subject: Make The Right Choices For Your Beekeeping Hive [print this page] One of the most critical decisions you have to make when just starting out in beekeeping relates to where the bees will live. We all know this home as the beekeeping hive. Hive construction technology has progressed to the point where it's easy for the beekeeper to gather honey.
The Langstroth remains the most popular hive choice in the United States. That basic design has been around for over 150 years as Mr. L.L. Langstroth came up with it in 1852. The Langstroth hive, as it is commonly referred to, is made up of rectangular frames that hold the combs.
Combs are a wax sheet or plastic base that hang within a frame. On average each frame holds about ten combs. Bees will utilize the wax sheets as a base when making wax and constructing honeycombs. Bees will start to store both honey and pollen inside the combs once the honeycomb is constructed. The beekeeping hive design makes it easy to gather honey by taking out the frames once they're full of honey.
The top-bar design isn't used as much by United States beekeepers but is very popular in other countries. A top-bar beekeeping hive has bars which run along the top frame. As the bees build wax combs they connect to the bars then hang the combs down from those bars. In contrast to the Langstroth removable hive frames, the top-bar hive bars can't be used again once removed and the honey harvested.
Because the bars can't be reused, the honey output from the top-bar hives tends to be much lower than other hives. With less honey what would be the point of this type of hive? Because the honey quality you do get tends to be the highest quality honey due to the clear yellow combs. By selling this type of honey you can offer an awesome in-comb honey product.
After choosing the type of hive, several other decisions must be made prior to starting the beekeeper hive. Start out with making sure your local regulations allow keeping hives in your area. Some areas limit what you can do and even prohibit keeping hives.
Will there be enough space on the property to correctly place the hive? The beekeeping hive shouldn't be set up next to places where people tend to gather like a park. A lot of people, especially if they're allergic to bee stings, do not like being close to areas with a significant amount of bees.
Ideally, the beekeeping hive should be put close to a good pollen and nectar source. However, while being close to food sources would make the bees food-harvesting task easier they can actually travel great distances in a day to get food. Many beekeepers actually depend upon their bees to assist with pollinating their crops or garden.
One other necessary hive placement point to consider would be putting the hive close to a water source. The beekeeping hive needs to be near fresh water. That water can be natural, like a creek, or a water supply provided by the beekeeper.
Finally, the hive needs to be placed where it's protected from a variety of potentially damaging factors. Several types of animals, such as bears, raccoons, or skunks, love honey and will break into the hive to get it. Also, some people would vandalize the hive if it was easy to get to.
Make sure the hive will be secure from any type of inclement weather. Even though bees are not active year-round, the beekeeping hive should be accessible at all times. With the proper hive design and placement, the resulting beekeeping activities will be more enjoyable and profitable.
