Beekeeping

Beekeeping is a leisure project that can yield much pleasure in return for such a small investment with your labor and money.

Once the bees are set up, a single beehive can easily make 30 pounds or more of pure honey each year.

It is more than enough to provide the needs of the standard family of four or five and plenty to give away or even sell.

Beehives require only minor attention and a small amount of feeding to carry them through the wintry weather.

Honeybees collect food from an amazing diversity of vegetation.

Wild plants, such as crop blossoms, bushes, foliage, even weeds are a supply of nectar. The bees change this nectar into a sweet-scented honey and also provides their essential protein requirements.

They also carry out the priceless service of pollinating most vegetation.

They are an effective labor force and money-making fruit growers and green house operators often import bees to pollinate their crops.

Beekeeping in America dates back to the beginning of the colonial era when British settlers initially brought bees to their Colonies. Honeybees were not inhabitants of America.

Swarms began to fly away and establish themselves in the natural; these liberated living bees increased gradually westward to the border of the Great Plains, where the need of hollow trees for nesting was not available.

During the 19th century, bees reached the Far West, by pioneers carrying them in their wagons .

In colonial times, and long after that, bees were held in hives of straw. They were called skeps, or they were kept in hollowed out wood.

Deficient in methodical data, beekeepers repeatedly found their hives destroyed by illness. Honey yields were frequently small to nothing. And often farmers would take all the honey leaving the bees to starve during the winter months.

But, thanks to a succession of advances since the 1850's beekeeping now is a methodically based, completely up to date venture.

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Where To Place Your Bee Hive

Humidity leads to illness and encourages the expansion of mold. Preferably, the hive ought to be put on a moderate grade so that precipitation can run off speedily.

Keep away from valleys or low areas where water can accumulate. Raising the hive off the ground on bricks, cement blocks, or other supports helps to prevent wetness.

The hive should be protected from blustery weather. Bees are vulnerable to chilly weather, and even a gentle wind can chill them enough to decrease their effectiveness at collecting honey.

Harsh wintry weather can destroy bees. In wintry weather, a good wind block may mean the variance between continued existence and fatality for a complete colony of honey bees.

One more important factor is sufficient sunshine to cozy the hive.

To preserve the hive's regular interior temperature of 93 degrees F. bees must consurme honey, thus plummeting the harvest.

Knowledgeable beekeepers adjust the hive entry in the direction of the east or south to get the benefit of the warming result of the daylight sunshine.

Afternoon protection from direct sunshine is also vital, particularly in the hotter regions of the country, seeing as extreme heat can be as fatal to bees as too much cold.

Be sure there is a high-quality source of feed vegetation prior to setting up your hive.

While bees can without difficulty forage as far as two miles from the hive, this is rarely a dilemma apart from densely built up neighborhoods.

If neighbors live near by, build a high board fence so the bees have to fly over the fence to get to their hive.

This prevents the hive from disturbances and makes bees fly high above passerbys.

History of beekeeping and beehives is outlined here.

Bees, Tools and Equipment