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Your Honey Yield Will Be Improved By Understanding The Beekeeping Hive.
When starting this pursuit the first and most crucial item is the beekeeping hive. An understanding of the beehive will guarantee that you are successful at keeping bees. In the first days of keeping bees raffia baskets (skeps), pottery jars (hives) and hollowed out trees (bee-gums) were used by beekeepers as the nests for the bees. The need to drive away or kill the bees so as to able to claim the honey was the big disadvantage. This meant that every crop was followed by capturing a fresh wild bee swarm and making new skeps or jars. Not efficient for the honey maker, the bees didn't like it much either. In the 1850's LL Langstroth developed a hive that took his name and today this hive is by the far the most popular. An alternate design, the top-bar, being lots cheaper to install is very popular in Africa and Asia Far less honey is produced by this design of hive, but the users insist the quality is better. The moveable frame hive, alternative name for the Langstroth, was the first hive which enabled the honey to be gathered without the bees being killed or driven off. Mr Langstroth designed the most effective hive ever developed but his goal was to improve the wellbeing of the bees. A stack of retangular boxes each containing free suspended combs is the basic structure of the hive. Ten honey combs are carried in each box. These can easily be withdrawn containing their honey when the time is right and replaced with an empty comb if required. The honey can then be extract from the comb away from the hive. The beekeeper provides a base for the bees to build their comb. A sheet of wax or plastic will form the template. The bees will build the combs on the sheet and follow the hexagonal form printed on it. They are then able to deposit honey and pollen into the cells of the comb. As well as the design of the hive a prospective beekeeper needs to consider the location of the hive. Close proximity to large areas of plants is not as important as many people think as the bees will travel considerable distances to gather nectar – up to fifty miles round trip per day! However, a supply of water close to the hive is very important. We don't want bees visiting local swimming and paddling pools for a drink and disturbing all the neighbours in the process. There should be a six foot high fence around the yard where the bees are located. This will ensure that the bees fly above head height not be a secret to hide away. Fully investigate local bylaws and regulations to ensure that there are no restrictions in your neighborhood. And most important of all is to have fully discussed your intentions with the neighbors. Put to them these two arguments: wasps, hornets and feral bees the aggressive insects do not visit areas that are dominated by the friendly honey bees. The pollinating effect of bees will mean much fitter harvests in the area. People can often be persuaded by the possibilty of honey and the other products that bees produce. Article Directory: http://www.articledashboard.com Ben is a beekeeping enthusiast. For more information on www.thebeekeepingcenter.com/ beekeeping-hive.html”>the beekeeping hive,visit www.thebeekeepingcenter.com”> www.thebeekeepingcenter.com. |
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