekeeping just as a hobby. Today anyone can start his/her own beekeeping farm. There are lots of sources available on beekeeping for beginners, which can guide you through entire process.

Before you start with a beekeeping program, there are certain things that need to be considered. Every program on beekeeping for beginners first introduces you about beehives, bee’s behavior, their working environment etc. Below are some basics that should be followed while you purchase beehives.

• An ideal beehive should be square and must include at least 10 comb frames separated equally by five supers. The dimensions of such beehives are 18 5/6" X 14 15/16” and at least 6 ½” deep.
• It should be covered properly; by a sturdy bottom board and hive cover.
• The cells of beehives should be free of any brood diseases.
• These cells should be appropriate in size so that the larva will grow comfortably.
• The surrounding of beehives has to be free from attacking moths and wax eating moths.

In a beekeeping for beginners programs, the experts also provide detailed information on which kind of protectors need to be used while rearing bees for production. Today’s modern beekeeping suit includes gloves, veil, hooded suit and a hat. This suit is specially designed to use while collecting honey from bee combs. Bees have natural tendency to sting anyone who approaches to their comb. That is why; even if you are rearing bees, they will attack you to protect their comb. Although beekeeping is a bit difficult and needs lot of time, one should maintain beehive properly and protect it from various bee diseases to retain the product quality.

Once you get clear knowledge of bee working, your next step is to collect honey and wax from them. If you participate in a beekeeping for beginners program, you will get a clear idea of extracting instruments used in this profession. Bee brush, bee escape boards, bee blower are some handy equipments used to separate bees from frames. There are different methods used to take out honey from the combs. You can do it by hands or can use large extractor, usually made of aluminum to save the time. While extracting honey from a comb some times wax capping also comes along with honey. To remove such wax capping, electrically heated knife is commonly used.

Another great benefit of getting enrolled in a beekeeping for beginners program is you meet many experienced beekeepers. They can give you easy and handy tips on how to grow business? How you can take care of your bees? Which are common bee diseases and which effective medicines to be used?

Alternatively, it’s up to you whether you want to be beekeeper just as a hobby or you really want to earn money. Through a beekeeping for beginners program you can have better opportunities.

Beekeeping As A Business

Beekeeping as a business serves rural people in developing countries and is their major source of income and nutrition. Beekeeping is considered a sustainable form of agriculture as well as it is advantageous to the environment. This business can help people overcome the economic and social problems in the rural areas. In the last few years, there has been an intense development in beekeeping as a business. Earlier people used to keep bees as their hobby, but nowadays, commercialization has made it a business. You will find many professional beekeepers in your city.

Beekeeping as a business can offer people:

* economic solutions and a reliable source of income
* constructive economic growth
* sources of nutrition

Nowadays, beekeeping as a business is considered among one of the most beneficial businesses. One of the most significant features of this business is that there is a high demand for beeswax and honey in the international market. The export market is waiting for beeswax and other honey products, only the thing is that the export market requires top quality honey. Other hive products are also considered for marketing and the bees themselves as packages and queens also have a huge demand in the export market. In this way, beekeeping as a business is one of the most beneficial businesses.

If you want to lead your business of beekeeping to the pinnacle of success, you will have to get expertise in many fields, such as quality, range and potential of the products that can easily meet the requirements of the global customers. Although this business does not require any difficult processing methods, it is advisable to get thorough information in order to make your business of beekeeping more successful.

Many families maintain bee keeping as a business with the help of some workers. Micro-enterprise is a term related to this business, which generally refers to family businesses that are operated in the informal sectors. The micro-enterprises can provide a modest living and income for millions of workers and their families.

Beekeeping as a business can meet difficulties and challenges that many developing countries are facing currently. According to a survey, beekeeping business is one of the most dynamic economic sectors and it is growing at the rate of approximately up to 15% every year. Beekeeping as a business is highly flourishing in many African countries as there are a lot of bees markets where beeswax and other products are sold in a huge quantity. Many African countries have maintained this business as a tradition for a long time.

The joy of the beekeeping as a business is that it does not require costly ongoing aid. It does not require a large amount to start the business, only the thing required is thorough information as well as your interest and dedication. In this way, to become a successful beekeeper you will have to understand your bees well as well as what they require from you. While starting your business you will have to think about the place of your hive colony. According to many experts, the best place to set up hive colony is near the area where oilseed rapes are grown.

Beekeeping Facts

Beekeeping involves the cultivation of bees for production of honey and beeswax on a commercial scale. Beekeeping is very similar to farming. Most people take up beekeeping as a hobby. The origins of beekeeping are still a mystery. In some caves in Africa and Spain archaeologists have discovered drawings that depict people collecting honey. In ancient times artificial beehives were made out of clay vases, pottery, straw baskets and bowls.

There are various courses offered that tell us about different bee keeping supplies. Beekeeping is generally dependent on the activity of bees and they produce honey. Bees produce honey in only certain climates and temperatures.

Bee keepers should have enough knowledge about maintaining beehives. Here is some information on beehives along with advice about purchasing a beehive:

- A beehive consists of a bottom board and hive cover that has five supers in between. Every super includes of nine to ten frames of comb in which the young ones are placed along with honey and pollen. It must be square and should be tight. The dimensions from inside should be 18 5/6" by 14 15/16" by either 9 5/8" or 6 1/2" deep.
- The dark brood combs should properly checked to ensure that there are no moths attacking the frames, eating pollen and wax and from sticking the frames with webbing.
- Bee hives can be purchased either with the bees in them or without bees.
- Also make sure that you are purchasing the equipment at a fair price.

Introduction to bee keeping supply provides knowledge about the proper clothing such as gloves, hooded suit, veil and hat. Beekeepers usually wear protective clothing while collecting honey from the beehive. It is very important to wear a veil or a hooded suit to avoid stings from the bees. These protective clothing are usually light in color and are made up from a very smooth material.

Beekeeping is a very tedious, hard and time consuming work so it very important to have knowledge about bee keeping supply. They should have knowledge about the different types of beekeepers such as:

- Commercial beekeepers are the type of beekeeper who involve in beekeeping to earn. Beekeeping is their primary source of income.
- Sideliner beekeepers also engage in beekeeping but it for them beekeeping is the secondary source of income.
- Hobbyist are those beekeepers who do beekeeping as a hobby. For them beekeeping is not a source of income.

There are three castes of bees namely a queen, worker bee and male drones found in the colony of bee. A queen bee is generally the only female in the colony of bee while there are large number of worker bees around 30,000 to 50,000 in a single beehive. In spring the number of male drones ranges from thousands to only few in cold season. The queen bee usually lives for three or more years. A single queen bee is capable of laying thousands of eggs in her lifetime. In the breeding season a queen bee can lay up to 3,00 eggs in a single day.

Beekeeping Equipment

Beekeeping involves the rearing of bees for production of wax and honey on a commercial scale. Beekeeping is done in special wooden boxes known as hives. The hives are wooden boxes that can be opened from one side; they are also fitted with bars. Knowledge derived from books is not sufficient for beekeeping, this activity requires skill and practical experience. It takes years of experience for learning beekeeping and to get acquainted with the handling bee keeping equipment. Beekeeping is a time consuming and tedious task even if it looks exciting.

There are various ways and methods through which beekeeping can be practiced. Top bar method it the most ancient and commonly used technique throughout the globe. It is popular because it is simple to maintain and cost effective. It does not have any complex mechanism and consists of only few parts. Another technique is the Langstroth bee hive which consists of several boxes (also known as supers) and other parts in the bee hive. But in comparison with the top bar technique this method is relatively complex.

Following are some of the basic bee keeping equipment:

- Bee keeping wooden hives are the basic equipment used for beekeeping where the bees are kept. Hive stand helps to support the bee hive. Nowa dayssingle chambered bee hives are also available.
- Honey processing plant is the machine used for the processing of raw honey and removing the impurities like wax, water, pollen etc from the raw honey. It is a eco friendly and easy to handle instrument.
- Honey extractor is another useful instrument which helps to the extract the honey from the impurities. It has filter screen by which the honey can be extracted easily and the honey flows from the bottom holes into the extractor.
- Hive tools are instruments, which are well suited for the wooden hives and are made of steel. They are used by most of the experts and professionals. It helps in separation of the scraping fumes and supers.
- Hand operated roller is the bee keeping equipment which helps you to produce foundations of wax comb. This is the most economical and instrument which is available in small and medium sizes.
- Smokers are steel equipment which generate smoke that is needed to calm down the bees while removing honey or wax.
- Wax sheets provide a foundation for the bees to work faster and increase the amounts of yields.
- Needles are t common equipment which are used to separate impurities from the honey. However, they are not efficient in comparison with the Honey processing plant.
- Frame gripper is a useful tool which helps to remove the frames from the bee hives.
- Queen cage are the unique equipment where the queen bee can be placed. These instruments can be fitted easily in the hives.
- Queen cell protector helps to protect against chew down.
- Gloves are special equipment which helps to protected the hands of the beekeepers from bites of bees.
- Brush, wasp trap, pollen trap, honey tray, uncapping knife are also some of the commonly used bee keeping tools.

Before using the bee keeping equipment you should have a proper knowledge of their handing to get the best results.

Backyard Beekeeping

Many beekeepers in urban and suburban areas have kept bees in their backyards. You will surprised to see bee hives on roof tops. Bees have the ability to travel several miles in order to collect pollen and nectar, therefore they do not require flowering plants nearby. As there are plenty of flowers in suburbs, bees do not find it difficult to make a very good collection of honey.

It is essential that backyard beekeeping be done in a proper manner so that it does not become a big nuisance to their neighbors. If special care is not taken, beekeeping might give rise to problems for your neighbors, especially if they have pets or kids. Bee stings will probably be your neighbors’ biggest concern, therefore when it come to backyard beekeeping, some precautions should be taken so that your neighbors feel comfortable and safe with your activities.

If you have decided to keep bees, then fencing the backyard is very important. Normally a 6 feet high fence is sufficient and can serve many purposes. Fencing forces the bees to fly above people's head. Bees prefer to travel in a straight path and a fence helps in raising their flight paths over everyone's head. Fencing can also decrease the chance of a bee accidentally colliding with someone who is walking nearby. A fence can also hides the evidence that you are managing bees in the neighborhood

Honey bees require a lot of water particularly during summer and in early spring. They can simply go anywhere to collect water. They may also drink water from your neighbor's swimming pool or your pet's drinking bowl. So, to deter them from doing such things, you should make some arrangements of water for the bees right near to their hives.

One of the easiest ways to provide water to the bees is by starting a water garden in a whiskey barrel that has a floating plant. Your bees will simply love this arrangement as they like well-aged water. Your water source should not very near to their hive; it should be minimum 20 feet away.

Swarms can also cause problems to your neighbors; hence, it is necessary to prevent swarming. A swarm is a cluster of bees that is within 100 to 150 feet of their old home. They form a cluster for searching a new home. 'Bait hives' is the best possible solution to discourage swarming. Bait hives are attractive homes that are waiting for your bees to discover. A new hive or old hive body can be effectively used to make a bait hive. The old hive should have a volume of at least 1 cubic and opening size of 2 square inches.

When you are working inside a bee hive, sometimes a bee may sting an innocent bystander ( not the beekeeper). To avert this problem, you should work when most field bees have gone out to collect nectar. Bees exhibit defensive or gentle behavior depending upon the environmental conditions. When the beehive is under direct sunlight, they are gentle and generally do not harm anyone. The best condition to work with your bees is when the day temperatures are not very high (95F or higher).

If you are not able to find a suitable place, for backyard beekeeping, you can consult local beekeepers associations, gardening clubs and vegetable gardeners, as they understand the importance of pollination.

So in order to achieve success in backyard beekeeping, you should do the following:
* Fence your backyard
* Make provision of water for the bees
* Make a bait hive for swarm control

Apiculture Beekeeping

Honey bees can be easily be raised to get useful products like honey wax, pollen, etc. You too can even rear bees in your back yard so that you can generate honey for your household use. Moreover, products like wax pollen etc. fetch very good market value and thus, you can earn some extra money as well. The following article will give you some idea about apiculture bee keeping.

For performing apiculture bee keeping you do not need to have a large open space. All you need is some space where you can keep artificial bee hives. The artificial bee hives which are usually small wooden boxes can be kept in the backyard as well. You can also place the hives on roof or balcony as well. You may think that keeping bee hives in your house may be dangerous as bees can sting. However, the bee species which are reared are quite calm by nature and they hardly ever sting. Therefore, there is no need to worry at all.

However, you will have to care for the bees with devotion. The most important thing that is required if you want to perform apiculture bee keeping is that there should be a rich source of nectar producing plants nearby. Plants like clover or other meadow flowers are ideal for bees. A place close to oilseed rape field can also be chosen in order to practice successful beekeeping.

Artificial hives play a very important role in apiculture bee keeping. The most popular type of artificial hive is the Langstroth which has got its name from its inventor. The feature that makes it so popular is its brood chamber. The brood chamber is actually a wooden box having frames made from wax foundation. These are arranged vertically similar to the honey comb pattern.

This brood chamber acts as a nursery where where the queen will lay her eggs and the bees will store their food. If the previous chamber is filled additional chambers called as 'supers' are to be added. This is added in such a manner that the worker bees are able to pass into this new chamber but the queen cannot. Therefore, only pure honey is stored in this new chamber by the worker bees and this honey remains free from the contamination by queen and her larvae.

After getting appropriate artificial hives you will need to bring a colony of bees in them. There are three methods through which you can do so, you can obtain a colony of from an existing hive, or you can get a nucleus or you can get a swarm:

* Colony: Amongst all steps for bee keeping, this one is the easiest. However it is the most costliest as you will have to buy a whole well established colony.
* Nucleus: Nucleus comprises of a some hundred workers and a queen along with them.
* Swarm: This is the cheapest however the most dangerous and difficult as in this method you will have to find a natural colony of bees and forcefully introduce them into your hive. For this collect them, from a natural hive, into a box and then keep this box near your hive. They will tend to go into the hive naturally.

Just rearing a colony in your hive is not enough, you will have to care for these bees. There are several diseases and pests which can affect your colony. During the rains or snow fall you will have to provide them food like sugar water as the bees cannot go to hunt for food at this time. Moreover, collecting honey also requires some skills. Therefore it is advisable that you first learn all the aspects related to apiculture bee keeping and only then try to get involved in it.