The preservation of bees is imperative to our continued ability to grow food to feed the plant. Bees are the main pollinators of the plant. Did you know that keeping bees can be a stress-reducing strategy and can provide a wealth of education for adults and children alike? Keeping bees allows you to offer gifts to family and friends, while providing healthy products good for your health. In this book, the author discusses the benefits, steps to get started, supports, and other valuable information.
Chapter one discusses the benefits of keeping bees, while chapter two discusses the steps to get started. The author analyzes the cost involved in establishing a bee colony; analyze how much space you will need; the impact of food and water in winter; the impact pets and other household creatures can have on bee reproduction; how to handle wild animals, weather, and neighbors; and list some important rules and regulations regarding beekeeping.
The next chapter focuses on the most important lessons you will learn during beekeeping. The author then continues this section with how to find and develop support systems. His recommendations are to join a local beekeeping group that will help provide important information, additional resources, strategies to protect the hive, how to increase honey production and avoid falls in wells. Participation in a local support group will enhance and sustain your development as a beekeeper.
The next section is dedicated to the types of bees, their function and importance for the hive. There are several types of bees and the author makes recommendations as to which variation you should start with in order to be successful. In this section, the author discusses the importance of queen, worker, and drone bees. He details bee reproduction, how other bees protect the only female bee in the colony, and how to promote a high-quality queen bee. There is additional information on introducing a new queen bee should the need arise and how to manage the old queen bee. This section includes information about drone bees, which are male bees, and how to recognize a drone from a worker bee. The role of the worker bee is to build the combs, raise the brood, protect the hive, maintain the optimum temperature inside the hive, keep the hive clean, and attend to the needs of the queen. The author provides strategies on how to maximize the role of each class of bee.
There is another section on how to produce queens, drones and worker bees. The author provides detailed information on the production of each and identifies the traps.
The next chapter focuses on the essential equipment for beekeeping. There is information about the collection of honey; the different types of hives and how to collect honey from each one; bee rubber hives and modern hives. There are instructions and information on how to develop a hive for your bees, which designs provide the most protection; what construction will help in the production of honey; and the history of man-made beehives.
The next section of the book is devoted to hive management, listing the parts of the modern hive and their function. There is important information about the role that each party has in the protection and management of bees. The author discusses the mouse excluder, varroa screen, frame boxes, the effectiveness of plastic hive bottom sheets, shallow frames, queen excluder, crown board, and roof.
In chapter six, the author discusses the importance of the proper type of clothing and the role it plays in protecting the beekeeper. The next chapter lists the tools a successful beekeeper will need to get started, such as the hive tool, bee brush, and smokers.
Chapter eight is devoted to getting your bees. The author discusses the advantages and disadvantages of full hives, core hives, and how to set one up; packed bees and transfer of the bees to the hive; and helpful tips on how to manage a swarm of bees when setting up the hive. There is a whole section on how to prevent bee swarming.
The combing of the weak hives to ensure the growth of both is dealt with in the next chapter. Identifies how to groom hives, lists strategies to ensure production of groomed hives, how to deal with grooming hives with two queen bees, and when is the best time of year to groom weak hives.
The next chapter looks at how to feed your bees. There is information on how to introduce medications to treat and/or prevent certain conditions; how to make sure the hive has enough food after the honey has been harvested; how to keep the hive productive and safe during the winter months. The author lists the most useful food sources for bees and lists the food sources that the beekeeper should never give to the hive. There are instructions on how to get the right food source for the bees through: driveway feeders, mosaic split board feeders, friction lid can; and hive feeders. Additional information on pollen or pollen substitutes is provided.
There is a whole section on disease management listing the most common diseases such as: American foulbrood, European foulbrood, sacra foulbrood; parasitic mite syndrome (PMS); and chalk breeding. There is additional information on adult bee diseases such as Nosema; and moths. Here the author describes the symptoms and lists ways to identify and treat the diseases.
Many animals and insects are enemies of the bees and can damage and/or destroy the hives. The author identifies each species: bears, birds, ants, cattle, small hive beetles, mists, fire ants, rodents, raccoons, skunks, and moths. Information on how to protect the hive and bees from these pests is also included.
The following chapters provide information on managing hives during the summer, fall, winter, and spring; how to test and what to expect; steps on how to manage your first crop, extract the honey crop; how to brush the bees; what to do with escape boards and bee blowers.
At the end of the book there is information and websites for providers in the UK, US, Canada and Australia.