Beekeeper Wayne Pitts illustrates for Bite-size Green TV host Angelina Le Grix the different types of bees in a hive, and their life stages. We also learn how he got started with his own apiary. Part 1 of 4, episode “The Buzz about Bees.”

Beekeeping is a very popular hobby and obviously the main reason for setting up, maintaining, and stocking a beehive is to harvest the honey. You will know that it is time to harvest the honey (the month depends on your location in the world) when you look into one of your hives and find that the frames of comb are full of honey and that the honey bees have covered it with wax caps.   It’s time to remove the super and keep it in a bee proof room prior to extraction.

When the super is full of capped honeycomb you are going to have to remove the honey bees from that super. There are several commercial chemicals available on the market that will make this easier.  All the bee-keeper has to do is apply the chemical to a fume board or pad and place it on top of the super.  When the honey bees detect the chemical they head to the bottom of the hive to the brood chamber or a part full super below the full one.  This leaves the super full of capped honeycomb and bee free for you to harvest.

This product does not harm the honey bees; the honey bees simply find the scent offensive and move away from it.  Another method bee-keepers use to clear honey bees from a super is by using a crown board with a Porter bee escape fitted.  There is also the Canadian clearer board and the clearing cone; there is also WBC cone escape if required.  Using the escape method can take 24 to 48 hours.

Now that you have removed the super you need to prepare the frames for extraction. The first step in this preparation is to remove the wax caps that the honey bees have used to seal the honey into the comb. Many bee-keepers use between nine and twelve frames in their supers, some modern hives take more frames.  By using the correct number of frames to suit your type of hive you give the honey bees enough room to draw the comb out to the edge of the frame, they then cap it right on the very edge. This makes it easier to remove the wax caps by cutting flush to the frame.  Bee-keepers use a metal knife to remove the caps, the knife works best if the knife blade is hot, after all it’s easier to cut warm wax then it is to cut cold wax. You can keep the knife blade hot by keeping it in hot water.

A tall jug or pitcher that covers the knife blade is ideal. If the container is metal and can be kept on the heat then so much the better.  Some bee-keepers like to use their bread knife to remove the wax caps from the honey comb while others prefer an electrical knife that is designed just for bee-keepers. Another method of removing the caps is by using an uncapping fork.

Once you have removed the caps from the comb the honey is exposed, you can then use a straining cloth or bag or you could secure a piece of cheesecloth over an empty pot or container and put the wax cappings on the cheesecloth the honey will drain through the cheesecloth and the bee’s wax caps will be left on the cheesecloth.  This wax can be processed in a solar wax extractor or in a steamer/melter.  Once the caps are removed from the honey comb the honey is ready to be extracted.

This can be done by resting the frame on its top bar (upside down) in a tray or suspend the frame upside down over a tray.  The honey will drain out of the comb.  The honey comb cells have a slight up turn towards the top bar.  This is to prevent the honey running out when being deposited by the worker bees.  This is not very a very efficient method but is used as a last resort for some if they can’t get access to an extractor.

It is perhaps better if you borrow a centrifugal extractor from a fellow bee-keeper or your local group, club or association. There are many models of extractor I would suggest you seek advice.  You can of course make cut comb honey in 16 oz, 12 oz or 8 oz rectangles.  Rectangular cutters are available or you could use a hot knife and cut your own rectangles.

The beginner is not always able to get the best as an instructor, it is therefore, a good idea to supplement such instruction by a course of reading, and thus be able to make comparisons and discuss the instructor’s methods in the light of those procedures used by others. In fact, I am inclined to think that a thorough course of reading is the most desirable first step that can be taken by a prospective bee-keeper. Having done this, the next step is to subscribe to a honey beekeeping magazine. At this stage a season with an expert bee-keeper would be of great value, when the reading will enable the learner to use the information, and see the reason for things instead of being simply an imitator, following blindly in the footsteps of his teacher.

Many people who now keep honey bees never had any formal training. Many have become interested in honey bees from the capture of a stray swarm. Neighbouring bee-keepers would be visited, books or magazines borrowed or bought, improved hives and methods adopted, and, as the honey bees increased, so did the enthusiasm and interest, until, finally, the honey bees received more time and attention than did the regular business. Then bee-keeping eventually become a speciality or the sole business.

When a person has decided to embark on a bee-keeping venture as a business, they should learn the business thoroughly before investing extensively. No hard and fast rules can be laid down, so much depending upon circumstances. A young man with no established business would do well to pass one or two seasons in the company of some experienced bee-keeper, as has been already suggested, while a more experienced person already in business, with a family to support, may find it advisable to move into bee-keeping gradually, reading and studying as his honey bees’ increase. Whatever the method employed, let the work be thorough; and, especially, be sure to get plenty of actual experience before venturing into honey beekeeping as a business.

On occasions, a person already has some honey bees when he decides to become a full-time bee-keeper. Perhaps he never formally makes any such decision. He captures a stray swarm, and saves the honey bees, and the stock increases with such wonderful speed that the owner becomes a bee-keeper of substance and scarcely realizes it. This amazing speed with which honey bees increase is one strong argument in favour of a person securing a few colonies and building them up into an apiary instead of buying a large number of colonies at the beginning. By rearing queens that will supply the newly made colonies with brood, and you furnishing them with full sheets of comb foundation, the amount by which honey bees can  increase in a favourable season is something almost beyond belief. Just how or where the first colonies come from may well be considered.

Sometimes the person who has steady work, and a good income, can buy honey bees and in the hives that they intend to use. If the honey bees and hives can be obtained locally, from a reliable bee-keeper, so much the better. Of course, there are instances in which a person has more time than money, or there may be a trace of the opportunist in their make-up, and, in either case, the hunting of honey bees, or the putting-out of decoy hives to catch stray swarms, will appeal to them. In those parts of the country where many honey bees are kept, as in Colorado or California, there is no difficulty in catching swarms in decoy hives; in fact, there is difficulty in keeping swarms out of chimneys and the walls of buildings. While out riding one day a man in Colorado, pointed out one house where the walls were covered with five colonies.

He used ordinary boxes instead of hives, and put them pretty high up in tall trees, as a good hive, easily accessible, is quite likely to be stolen.  A piece of old black comb is fastened inside the hive or box, and the hive or box is firmly fastened to the tree so that it is not to be easily blown down, a position being chosen where the hive will be in the shade. A tree on the edge of the woods should be chosen, because, when a swarm reaches the woods, it at once begins a search for a suitable hollow in which to make its home. This is sometimes done in advance by worker bees when foraging.  The hives or boxes are examined at least once a week, more often if there is time, and when one is found to be occupied by honey bees the hive or box is removed and another put in its place.

Honey bees are also found by walking through the woods in the swarming season.  After the honey bees have been found, then the next task is getting them out of the tree and into a hive. Sometimes it is possible to shake them from a light branch into a box, if they are located on a large limb, you might need to cut off the portion where they are located, and lower it by means of a rope. Having captured the honey bees they need to be transferred from the box to a hive. Frames with drawn comb should be put in the hive.  A white cloth or canvas should be placed in front of the hive and the honey bees shaken onto it.  Make sure there is a slight incline up to the hive entrance. If the hive is left on the spot for several hours, perhaps until dusk, nearly all of the live honey bees will go into the hive.

As said at the beginning, if a person has and a reasonable income they might find it more satisfactory to buy honey bees in a hive; but if they have the time and inclination to get a start by hunting honey bees, or by putting up decoy hives, then this should help them to do it.

The topbar beehive is not a new concept. Historical reference to the top-bar hive date back to the 1600′s. Most of today’s top bar bee hives are derived from work in the 1960′s. It was perfected for use in Kenya, Africa, and is often referred to as the Kenya Hive. Today it is also used in many other developing countries for it’s simple design and cost effective management methods. In recent years it has also become more popular in the United States.
The traditional Langstroth beehive consists of several boxes (supers) and numerous other parts that are either difficult to build or expensive to buy. In addition to the beehive, the Langstroth hive requires many other pieces of equipment to harvest honey and manage your bees. Not so with the top bar hive as you can read below.
Simple and Maintenance-Free
The top bar hive has only a few components: the hive body (box), 20 to 30 top bars (frames), and a lid. That’s all you will ever need. Compare that to your Langstroth hive. Bees build their own comb which eliminates the need for costly frames. The top bars are re-used after the harvest.
Non-Invasive Design
The top bar hive is healthier for bees. To check your bees, you will not have to take the whole thing apart. Hence, your bees will be less disturbed by your presence and checking of the comb.
Easy Harvest
To harvest your honey, you simply remove the bars with honeycomb. Unlike traditional methods, you won’t have to take the hive apart and disturb the bees as much. Not only is the top bar hive less stressful to harvest for you, it also does not disturb the bees as much. In addition to honey, the top bar hive has more beeswax to harvest. You also do not need a honey extractor/centrifuge or uncapping knife which saves you thousands of dollars. Smoking is completely unnecessary and many top bar hive users do not wear protective clothing either. (For the beginner I do advise to use some kind of protection, gloves and veil as the minimum!) Once you remove the honey comb, the bees will go about their business as usual. Try that on a Langstroth hive.
Healthier Bees
The top bar hive is designed for the bees’ optimal living conditions. This makes a colony much stronger and enables it to fight off pests and diseases on their own, much better than in a Langstroth hive. Besides healthier bees this will save you hundreds of dollars in medication as well as disappointment.
Why doesn’t everyone use top bar hives?
The top bar hive is not designed for maximum honey production, although there have been reports otherwise. For the hobby beekeeper a few pounds less honey are well worth the ease of management. You will harvest more beeswax with a top bar hive though. Any hobbyist should have more of an interest in keeping healthy bees than in squeezing out a few more pounds of honey from a stressed, overworked colony. With just one top bar hive, you will still have more than enough honey for your whole family and friends.

to learn more visit www.easybeekeeping.net