THE BASICS OF RAISING BACKYARD BEES: The Basics of Raising Happy and Healthy Bees (2023 Guide for Beginners)

By Bond Duncan

Have you ever considered keeping honeybees in your backyard? Do you want to learn the basics of beekeeping, but don't know where to start?

Look no further! "The Basics of Raising Backyard Bees" is the ultimate beginner's guide to raising honeybees.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Bond Duncan
• Release date: Apr 14, 2023
• ISBN: 9783988312778

Book preview

1.png

PART I

ESSENTIAL BASICS

Why Keep Bees

I had wanted to have bees for a long time, but I was worried that it would be too difficult or that I would get stung excessively.

After doing some research and seeing how crucial bees are to

I made the decision to try my hand at beekeeping after learning about the importance of agriculture. The voyage has been quite rewarding for me, and although I have been stung a bit, the honey and wax have made it worthwhile.

I put honey on my peanut butter sandwiches, but honey is also a great substitute for sugar, helps heal wounds, stops seasonal allergies, and pollination by bees helps my garden produce grow better.

It can last forever, and I found out that it can be used to make alcoholic drinks.

Bees are also essential to contemporary agriculture. We would starve to death without bees pollinating the crops.

Beekeeping seemed like a win-win situation to me because there are benefits everywhere. Only my finances and my relationships with my new neighbours prevented me from raising bees.

When I first began raising bees, all I knew was that there are two different kinds of hives: the classic Langstroth hive, which is the white boxy structure on the concrete block that everyone is familiar with, and the top bar hive. (Easier and less expensive, but it produces less honey and more wax and requires more understanding.)

I also understood that you had to register and obtain a beekeeping license in my state of Tennessee. Even though I won’t have new bees until the spring, I still applied for the license as it was free. That winter, I’ll be stocking up on toys, constructing beehives, reading, and, most importantly, getting my darling wife on board with yet another project.

In the chapters that follow, I talk about what I learned about beekeeping over the next seven years and that year.

Small Cell Or Regular Bees

My beekeeping organization is particularly interested in small-cell bees. According to what I can learn, Michael Bush first mentioned this idea in relation to bush bees. He has a pretty thorough article on the advantages of keeping tiny-cell bees, but because I have only ever kept small-cell bees, I cannot claim to be an authority on the issue. (I strongly advise every beekeeper to read his book.)

I will explain the distinction and my reasons for keeping the smaller bees, though.

To begin with, traditional beekeepers’ huge honeybees are 150% larger than natural honeybees. Because a larger bee and the necessary larger cells in a honeycomb produce more honey, this was done on purpose.

The varroa mite, a parasite, is the problem, though. External parasites called varroa mites harm honeybees as well as their young.

The mites draw blood from both. The bee’s life is shortened as a result of this. The developing brood may lack wings or legs or be malformed. Colonies frequently perish when Varroa mite infestations go untreated.

Brood Comb with Larva

Because small-cell bees produce smaller brood cells, they can cap them more quickly. On the bee brood, the mites grow. In order to be enclosed with the larva, a female mite will enter a brood cell before it is sealed off.

Mites will eat the developing bee larva while they are within the larva’s cell. Many of the mites have developed, mated, and are prepared to start the process in other bee cells by the time the adult bee leaves the cell.

This is a technique to aid in the control of infestations since small cells of bees cover brood cells much more quickly.

Even though chemicals are easy to get, I try to keep my beekeeping as natural as I can.

At the risk of oversimplifying, it’s either more honey or more mite resistance.

Starting over was an easy decision for me.

However, because 5.4-mm cells are used in the majority of beehives, the commercial foundation is made in that size. A natural cell can range in size from 4.6 to 5.0 mm. If you a buy commercial foundation that is not labelled as a small cell, the bees will most likely expand to fill the larger foundation. You must force established bees to create new comb in order to regress them to a smaller size.

They can be shrunk back to normal size