subject: Beekeeping And Understanding The Bee Hive [print this page] The most important part of the beekeeping process is the hives where the bees live. There are different methods that have been used to make the extraction and collection process of the honey to be easy. The best known hive is the Langstroth hive. It is the one that is used by many beekeepers in the US. The advantage of the Langstroth hive is that it can be moved. It is actually a frame and is rectangular in shape. It has got many hives in it. The artificial combs that are on the frames are all made from materials like plastic or wax. This is the base on which the bees start building their colony and once the bees start building many colonies, you can expect amazing results from this Langstroth hive.
The other hive that can be used in the beekeeping process is the top-bar hives. The top bar beekeeping is very common in Africa. This is as the name of the hive indicates a top bar from which the hives will hang. The advantage of the top bar beekeeping is that the honey that is made in this process is of very good and high quality that it can be sold for a huge sum. The disadvantage of the top bar beekeeping is that the combs that are attached to the top bar need to be thrown off and new ones used in the place of the old ones. This increases the work and also the cost of maintaining the top bar beekeeping.
There are certain important aspects that have to be thought about, if you are planning to keep bees. There are certain areas where the bees cannot be grown and so if the area you live in restricts the beekeeping, then you may have to look for an alternate place to have your hives. The space that you have available for the bees to grow is also another important factor that decides if you will be able to have hives. Though most of the bees are not really aggressive, there can be times when the constant presence of bees irritates people. So they should not be kept near places where there is a high population. At the same time, the beekeeper should make sure that the bees are very close to a farm where there are a lot of flowers. This will help to increase the amount of honey that is produced and also increase the yield from plants as there is increased pollination. Fresh water is important for the bees to thrive. The bee hives should also be away from predators that can drink the honey. Though the bees are active all through the year and you will get honey from them all round the year, there are certain times when the honey produced is much better in quality and quantity. All these should be kept in mind when the bees are grown. The type of hive is as important as the other factors in getting a good yield.
