BEEKEEPING
The following is written from my own expierience.I don't like typing
so it is going to be short and sweet, but there is so much to beekeeping
that makes it a fascinating hobby or an excellent job.My own
expierience started as a one hive hobby (I caught a swarm) and developed into a viable
business.If you want to make this your work most people
agree you need at least 500 hives to make a living but with so many different ways
to earn a living from bees I have found that to be just a guide.
GETTING STARTED
Each hive consists of thousands of bees, the workers which most people
are familiar with consist the greater proportion.Workers are female
the drone bees (male)are in there hundreds in spring but
during winter they are kicked out of the hive to save honey for the rest.
and each hive consists of only one queen she is the one that lays the eggs
she can live several years but a hive will stay stronger if she is renewed
at least every 2 years that is called requeening.Just for your information
the workers can live 1 to 3 months depending on how much work they are
doing.
Below you can see a picture with a queen bee and some workers
on a comb with honey and pollen
HIVE PRODUCTS
Honey was reputably the first sweetener known to man in early days to have sugar
was the luxury.It was also used to produce the first alcoholic beverage
known to man, honey mead more on that later.Other wonderfull products from
the hive are.
Pollen as one smart person felt inclined to point out to me one day
pollen is not made by the bees only collected. Details details pollen is
one of the reproductive parts of plants and apart from being very high in
vitamins and protein.It is also very high in amino
acids whatever they do i don,t know but I hear they are
good for you. It taste,s great I like it mixed with honey one my toast.
Another excellent product is
propolis wow don,t take my word for it
look into it yourself but I reckon this stuff is great
the bees gather it from the gums secreted from plants and use it
to repair their hives and to combat infections.The story goes that a mouse
crawled into a hive and was killed by the bees,the bees being unable
to remove the mouse completely encased it in propolis.
It is generally scraped of bee frames most beekeeper
don,t collect it comercially and consider it a nuisance. with modern
queen breeding working to minimise it in the hive.
but it is very expensive so think about it.
Royal jelly the food of the queen no wonder she lives so much longer than
the workers and lays all the eggs in the colony royal jelly is the
creamy white liquid found in the brood cells especially in the queen cells
The last time i checked it was worth about $40 a kilo
The stuff you buy in the stores normally just does not compare
to fresh jelly out of the hive I believe it is an immune system booster
so for anything where the immune system is weak or in danger it might
be just what the doctor ordered so to speak.In Dr H.C.A.VOGEL,S book
THE NATURE DOCTOR he suggests that royal jelly may cure whooping cough,
asthma and may prevent cancer among many other things.
Another "product" of the bee hive is pollination In Australia with an
abundance of native bees and very few diseases pollination services
are not highly sought after.In the U.S.A particularily in CALIFORNIA
with the large almond crop and bee diseases causing major problems
for the beekeeper, pollination services are highly sought after.
with rental prices currently at about $85 for good hives
Another product that I don,t realy hear much about and I have myself never
tasted it but i bet it tasts great is bee larve soup something worth
trying. EAT UP
page 2 setting up your first hive
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