build a bee hive

Always begin your inspection of the hive by removing the first frame or wall frame. That’s the frame closest to the outer wall. Which wall? It doesn’t matter. Pick a side of the hive to work from, and that determines your first frame. Here’s how to proceed:

1. Insert the curved end of your hive tool between the first and second frames, near one end of the frame’s top bar.

2. Twist the tool to separate the frames from each other. Your hand moves toward the center of the hive — not the end.

3. Repeat this motion at the opposite end of the top bar. The first frame should now be separated from the second frame.

4. Using both hands, pick up the first frame by the end bars. Gently push any bees out of the way as you get a hold of the end bars. With the frame in both hands slowly lift it straight up and out of the hive. Be careful not to roll or crush bees as you lift the frame. Easy does it!

You should never put your fingers on a frame without first noting where the bees are, because you don’t want to crush any bees, and you don’t want to get stung. Bees can be easily and safely coaxed away by gently pushing them aside with your fingers.

Now that you’ve removed the first frame, gently rest it on the ground, leaning it vertically up against the hive. It’s okay if bees are on it. They’ll be fine. Or, if you have a frame rest (a handy accessory available at some beekeeping supply stores) use it to temporarily store the frame.

This is a basic and important first step every time you inspect a colony. The removal of this frame gives you a wide-open empty space in the hive for better manipulating the remaining frames without squashing any bees. Always be sure to remove the wall frame from the hive before attempting to remove any other frames.

Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/home-business-articles/how-to-remove-the-bee-hive-first-frame-4159646.html

About the Author

woodchuck is an up and coming expert on crafts and hobbies. Do you want complete Push Block Plans? You can learn wood DIY Bench Stops plans, or you can learn woodworking by going to Push Stick Plans site.

In this episode of The Trip for Life, I continue my exploration of the methods that Growing Power, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, uses to grow enough food to feed many thousands of people in a couple of acres. In the last episode, I showed you how they produce the high quality soils that they need for their plants; in this episode, I will explain how they manage water, in both the fish ponds and the aquaponics beds, and how they grow their massive crop of food plants. I will also be talking about some of their experiments in integrating more traditional animal husbandry into the Growing Power system. And, you will get to see their bee yard, and future plans. An info-packed episode of The Trip for Life, a must see for anyone who wants to build a high intensity urban farm for themselves!

Source: YouTube

The main aspect of beekeeping has to do with the hives in which the bees are kept.  Over the years beekeepers have improved upon the hives for the bees in order to make honey gathering easier.  The Langstroth hive is the most commonly used in the United States by beekeepers today.  It is what is called a movable frame beehive.  The support structure of the Langstroth hive is a rectangular wooden frame which holds the combs within it.  There are typically nine or ten of these combs inside the frame.  Amazingly, there is no top or bottom of the frame.  The combs hang freely within the frame.  The combs are made of a sheet of wax or plastic foundation.  The bees are able to produce wax and build honeycomb by using the wax sheets as a starting point.  They are then able to deposit honey and pollen into the cells of the comb.  The box is designed to easily be able to remove the frames full of honey to be extracted.

Some hobby beekeepers within the United States are using top-bar hives that are commonly found in Africa.  A top-bar hive has bars across the top of the structure which allows the honey bees attach and hang wax combs from.  Different from the frames that are used in a Langstroth hive, the combs on bars cannot be reused after the honey extraction.  This type of design results in a lower production of honey.  But the honey from the clear yellow combs Produced in a top-bar hive is of the highest quality.  It can be sold as an in-comb honey product.

Regardless of which hive design the beekeeper decides to use, certain aspects of keeping these hives on the property must be considered.  First off, before the beekeeper decides to keep bees on their property they must research the local restrictions to keeping bees found in some areas.  They should also consider the amount of room that is available on their property and the placement of the hive.  The bee hives should not be placed near homes or areas that are used for recreation.  Bees can be bothersome to some people especially those who suffer from bee sting allergies.  The bee hives also needs to be placed near nectar and pollen sources in order to give the bees easy access to a food source.  Some beekeepers use bees solely to pollinate their crops.  The hive should also be placed near a fresh water source.  This can be a natural water source or something that is supplied by the beekeeper.  Another important aspect that should be considered when placing a bee hive on one’s property is predators and vandals.  The hive needs to be protected from natural predators like bears and skunks and from human vandals that might be interested in gathering some free honey.  The hive also needs to be protected from severe weather conditions and it needs to be accessible throughout the year.  Although bees are most active during certain times of the year, beekeeping is a job that lasts throughout every season of the year.

Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/pets-articles/beekeeping-and-understanding-the-bee-hive-3388874.html

About the Author

Beekeeping is the controlled raising of bees in hive in order to gather honey.  It has a long history and is a wonderful hobby.

Build Bee Escape for emptying Honey Supers of bees at Harvest. I have since added a second triangle inside the first one. It is 3/8″ inside the first one made of the same material. The hope is that if the bees come back in, they might just walk the hallway and back out the next corner. Please wear safety glasses and be careful.

Source: YouTube

A jig for nailing hive boxes. Based on a video at www.hivebodies.com

Source: YouTube

If you are new to beekeeping, you are pretty excited to get started with your new hobby. You are anxious to get your own beekeeping kit! You are probably looking for bee hives for sale.

A bee hive is the sanctuary to a colony of bees. Here is where they live, reproduce and go about their daily lives. Obtaining a highly fuctional bee hive is an integral component of beekeeping. Lately, there has been a rise in the number of people who are beginning beekeeping. This is partly due to the ability to create an income from selling the honey bees’ produce — honey, honey combs, beeswax, etc.

I’m sure you will want to make well informed decisions by doing a thorough study about bee hives and beekeeping. By being informed you can save a lot of money.

As you begin studying bee hives for sale, you will learn there are several forms and structures available. Among those that are available are these four brands: Langstroth, Top bar hives, Skeps and Bee gums.

When deciding on a bee hive to use, these are a few elements to investigate: quality of the hive, cost of the hive, and why you have decided to get into beekeeping.

You can find a lot of new bee hives for sale online and perhaps in your local area, (based on where you live). These are usually expensive, depending on the type of bee hive you buy. Prices usually range from approximately $300 USD up.

If funds are tight, you maywant to look for used bee hives for sale. These can be found online. They are being sold by beekeepers who are wishing to change their old beehives. Retiring beekeepers also sell their hives. Used beehives are much cheaper than brand new ones; but still are great for starting beekeepers.

If you are the type of person who is talented enough to and enjoys building items yourself; you might as well build your own bee hive. It is less expensive that way and you can make your hive exactly how you want. You can find books or online articles that will guide you with the creation of your own bee hive.

Beekeeping done the right way has the potiential of being a very good business since you can sell your golden honey, some of your bees, the beeswax, some honey comb and even some of your materials to other people who are just beginning this hobby/business venture.

Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/pets-articles/bee-hives-for-sale-excellent-input-to-know-prior-to-investing-in-your-beehive-3916784.html

About the Author
Visit here to find out more about beekeeping and bee hives . Take a look at our very informative website and don’t forget to sign up for a FREE e-mail mini course and a FREE e-book about the Essentials of Beekeeping.

Are you serious to expand your beekeeping business? Then, managing an apiary for honey beekeeping is a strategy that is worth to be considered. Building an apiary of your own is quite simple, as I once told you. You can just rent a piece of land that is near to nectar sources to ease your bees to collect nectar.

Other things to consider and to attend to are the temperature of your apiary location where you should consider a place with a maximum temperature that isn’t too hot. Security of your hives as well as the safety of passing people should be taken care. And to avoid the bees leaving the hive, avoid windy places.

Now, let us talk about a beekeeper supply which is most vital to your apiary honey business. The beehive. This is the housing of your little creatures, which are going to work for you to collect nectar and transform it into honey. And talking about bee hives, the name of Langstroth should be taken into consideration.

Lorenzo Lorraine Langstroth, a Reverend from Philadelphia is the gentleman who invented the movable bee hives which today become the reference and standard of beehive construction all over the world. His invention in 1851 is considered a milestone in beekeeping.

The main advantage is that bees are encouraged to build their honeycombs into movable frames. The design of the frame is such so that the bees are not able to attach wax between frames or to the hive wall. Bees are also disabled to use propolis to cement the frames to the box sides. This movable frames makes it easier for the beekeeper to perform his delicate task, which was impossible in the past time.

The typical Langstroth hive is constructed in such way so that the frames are separated from the surrounding parts of the hive. This includes all walls, the floor, the cover of the hive and other frames. The frames are the spots where the bees build their comb. The Langstroth design has set an exact separation gap of 3/8 inch or 6.35 mm.

Removing a frame from a hive will be much easier since the beekeeper does not need to cut any combs which were the problem in the earlier hive design. Formerly, the beekeeper had to cut the adhered frames to the adjacent structures which were cemented by the bees using propolis. Removing the honeycombs easily provides practicality to a beekeeper to manage multiple hives on a regular basis in a very safe way.

The standard Langstroth hive includes (from top to bottom):

• A telescoping cover
• Inner cover
• One or more supers or hive bodies
• Queen excluder (optional)
• 8 – 10 frames of various sizes this include a cell foundation
• Brood box
• Bottom board
• Hive stand

Setting up an apiary with multiple hives is quite an easy task, since there are plenty of beekeeping kits available which include the beehives. You just decide how you are going to expand your business. You can judge this using your past experience of beekeeping. Good luck and great success!

Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/small-business-articles/apiary-supplies-langstroth-bee-hive-3622299.html

About the Author

Uno Birawan is a writer and wrote a lot about beekeeping. You can find the information on Beekeeper Supplies by visiting his site www.TheHoneyBeekeeper.com