Honey Bees Beekeeping How To Handle Honey Bees

Author: Gen Wright

Author: Gen Wright

Intruders are going to get stung by the bees protecting the hive. As a bee-keeper you have to understand that you will get your fair share of stings. If you have any fear of honey bees or of being stung, you will have to overcome those misgivings. As you gain confidence and become more proficient at handling honey bees, you will be stung less often.One of the tips you will want to learn is when to manipulate bees. You can open a hive and examine the honey bee colonies on days that are warm and sunny with no wind. The older bees will be out foraging for food on those days, but they will stay in the hive on colder, windy and rainy days. When there is an abundance of nectar, honey bees are much easier to examine. Plying them with sugar syrup may help, but not always. Spring is the best time to examine the bees because there less bees in the colony.Honey bees will usually tolerate a gentle bee-keeper handling them for 10 to 15 minutes. It is best not to keep the hives open much longer than you have to. Brood examinations should never be drawn out. When inspecting the hives, if the honey bees become noisy or very defensive, it might be better to close the hive. If there is honey in the combs, this could attract robber bees unless there is an over abundance of nectar. If robbing starts, you might need to stop examinations for the rest of the day and reduce the entrances to the hives. Once the robbing starts it is not easy to stop.If you need to examine a colony, always have a lighted smoker so that you can produce cool smoke. Before you open the hives, you want to puff smoke into the entrance of the hive. Some bee-keepers move on to other colonies allowing time for the bees to react to the smoke before they return and open the hive. Keep your smoker handy because you will need it when making your inspections of each colony. When you lift the roof put in a few puffs of smoke to clam the honey bees. When you are near the bees, you should move carefully so that you do not alarm them. When removing the roof of the hive be as gentle as possible, honey bees are sensitive to vibrations, avoid any jolting of the hives. After removing the roof of the hive, work from the back or the side. The first frame to be removed for examination should be the frame nearest the outside edge. If robbing is not a problem, you can lean the frame against the outside of the hive to give you more room to work or you can lay it flat on top of the other frames this helps to keep the honey bees down in the frames or you can use a manipulation cloth. When you need to remove the frame, pry it loose with the hive tool. With a firm grip on the loosened frame, gently lift it, trying not to scrape the bees on the adjoining frame. Leave the frame outside of the hive, to give you a larger working area. If you scrape the comb or frame, you can leave the scrapings in the hive the bees will clean it up. About the Author:

My name is Bob Prior-Sanderson. I am a successful bee-keeper and I publish eBooks about the long lost secrets of beekeeping by the old masters. Website: http://www.firstlessonsinbeekeeping.com

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