Keeping Bees and Making Honey-An Introduction

: Image via Wikipedia

Keeping bees and making honey is not nearly as difficult as some people would have you believe. Bees are independent creatures and can generally survive on their own. Sometimes they will need a little boost, but there are easy ways to help them out and make sure you have a healthy hive.

So, how does one begin keeping bees and making honey? The first thing you need to get are hives. You can buy these on the internet, or from a local supplier, or you can make them yourself. These are great options, it just depends on what you are most comfortable with.

Next, you will need to get bees. Believe it or not, most people receive their bees through the mail. When I was a child I remember going to the mailbox and it buzzing! You will typically order a queen bee which comes in a tiny packaging with a bunch of male drone bees as well. These get added to the hive and POOF! You have a new bee colony.

As I said before, bees generally take care of themselves, but there are some things you will need to do to help them out. You will need to feed them every once in while. Especially if you live somewhere that gets cold in the winter. You can just feed them a mixture of water and sugar, they will be more than happy with this.

In order to make honey…well, actually you do not make honey at all, the bees do it all for you. What you need to do is figure out a way to get the honey out of there! Actually, no, that has been done for already as well. There are a number of different types of honey extractors out there which will pull the honey from the comb for you. Leaving you only a bit of a sticky mess, instead of a total sticky mess!

Keeping bees and making honey can be a great hobby for just about anybody who has a bit of backyard space. In many places (in the US), you can now even get a tax break for raising bees. Please, always keep in mind, that they are a dying species, so caring for them ourselves, is doing our part to save a species which is absolutely needed by the world.

Bee Suit: Why You Need One and What To Look For

: Image by Ross Catrow via Flickr

If you are interested in beekeeping, then you will most likely wish to purchase a bee suit. These provide protection for the wearer from bee stings. Though bees don’t sting maliciously, when disturbed, they may attempt to sting you. This can be partially avoided by using a smoker, but you can never be too safe, and so a bee suit is generally a good idea.

These suits are made from special, thick material which will withstand bee stings. They are full body suits, sort of like coveralls. They have elastic at the wrists and ankles, making sure bees cannot fly in under your suit. Some also include attached or detached gloves.

When buying a bee suit, you should check to see if it includes a bee hat. These are essential, even more important than the bee suit. This protects your head and face from the bees, while allowing you to breathe and see comfortably.

You want to look at the specifications on your new bee suit to make sure that it will fit you. I am a short girl and so I have found it very difficult to find ones which will fit me well. If the suit is way too big, then the bees will be able to get into the suit to sting you. If it is way too small, you will be very uncomfortable! Try to get one which is slightly big on your, but which cinches well (not tight!) on your wrists and ankles.

Although your main concern should be that the bee suit will keep you safe, you also want to be sure that you feel safe and comfortable in it. When it arrives, try it on. If you are unhappy, send it back and try another. Trust me, when you are dealing with all those bees buzzing, you will want to be comfortable and feel safe.

How Do Bees Make Honey?

: Image via Wikipedia

The thing that bees are best known for is making honey (and possibly stinging people, though this isn’t that bad!). So, how exactly do they do it? How do bees make honey?

Bees use nectar to make honey. They gather this nectar from many different flowers, including clovers, dandelions, and other flowers. They have a long tube-ish tongue, which they use to sucjk the nectar from the flowers.

They then store this nectar inside of their honey stomachs. This is their second stomach. They have one which is a regular stomach for food, and a second which is simply a storage area for nectar. When the honey stomach is full, it weighs nearly as much as the bee itself! The honeybee needs to visit over 100 flowers in order to fill their stomach.

These bees than return to the hive and deliver the nectar to other bees. These new bees suck he honey from the deliverer’s stomach with their mouth. They then chew on the nectar, breaking down the enzymes. The reason that they break down the enzymes is to make the nectar more digestible for the bees and less likely to be attacked by bacteria.

Next, the bees spread out the honey, into the honeycombs. The water evaporates from the honey, making it a thicker syrup. The bees help the water evaporate by fanning the combs with their wings.

Once the honey is done, it is plugged up into the combs with beeswax. This allows them to store it until they need to eat it. Just one colony will eat between 120 and 200 pounds of honey a year!

Essential Beekeeping Equipment-Don’t Start Keeping Bees Without These

When you are first getting started in keeping bees, it can be overwhelming to figure out what exactly you need. You don’t want to spend tons of money on stuff that you don’t need, but you also don’t want to end up having to overnight things that you desperately need. So let’s figure out exactly what beekeeping equipment you need as a beginning beekeeper to start.

The first thing that you will need is a place to keep the bees: a bee hive. Most beekeepers either make or buy these. My dad used to build them at home, it was really basic, just a box of wood, but there are online sites which can go into more detail.	Image by Dude-K via Flickr
Another piece of basic beekeeping equipment that you will need is abee suit, or at least a bee hat and a thick long sleeve shirt and long pants. These are for your protection in the off-chance that the bees decide to sting you. One or two bee stings are no problem, but tens or more could be a problem.	Image by mmcallen via Flickr
You will also need to get a smoker. These pump out smoke in the direction of the bee hive. This calms the bees down so that you can get into the hives and do what you need to do.	Image by Chiot’s Run via Flickr
The last piece of beekeeping equipment which is absolutely necessary is the bees! Usually you can purchase these from a farm, off the Internet or mail order. You will receive a queen bee and several drones to accompany her.	Image by Scott Kinmartin via Flickr

Keeping Bees and Making Honey-An Introduction

Bee Suit: Why You Need One and What To Look For

How Do Bees Make Honey?

Essential Beekeeping Equipment-Don’t Start Keeping Bees Without These

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