How To Keep Bees - Simple Beginners' Guide

Bee keeping is a hobby, believe it or not. These little stinging creatures can be a lot of fun if handled with care and there are a lot of sweet returns too. However, if you intend to take up this hobby you are best advised to get some basic knowledge about bee keeping - and the necessary mandatory equipment too if you do not want the post office calling you to collect your bees from their vicinity.



Now, the most basic piece of equipment that is required for bee keeping is the bee hive itself. Let us take some time to understand the structure and the necessity of the bee hive. It is not like you are required to go out and get yourself a natural bee hive from out of a tree. This is not at all recommended as these little creatures are very possessive of their home and the occupants so you may just as well land yourself in bed with multiple stings that may also prove fatal at times. The hive we are talking about is constructed out of wood and looks like a small wooden cabinet to be kept outdoors.



The beehive you need should have 5 supers. These are the most important part of a bee hive as this is the part of the hive that the bees use to store their product - honey. These 5 supers are placed between the base of the hive and the top cover. Each of the 5 supers contain 9 to 10 frames where the bees keep their off spring and honey. You decide if you want to have deep supers or shallow supers. Deep supers mean that you will have to get yourself a one - size foundation unlike the shallow super where you will need multiple size foundations. The bad part of a deep super is that you will have to lug out a hundred pound weight when it is full.



When you are ready to set up your hive ensure that you place it on a flat surface where it will be pretty difficult for the hive to tip over when a strong wind blows. Also place it in a place where people and animals will not be able to reach it and disturb the bees.



Now for something called a spacer. these are bits of equipment or rather wooden planks that are used to space out the frames in the super. You will need a few of these but do not worry a beehive kit will usually have all that you will require to set up your bee hive.



Now when the bees have created enough honey and you need to get it out of the hive you will need to have a 'smoker'. This is not a cigarette puffing human but a piece of bee keeping equipment that is used to 'smoke' the bees away from the hive so that you can safely collect the produce inside the supers. Smokers are simple in design and are constructed out of a funnel and bellows. You will need to use some smoking material such as 'burlap' to create a lot of smoke, dried corn cobs are another good alternative to create a lot of smoke.



Your bee hive will come with a metal hive tool used to pry open the beehive and scrape the honey from the frames. A furmer board is used to encourage the bees to leave a super and let you take their honeycombs. Now for the bees themselves, You could order them or set up your bee hive and wait patiently until they find it and build their colony themselves.



Go to the net and find the best way to order your bee hive and also the inmates. This may be the start of a very interesting hobby.



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