1. Getting Honey Bees Into Hives For
Beginners
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www.Beekeeping-for-Beginners.com
2. Table Of Contents:
- Getting Honey Bees Into Hives For Beginners
- Beekeeper Supplies the Help You Start Beekeeping Right
- Importance of a Beekeeping Suit
- Resources
Getting Honey Bees Into Hives
To start beekeeping, you need honey bees! Rather than purchasing
honey bees, some beekeepers prefer to find honeybee swarms and
catch them into their hives.
If you have no experience in catching bees, it's better not to do it
alone.
Seek help of an experienced beekeeper, because if you irritate bees,
it might have serious consequences for you and people around you
while catching the wild honey bees.
Swarms frequently crowd together on tree branches or other
reachable places, such as spaces between buildings. In most cases,
property owners want these bees removed.
In some locations, beekeepers may be able to obtain wild bees for their hives by listing their names
on a 'swarm retrieval list' that is created from local 911 calls made by property owners. Still, you
should ask permission from the property owner before your attempt to collect these swarming
honey bees.
If you have found out an accessible swarm of honeybees, and would like to get it, this is what one
beekeeper advised to do: "... get a five-gallon plastic bucket with some type of perforated cover like
window screening.
Spray the swarm heavily with sugar syrup, place the bucket underneath it then give the branch a
sharp shake to dislodge bees into the bucket. Cover the bucket and install the swarm in a hive as
you would do with packaged bees."
3. Beekeepers can also set up their hives to attract wild bees. One technique is to place an open
container of honey in the new hives.
This is easy enough to do, but the method is likely to attract all sorts of insects, including non-honey
bees. Yet one more method of attracting wild honeybees is to put a frame of empty brood
honeycomb within the hives.
Arresting natural or wild honeybee swarms has a lot of disadvantages. There is no method to find
out, for instance, whether they are diseased or if the queen that you catch with the swarm is new and
has not yet been mated.
Unless you are confident that you understand how swarming occurs and know how to protect
yourself from a swarm of bees, this is probably not be the best option for first-time beekeepers.
Beekeeper Supplies the Help You Start Beekeeping Right
Beekeeper supplies are necessary tools and equipments an
apiarist has to provide to run a beekeeping business.
You can't simply start the business without procuring such
supplies most particularly the basic tools used for beekeeping.
These supplies are usually available locally such as from
beekeeping suppliers or from beekeeping farmers. You can also
find discounts if you are going to search online since there are
lots of beekeeping sites nowadays.
Let's talk some of these basic supplies. Although the required
beekeeper supplies vary from beekeeper to beekeeper
depending on their hives and convenience of use, some of these supplies are considerably necessary.
Some of these fundamental supplies will include:
Bee Smoker - this is the tool that should be provided by any beekeeper. It is used to calm bees so
that a beekeeper can work with the hives. This tool allows the beekeeper to open the hives up while
the bees are in docile condition. This is a good equipment to prevent bee stings.
Bee Suit - this beekeeping supply is very much needed since you will be working with insects that
have the capability to sting. This is used as a body covering for protection against bee stings. You
can purchase this supply with bee hat and veil which is safer to use to protect you from having bees
crawling into your sensitive body parts particularly your head.
Hive Tools - these beekeeper supplies are mainly used for opening the hive and in scraping the
frame to obtain the honey. But there are many more uses of these tools and not only for scraping or
opening the hive. You can purchase hive tools in different styles.
Bee Gloves - a beekeeper will definitely need this beekeeping supply since hands are the most
functional part of the body when working with the beehives. These are worn into the hands to
protect bee stings in your hands and arms. Bee gloves are best complement of a bee suit.
4. Bee Brush - this tool is used to take away bees easily from areas you doesn't want them to see
hanging about like on your arms and clothes.
Importance of a Beekeeping Suit
Man has been able to understand the behavior of bees. But
it is still important to wear a beekeeping suit whenever the
beekeeper goes near the colonies.
Knowing how to take care of bees does not assure the
hobbyists or beekeepers that they will not be stung by
bees.
A beekeeping suit serves as a protective gear for the
beekeeper. It is extremely important to know what
comprises the suit in order to have the correct protection
during beekeeping.
There are three main parts of beekeeping suits:
Beekeeping jacket and pants
Beekeeping helmet
Beekeeping gloves
Beekeeping jacket and over pants should be elastic on the wrists and ankles part. Most jackets and
over pants are light-colored and smooth in texture.
This is because bees are attracted to bright colors; most flowers have bright colors. Also this will
differentiate the beekeeper from the predators of the bees. Most bee predators are dark in color and
sometimes furry.
The jacket and over pants should be a bit larger; this will give the beekeeper enough room between
the body and the cloth. So that in case bees will attack the beekeeper, there is still protection given
by the beekeeping suit. If the jacket and over pants are fitted to the skin, the beekeeper will not be
affected by it.
Beekeeping helmet should be always worn whenever near the bee colonies. The beekeeper's head is
the most vulnerable part; it is not enough to wear jackets, over pants and gloves. There should be a
protection on the head and face too.
The beekeeping helmet can be an ordinary hat with brim but what sets it apart from the normal hat
is the veil that looks like a screen. The veil should fall down on the beekeeper's face in order to
provide the right protection.
It should be tacked in the collar of the jacket to make sure bees will not get near the face. It should
also be in light color, the same as the jacket and over pants for similar reason.
Lastly, the gloves are included in the suit for bee keeping. They must overlap with the full jacket to
make sure that the beekeeper's hand would not get stung.
5. Normally, these gloves are heavy making it hard to manipulate the hive but it is for protection
purposes.
Unless there is a high threshold for pain, the beekeeper can actually choose to use the usual medical
gloves. Most of the gloves are made of leather but there are also gloves which are made of canvas
and even cotton.
Beekeeping suit is important to any beekeeper. To be defensive and protective of one's body is a
must for all beekeepers. Although bee stings can be easily removed by fingernails, a simple bee
sting can be dreadful.
There are people allergic to bee stings; this allergic reaction can range from simple redness and
swelling to the most severe allergy called anaphylactic reactions. This type of allergic reaction can
be life-threatening.
If you want more information or would like to share ideas with us, you can “like my
page” on Facebook:
- => Beekeeping Facebook Page
You can also download your FREE copy of our ebook that will guide you on how to get
started with beekeeping:
- => Beekeeping Ebook Download
Best Regards,