Keeping Bees – An Introduction
If you are thinking about getting bees it is very important to seek the advice and expertise of your local representative of the British Beekeepers’ Association (BBKA), who can help you to acquire a healthy, disease-free hive and will also be able to provide continuing assistance for your future beekeeping.
The Hive
It is important to understand your bees’ home – the hive. At the bottom of the hive is the floor, which has a small gap at the front for the entrance. Above this is the brood box, which is where all the action takes place. This is where the queen is confined and the brood (the eggs, larvae and pupae) is reared. In here will be frames filled with wax foundation. Bees have natural wax scales on their bodies and use the framework as a foundation to mould comb in three-dimensional cylinders where the queen will lay and the workers store pollen to feed the brood. On top of the brood box is a wire mesh called a ‘queen excluder’, and above this a ‘crown board’ (also known as the inner cover), which is a wooden board with two small entrances. Next a ‘super’ is placed on top; this is smaller than the brood box, but is also filled with frames of wax foundation, and this is where the honey is collected from, hence the need for the queen excluder. She is not allowed up here as she will lay and create more brood, which you do not want in your yummy honey! Finally, the roof can be placed on the top. It is important to situate your hive in an appropriate position – somewhere not too near the house and ideally south facing so it gets enough sunlight. A natural screen, for example a high hedge, is also important. This not only shelters the bees, it also encourages them to fly up when they leave the hive instead of at head height, which could be hazardous to people. You should also make sure that the hive is on a stand about 45-50cm (18–20 inches) above the ground so that it does not get damp.
The Bees
Now it would seem appropriate to consider the members of your hive. Each has their own very specific role in maintaining the colony.
The Queen
Firstly we meet the queen. This vital member releases a pheromone, which makes the workers work. If, as she becomes older, her pheromone weakens, she will be aware of this and will normally leave the hive, taking some of the bees with her. Those remaining will then create a new queen cell. This cell differs from all the others; it is drawn out to hang down vertically and is shaped like a small peanut. After emerging, a young queen will fly out to be mated by drones.
Harvesting your own honey is hugely satisfying.
The other two members of the hive are workers and drones. Workers are female and are entirely in charge of all hive duties from cleaning, collecting food, looking after the brood, hive ventilation, wax making, comb building and guard duties. The workers are so driven in their duty to the colony that they will often die on the wing whilst searching for food. The drones are the males; they are bigger than the females and their sole job is to mate a virgin queen.
The difference between workers and drones originates in the cells. The worker comes from a standard size cell, whereas male drone cells are drawn out to be larger.
What separates a queen from a worker is purely what she is fed. Workers are just fed brood food, pollen and honey, whereas the queen is given a constant supply of royal jelly (a super nutritious glandular secretion), and this is what makes her a queen. So the queen is a product of nurture as opposed to nature.
Looking After Bees
Care for the bees differs from season to season. The honey bee is a social bee, which means that it will overwinter as a colony. This is unlike the wasp or the bumble bee, which are solitary, so come winter only queens remain and hibernate.
Caring for bees differs from season to season.
Over winter there will be hardly any brood; it will just be the queen and the remaining workers. The most vital part of winter beekeeping is to make sure that a good feed is given in September, which will help ensure the survival of the colony throughout the cold months. The liquid sugar feed is made up of 1kg (2.2lb) of sugar to 568 ml (one pint) of hot water, and this will need to be fed to the bees four times every three days. An approximate guide is about eight bags of white sugar per colony. The feed is put into a contact feeder, which looks like an upturned bucket with a small mesh area on the bottom where the bees can collect the liquid. Feeding should stop at the latest by the first week in October. It is also important in winter to reduce the entrance to the hive to stop pests like mice getting in, and also to help keep the hive warm. The supers will now have been removed for extraction, so the over-winter hive will just consist of: the floor with the reduced entrance, the brood box, the crown board and the roof. It is also helpful to the bees to give them a water supply close to the hive. In January the first bees will start appearing again to search for food. A beekeeper can help the bees here by planting sources of pollen, such as snowdrops, nearby. Winter is also a good time to inspect for pests and diseases. Devices such as varroa strips can be placed in the hive over winter so when doing the spring inspection it is possible to see if the colony is carrying the varroa mite.
Spring
Come March the first spring inspections should take place. Spring cleaning is important so make sure you change the floor for a fresh clean one. At this point the frames in the brood box should also be checked. What you are looking for is eggs, as this shows that the queen is present. It is important to see if the colony is building up so examine the brood and look how many larvae and sealed brood there are. Check if your bees have enough food, and how much honey is on the frames? An approximate guide is about 2.26 kg (five pounds) per frame. In April a second inspection should be carried out. Here you are looking to see if the brood has increased. This will normally be the case, and you may need to add more frames to give more room. This is when to look out for diseases in your hive, and it would be advisable to have your local bee inspector present. The main disease is the varroa mite but there are other problems to look out for. Brood diseases include American foul brood, which will make the capping of the sealed brood look brown and mouldy. If this is detected then the hive will have to be destroyed and burnt. European foul brood, however, can be treated with antibiotics, and chalk brood, which creates chalk-like mummified larvae, can also be overcome. Meanwhile, adult diseases, such as acarine, an external parasite, and nosema, an internal parasite, will cause the colony not to build up. It is important to get a picture of what a healthy brood and a healthy adult bee looks like so you can be aware of any abnormalities in your hive.
Extracting Honey
When the first rush of pollen and nectar starts it is time to add your queen excluder and super. When 50 per cent of the first super is filled another should be added on top. Once the bees start capping the honey you can begin extracting your first harvest. In order to ensure that all the bees are out of the super before you extract, a device called a ‘porta bee escape’ is used. This is placed in the two holes in the crown board and it works like a one way passage. As the bees go down into the brood box they will go through the porta bee escape and will not be able to get back up into the super. This should be done in the evening as the bees will naturally head down into the brood box at night. In an area with a good pollen supply you can expect three to four harvests of honey per year.
Suits You!
Health and safety is an important part of beekeeping. Firstly, a bee suit (i.e. a boiler suit), a head veil, gloves and wellies should always be worn. When putting this on make sure that everything is properly tucked in so that there is no way for the bees to get inside the suit. You will also need a smoker, which is a device that helps calm the bees. One you have administered a couple of puffs of this wait for a minute before inspecting. When looking at the frames always be calm and steady; do not make jerky movements which will upset the bees. Remember, the bees do not want to hurt you, but if they feel that you are a threat to their colony it is instinctive for them to sting.
Harvesting your own honey is hugely satisfying. Nevertheless beekeeping, while not incredibly difficult, is not like keeping other pets. It is important to find out as much as you can and have an expert on hand to advise you before you embark on getting your hive.
The veterinary mental health charity Vetlife is inviting the veterinary community to join it for a sponsored cold-water dip.
