Apiculture: Bee Rearing Basics

Apiculture (Bee Rearing) Objectives

• Apiculture involves the beekeeping, or rearing, of bees
• Beekeepers raise bees in man-made structures called hives
• Bees are bred commercially in apiaries, which are areas with many beehives
• Apiaries should be located in areas with plenty of bee pastures, like flowering plants
• The economic importances of bees include; pollination, employment, honey, beeswax and manufacturing industries
• There are three main types of bees in a hive: the queen, drones, and workers
• Factors to consider when siting/establishing an apiary are: site selection, flooding, nuisance and water availability
• Harvesting of honey and bee products requires specific protective equipment
• The use of special tools is needed for bee rearing

Common Varieties of Bees

• Beekeepers primarily care for bee species whose names start with "Apis" because this genera produce honey
• Apis dorsata is known as the rock bee
• Apis indica, or the Indian bee, is easily domesticated and commonly used for honey production, yielding 2 to 5 kg per colony annually
• Apis florea is referred to as the little bee
• Apis mellifera, or the Italian bee, communicates food availability via a dance routine and stings less, producing a high amount of honey

Economic Benefits of Bees

• Bees pollinate many plants, including important food and horticultural crops
• Beekeeping creates jobs and income, especially in rural areas
• Bees produce honey from flower nectar, utilized as food and in food processing
• Beeswax is used to make candles, floor and furniture polish, paints, and cosmetics
• Propolis, made from plant resins, is used as a medicine because it has antibiotic properties
• Manufacturing industries provide materials and equipment needed for beekeeping

Types of bees in a hive

• There are three types of honeybees in a hive: the queen, drones and workers
• All three types of bee have different functions and work together to maintain the hive

Queen Bee

• The queen bee is the largest bee in the hive
• The queen bee is the only fertile female in the hive
• Queen bees have long abdomens and short wings
• They have smooth, non-barbed stingers, capable of stinging repeatedly
• Queen bees take 16 days to develop
• They lives for one to six years
• The queen bee leaves the hive once to mate, mating high in the air with six to eight drone bees over 2-7 days
• She returns to the hive and lays up to 2400 eggs per day/600,000 lifetime
• The queen bee keeps the hive as a unit by producing pheromones
• She kills potential virgin queen bees
• The queen bee leads the colony out of the hive when swarming

Worker Bee

• Worker bees are the smallest bee in the hive and are infertile females
• They have short pointed abdomens and long wings
• Worker bees possess a barbed stinger, which can only be used once resulting in death
• They take 21 days to develop
• They live for six weeks to five months
• Worker bees clean empty cells
• Worker bees feed queen larvae with royal jelly
• Worker bees feed worker larvae with royal jelly, pollen and honey
• Worker bees produce wax and use it to make the cells of the honeycomb
• Worker bees seal honey into cells
• Worker bees feed drone bees
• Worker bees groom the queen bee
• Worker bees pack pollen into comb cells

Drone Bee

• Drone bees are smaller than the queen
• They are fertile males with blunt abdomens
• The drone bee possess large eyes that touch
• Drones have no stingers and poorly developed mouthparts, requiring feeding from workers
• Drones take 24 days to develop and live up to two months
• They mate with the queen (after they mate they die)

Factors to Consider when Establishing an Apiary

• Site selection is key, with an area that must provide a wide variety of flowering plants
• Flowering shrubs will provide nectar and pollen for continuous food supply
• Apiaries should be away from buildings included public places
• Areas should be away from cultivation or where large number of people work each day and away from persons' private dwelling
• Avoid possible flooding, soil erosion or land slippage
• Avoid nuisance to neighbours and avoid bees flying over public spaces
• The location of the Apiary should be easily accessible
• Do not paint boxes in bright colors
• Place hive in area where there is enough working space
• Site should be dry and airy and ensure availability of food and water
• Shelter hive from strong wind and direct sunlight and protect from animals with high odour such as horses

Parts of a Hive

• Outer cover with crown board
• Inner cover
• Honey super
• Frames with wax foundation
• Queen excluder
• Hive bodies
• Entrance reducer
• Floor board
• Bottom stand

Harvesting Honey

• The beekeeper must wear protective clothing to avoid being stung by the bees
• Smoker should be used to puff smoke into the hive upon entrance to calm the bees
• Remove the top of the hive and smoke the opening to drive the bees lower into the hive
• Remove any lingering bees with a bee brush or a gas or electric blower
• Pull the frames out of the hive and put them in an empty
• An uncapping knife, fork or scratcher to uncap the wax sealed honeycomb on both sides of the frames needs to be used
• Place the frames in a honey extractor (manual or electric) which spins the frames forcing the honey
• Drip the honey down to the bottom and it can be collected via a tap at the bottom
• Honey should be strained through several layers of cheesecloth to remove any bits of wax and other debris
• Ready the honey to be bottled in clean, sterilised bottles

Harvesting Beeswax

• Beeswax can be harvested at the same time as the honey
• The wax capping that are removed during honey harvesting are collected and washed several times in warm water
• The clean capping is then melted using a double boiler or leaving it in the sun on a metal or plastic tray covered by a transparent cover
• The melted beeswax is then poured into a block mould to set

Harvesting Propolis

• Propolis can be carefully scrapped from lids, frames and hive boxes
• A propolis trap can also be used (a plastic mesh placed on the hive)
• Take caution not to scrape bits of dirt, paint or bees together with the propolis

Bee Tools and Equipment

• Beehives are box-like enclosed structures in which bees live
• Frames rectangular structures that hold the honeycomb within beehive
• A bee smoker is an invaluable tool when it comes to keeping the honeybees calm
• A hive tool is a metal bar that detaches the frames of the hive and scrapes away wax and propolis
• Queen excluder is to limit the queen's access to the honey supers
• Bee brush is used to gently brush honey bees off of frames when inspecting or extracting honey
• Uncapping Knife is a very sharp knife with offset handle and a center ridge
• Honey extractor is a mechanical device used in the extraction of honey from honeycombs

Diseases in bees

• Varroasis mites is when emerging brood may have deformed limbs and are weak with short lives, treat the bees with chemicals
• Acarine mites means the bees have a distended abdomen with one hind wing with smoke
• Dysentery with a distended abdomen raw sugar

American foulbrood prevention and treatment

• Uneven brood pattern, sour odour
• Prevent by proper sanitation (sterilize hive tools)
• Yellow to dark brown tracheal tubes
• Ropey sticky larval remains
• Sunken, darkened or perforated caps
• Black scale top and bottom of cells
• The antibiotic oxytetracycline can be used

European foulbrood prevention and treatment

• Uneven brood pattern, sulphurous
• Yellow to brown larvae
• Tracheal tubes visible or melted
• Rubbery, yellowy white larvae with melanin
• Loose brown to black scales at top and bottom of cells
• Treat with medicine

Swarming

• Swarming is a natural process where a large group of bees leaves to establish another colony

Fun Facts of Bee Keeping

• A complete colony is a hive with 10 frames
• Nuptial flight is the mating flight of bees and ants