Pollinators And Food Producers

The Honey Bee

Bees can provide all the sugar you need in the form of honey, and aside from its nutritional value, it has so many other amazing properties…

Honey is the only foodstuff that will never go bad if stored correctly. Honey found in the tombs of ancient Egyptian pharaohs was found to be edible and nutritious thousands of years later.

It is also commonly used to directly treat wounds due to its strong antibacterial properties

The wax combs bees store honey was prized back in the day for making the finest candle and sealing wax known to man.

Mead is a traditional honey wine made by mankind since the dawn of time and is both flavorful and potent.

Sweeter and more flavorful than sugar, and less damaging to your health, honey production can be easy and worthwhile.

Practically no space is needed for keeping bees, but a single hive can provide 50+ lbs. of honey per year. Plus, bees require little maintenance, you merely need to ensure the hive is in good repair and there are no diseases in the swarm.

Beekeeping

Equipment Needed:

1. Hive box (easily purchased from online stores or from local suppliers)
2. Bee veil and gloves to protect exposed skin
3. Smoker—blowing smoke into a hive causes bees to think fire will destroy it, so they gorge on honey to bring with them to their new hive. This makes them sluggish and disinclines them from stinging.
4. Extractor—centrifuge that spins the honey out of the combs after you remove the wax caps on the honey cells with a hot knife

Once every season or two you bee population might get too big and may swarm. In this case, a new queen bee takes a portion of the original hive and flies away to start a new colony, you can capture this new swarm and set them up in a new hive box—and double your honey production for the following year.

If you live in a cold or cool temperate climate, you will need to leave enough honey for the swarm to survive the winter or you can replace the honey you take from the hive with sugar syrup.

Starting Your Colony:

1. Traditionally, to start a colony of your own you’d capture a wild swarm, which can be found hanging like a buzzing football from a tree. In the evening when the entire swarm is settling in for the night, you’d sneak up to it in your protective gear with a large cardboard box, cut the branch or knock the mass of bees into the box and close it.
2. Bring the box to your empty hive, place a white sheet in front of the hive gently sloping up to the entrance of the hive. Dump the box of bees out onto the sheet and they will walk up the sheet into the hive. Ensure the larger queen makes it into the hive, as she is essential for the survival of the hive.

Or…

1. Simply purchase a swarm nucleus from other beekeepers or online.
2. You will receive a queen and a starter swarm to put into your hive.
3. The seller will provide instructions as how to handle and establish the swarm.

Getting the Honey:

1. As the honey frames get filled up with honey (usually late summer), you can remove them for extraction.
2. Take a long hot knife and slice the top layer of wax off the honey comb and place the comb in the extractor. Spin the honey out it them.
3. Place the frames back in the hive to allow the bees to refill and seal them again.
4. Gently melt the leftover wax to make candles, polishes, and sealing wax.