An Introduction to Beekeeping
Beekeeping is the management of raising bees in hives to
produce honey. Beekeeping has been known since long ago as a profitable
business as well as a great hobby. It is an amazing hobby that needs a certain
level of knowledge and skills to be successful and get the benefits out of it.
As a matter of fact there are lots of things that you should learn before you
start beekeeping.
Beekeeping is the management of raising bees in hives to
produce honey. Beekeeping has been known since long ago as a profitable
business as well as a great hobby. It is an amazing hobby that needs a certain
level of knowledge and skills to be successful and get the benefits out of it.
As a matter of fact there are lots of things that you should learn before you
start beekeeping.
Before you get started you have to prepare and make
available all the needed beekeeping equipment. The short list is a hive or
hives, the bees, a protective gear for the beekeeper and a beekeeping smoker.
A hive is the honey factory, a natural or artificial nest
where the bee colonies are doing its activities. Since the natural hives were
not productive in producing commercial honey, hives has been developed
artificially to get the utmost of honey production. At present hives are
available in various designs that you can choose from and meet your
requirement.
As a beekeeping novice it is best if you buy packaged bees.
This will be the most practical way to start your business or hobby. A bee
package is a colony that consists of a queen and bee workers which you can
simply put into your hive. Varieties of packaged bees are available which you can
purchase online. Other ways to get your bees is to buy an established colony or
collect the bees by swarms, but this is for the more experienced beekeeper.
The beekeeper protective gear is the tools that are used
when managing the honey. This usually includes a beekeeper suit, hat, gloves
and veil. This is to cover the body as a protection against bee stings.
Actually, honey bees will not sting if they do not feel being offended by
something. While the beekeeper is doing his best to handle the honey carefully,
there is still a chance that one or two bees are hurt, and start to sting.
A beekeeping smoker is used to produce smoke. The objective
is to control and suppress the bees, so that the beekeeper can work in a more
suitable condition. Smoke will also provoke the bees to leave the hive. Another
effect of the smoke is the alteration of pheromone released by the guard bees
as a response to a threat from an intruder.
Honeybees are considered as social insects. They live in a colony
of thousand of hard working bees that build a nest and are responsible for
collecting food and raise the younger bees. A beekeeper should be able to
adjust himself to the bees natural instinct, in order to collect the honey that
are of great money value and very profitable.
It is very important to collect the honey at the right time.
Avoid to leaving the honey for too long in the hive, since prolonged time will
alter the honey’s color to be darker. It will also leave no spare room for the
bees to store new honey. From the consumer’s point of view, light colored honey
is more preferred than the darker one.
On the contrary, harvesting the honey too soon is also
something you should avoid. Too soon harvesting can cause too much water
content in the honey and there is also a possibility that honey might spoil or
become fermented.
The right harvesting time is indicated by the bees. So watch
the bees. The clear sign is the presence of a wax cap on top of the honey cell.
The best time of the day to collect the honey is on a sunny morning, the time
where the bees are busy.
Prior to starting your beekeeping activities, check whether
beekeeping is allowed in your area. Although the presence of bees in an area
provides tremendous benefits to the community, but checking if you need a
permit is worthy. A benefit of the presence of bees is that destructive and
aggressive insects like hornets and wasps are kept away from that area.
Another benefit is that bees are known to be useful
for many plants. Bees are playing a vital role in natural plant breeding. With
these benefits provided by bees, it is best to place your hives in open areas
with lot of plants and some trees, far from the housing and recreational areas.
In this way you definitely get the best results from your beekeeping, and you
will gain a lot of experience and skill as well.
