Beekeeping for beginners: where to start? Methods of beekeeping

The market presents a large number of textbooks "Beekeeping for beginners". Where to begin? The answer to this question is difficult to find in them. This is due to the fact that the literature uses terminology that is not always understandable to a young beekeeper. Therefore, he has to look for information in different sources.

In fact, in order to acquire their own apiary, only a great desire is enough. And another important component of the process is the absence of an acute allergic reaction to bee stings. All other skills and abilities will come with experience. Many will suffice one year to understand the principles of breeding bees.

Required inventory of any beekeeper

To equip the apiary, certain things will be required. It is known to any person who has familiarized with any manual from the series "Beekeeping for Beginners". How to start purchasing relevant attributes? First of all, you should pay attention to the hives. They can be collected independently or purchased from other beekeepers or in stores. There are no special requirements for such a product.

Secondly, you need to take care of the frames. Both the beginning of beekeeping and its subsequent continuation is based on the fact that honey can be extracted from the hive. But there is one condition - not to damage the nest, not to disturb the uterus. For this purpose, frames were invented. They allow you to view bees for infections or parasites, collect honey, but do not disturb the family.

Thirdly, a smoke detector is required. It is used to sting the bees up. This will avoid a large number of bites during a routine audit or collection of honey. But completely exclude them will not work.

And the last thing that is useful for the beekeeper is appropriate clothing. It is monotonous and discreet, so as not to irritate the inhabitants of the hives. Also attached to it is a cap with a grid that will allow you to easily view the family, without worrying that the sting of aggressive bees will reach the face and eyes.

Where to place the apiary?

All the textbooks "Beekeeping for Beginners" speak first of all about the arrangement of the place for hives. How to start choosing a territory for an apiary? It is desirable that the environment is maximally suited for the bees to feel naturally. But often the beekeeper has no special choice between the territories, so you need to equip the place that is available.

It is desirable that the radius of flying around bees, which is about 2 km, is planted with plants. Of course, ideally they should be the honeycombs. We must try to exclude the presence in the immediate vicinity of residential buildings. The fact is that families can swarm. In the process, they are able to fly to the neighbors, than they will deliver to him and the beekeeper some inconvenience.

If the hives are placed in open natural terrain, which affects well the general state of the families, it is recommended to make a small hollow. She will protect the houses from the wind. This will help the youngsters to learn quickly. Moreover, if the winds are strong, many young bees will perish at all.

Why can bees perish?

It is difficult for young beekeepers to force the hives to pay for themselves in the first year. This is due to the fact that insects can die, if not show concern. This will tell any textbook "Beekeeping for beginners". How to start protecting your apiary? To get an answer to this question, it is necessary to understand the dangers that bees lie in wait for.

Most often the death of whole families comes because of ticks or infections that appear because the old frames have been poorly treated. Such problems completely fall on the beekeeper's shoulders, since, besides him, there is no one to blame. You need to carefully handle the honeycomb, check the hives for cleanliness and safety.

Bad on insects affects pollen with GMOs. Such plants in general can call into question all beekeeping. How to start protection from them? Answer in principle does not exist. You can only carefully choose a place for equipping the apiary.

In general, if you follow your wards so that they do not starve and feel well, then they are not afraid of death.

What can not be fed bees in winter?

Many beekeepers believe that the only food for insects in the winter is sweet sugar syrup. But not all of them live in beekeeping! Where to start feeding your wards? These can be honey cakes or other solid foods that insects can immediately eat. But you can not use a syrup for these purposes. This is due to three reasons:

1. Little activity for processing. A syrup is a normal nectar, with which it takes a long time to work, in order to consume it for food. In winter, any unnecessary activity will have a bad effect on the safety of the family.
2. Limited opportunities for departure. To process the syrup, you need bribes, and you can not get it without flowers.
3. Bees do not eat cold foods.

Thus, the situation will be much better if fed them with syrup in early autumn. Then the bees themselves will make blanks for the winter.

Bee frames

Each hive resembles a human dwelling. This is a multi-storey house with apartments in which are frames. And the basics of beekeeping for beginners will tell you that there are two types of these devices:

1. Shop.
2. Nesting.

The store is intended to store honey in it. But the uterus sometimes confuses such a frame with the nest and lays eggs in it. There is nothing bad in this, as a couple of bees in the hive will not play a special role.

Nest is oriented solely to oviposition. Therefore, it is necessary to be as responsible as possible in order to by mistake not cut the honeycomb from it to extract honey.

Revision in spring

The first time to check your hives is when the temperature rises above 14 degrees. This is true only on condition that the beekeeping was selected. For beginners, 3-5 families are enough, since it will be difficult to master more inspections. There are several rules that must be taken into account during the spring audit.

First, the verification begins with the weakest families. They are easy to calculate, since the bees fly out much later. Now they need to be fed, otherwise they will die.

Secondly, it is necessary to clean the hives from garbage, which during the winter has accumulated a lot. To facilitate this process, beekeepers equip the houses with a double bottom. The second is removed in the spring, and in the autumn it is placed on the former place.

And thirdly, it is necessary to remove all the old frames. It is also desirable to clean those that are decided to leave in the hive, but bees do not always allow it. However, if pests, mildew or moth are found on the basis, then it is necessary to extract it, in spite of the discontent of the family.

Apiary storage equipment

Any person before starting to engage in beekeeping, sets itself certain goals. In most cases, they are concluded directly in the extraction of honey for its subsequent personal use or sale for profit. But in order for this to happen, you will need to purchase the appropriate inventory.

Attributes of the beekeeper collecting honey, includes the following:

• Puff knives to print out the honeycomb.
• A honey extractor to extract honey from the frames.
• A saucepan where the knives will heat up. If their blade is not hot, then it is harder to print out the honeycomb, or even impossible at all.
• Vessels where honey will be stored. For this, aluminum flasks are usually used .
• Items with which you can prepare a new framework. This is a thin wire or a thick line, punch, wood.

All these products can be bought after the beekeeper has acquired equipment for equipping the apiary. The fact is that they will only be needed at the end of the summer. And the initial expenditure and so will be large.

How not to irritate the bees?

Insects in the apiary are not aggressive people at all. But there are several elements to which they will react extremely hostile. And before you start beekeeping from scratch, it is recommended that you read them.

Since for many years the enemies of hives have always been martens or bears, an aggressive reaction developed on the hair. Therefore, it is necessary to put on a hat, hide all the hair, so as not to irritate the bees once again. By the way, for the same reason they do not like dark and black colors, what should be considered when choosing clothes.

Bees also negatively relate to sharp smells. It can be perfume, garlic or tobacco. Therefore, if the smoker decided to engage in the apiary, then he should immediately abandon the bad habit.

Do not make sharp movements near the hives. If the beekeeper noticed an insect near him, then he should not pay attention to him. Especially if he's wearing protective clothing. The bee will fly away quickly when it feels that there is no interest in it.

And the last - it is strictly forbidden to stand when viewing the frames just before entering the hive. This is done either from the back side, or from one of the sides.

Conclusion

Specific methods of beekeeping can not be taken as a basis. But they need to pay attention to them. This is due to the fact that each beekeeper develops his own breeding methodology based on his activities and personal experience.

In general, beekeeping is a very profitable and interesting process. The beekeeper spends a lot of time in nature, he always has high-quality honey at his fingertips. In a word, the advantages of such hobbies are enough. And to feel them, you just have to start.