Where are bees raised? Keeping Bees for Beginners

Raising bees yourself is useful and profitable, but this process is accompanied by a number of difficulties. In order for beekeeping to generate a stable income, you need to take into account all the rules and features of breeding these insects. This article will discuss the main issues related to raising bees for beginners at home.

How to raise bees at home

To properly organize the work of the apiary, you must adhere to the following rules:

• the apiary should be surrounded by trees and located on the windless side of the site;
• to ensure good lighting, the hives must be placed at an angle to the south;
• if the apiary is located on a personal plot, then it should be fenced with a two-meter fence;
• honey plants do not like fuss around their home, so it is better to place the hives away from the road;
• location of the apiary in a lowland, damp place or near a plant can cause serious illnesses in honey plants.

The hives should be located at a distance of 4-6 m from each other, and the gap between the rows can be 5-6 m. In small areas such an arrangement is not always possible, so the hives are placed near buildings, under trees, along the fence line, in stationary and mobile pavilions. During the winter cold period, the hives must be moved to an equipped winter hut or any suitable room with low humidity.

To engage in beekeeping, you need to prepare money to purchase the following things:

• for high-quality and suitable hives;
• on families of purebred bees;
• for equipment, special tools and suits.

These costs, if the apiary is properly organized, will pay off at the end of the first honey collection. From 30 bee families you can get up to 1 thousand kg of high-quality honey.

Basic methods of bee breeding

To choose a method Dilution is influenced by various factors:

• ability to collect honey;
• wintering features;
• type of hives and their design;
• characteristics of the bee breed.

The main method for breeding honey plants is the use of layering. At the beginning of spring, the queen is selected from the main hive and transferred to a new house. The bees left without a queen begin to create queen cells. Two weeks later, you can cut out ripe queen cells and transfer them to layers consisting of frames collected in other hives. After 16 days, new queens begin to emerge from the queen cells.

Another method is more suitable for beginners. It consists of dividing a strong family of bees into two equal groups. The honeycomb and brood are distributed into two hives, spaced a short distance apart. For the second hive it is necessary to purchase a new queen, but it is better if the bees raise her themselves, then high egg production can be expected from her.

The characteristics of keeping bees are influenced by climatic conditions. Family development takes on average up to 70 days, but in some regions this stage can be only 40 days, and in others it can stretch up to 100 days. During colony growth, bees must be provided with sufficient food and pollen.

Keeping and breeding bees for beginners using pavilions

The flowering of honey plants is short-lived, so bee hives must be constantly moved to a new place so that the insects are not left without work. To simplify this task, special structures were created - pavilions on wheels. The hives installed in them are convenient to transport from place to place. To ensure the unhindered flight of bees, you need to make entrances. Front wall The pavilion is painted in different colors to help honey plants find their home.

The pavilion needs additional space for the beekeeper to work. The entire structure can be insulated with glass wool, which will allow bee colonies to develop well and produce honey for a long time. The costs of equipment and maintenance of the pavilion are similar to the costs of an apiary. The profitability of beekeeping is especially important for beginning beekeepers. One pavilion can accommodate 30 bee families and will pay for itself after just two years.

To get strong and productive families, the first step is to breed queens. To start breeding them, you need to consider the following rules:

• prepare cells for laying eggs;
• If there is no nectar, provide the bees with food.

Good queens can only come from healthy and productive parents who will pass on their genetic characteristics to their offspring. The amount of honey that bees produce depends on their breed. A hardworking colony that actively collects nectar from the main stream has a much better chance of surviving the winter. Queens in this family do not need additional feeding . Before you start breeding queens, you need to select the strongest bee colonies.

Preparing the hives

The hive is the main element of the apiary and bee breeding begins with its preparation. You can purchase a ready-made hive in a store or build it yourself. In any case, you need to study the designs and types of hives in order to choose a model suitable for a particular apiary. Types of hives vary in the number and size of frames. Hives can also be double-walled and single-walled, have a permanent or detachable bottom.

Multi-hull hives for bee breeding

A strong family needs to be divided into two buildings. In spring, the queens should be moved to the upper part, where more heat is retained. When the frames are filled with brood and the colony expands, the bodies will need to be swapped. To the families that spent the winter in one building, you need to add other individuals and an additional building containing honeycombs with food.

Need to check after winter colonies in multi-hull hives and replace frames with foundation. After changing the location of the buildings, a dividing grid is fixed, which will prevent bees from swarming. Multi-hull hives allow you to increase the productivity of bee colonies and obtain large brood.

Deck beds are a simple and convenient way to breed honey plants. This option has several advantages:

In winter and spring, bees require more careful care and maintenance. By paying due attention to the hives during this period, you can get fairly strong families and a large volume of nectar in the summer. It is necessary to constantly monitor temperature indicators in the hives and beehives, monitor the development of brood, bees and queens, and count dead animals. Insects must be provided with food and feel comfortable in your hive.

Pest Review

Bees have many pests and enemies. The main types are the following:

• mole;
• mice;
• ants;
• birds.

To prevent the appearance of moths, it is necessary to constantly monitor the order in bee hives and raise strong colonies. If the pest does appear, then it is necessary to fumigate the spare frames with sulfurous smoke and place them in free hives. The second fumigation should be carried out after a week and repeated after another two weeks. To combat moths, you can also use a bedding of hops, walnut leaves, and mint at the bottom of the hive.

Mice usually damage hives during the winter. They can eat honey, bee bread, or even bees, and nibble on honeycombs. Mice are a nuisance to honey plants their smell and movement, which can lead to the weakening of families and their death. You can fight rodents using baits and traps, as well as by covering the floor in the winter hut with clay and crushed glass. In the fall, you need to install mouse barriers on the entrances.

You can protect yourself from ants by treating hive stands with special chalk or building a small ditch with water. Installing bee houses at some distance from the ground usually does not provide protection from insects.

Small entrance holes will help protect hives from birds, through which groups of worker bees can freely fly, but birds will not be able to stick their heads through.

Income and expenses from bee breeding

In the first year, the possible costs for novice beekeepers to breed bees at home can be about $3,700, while maintaining 20 families of insects. This amount includes the purchase of bee hives in, families, necessary inventory and equipment, preventive treatment.

During the first summer, you can get over 1300 kg of honey from the hives, as well as collect related products: wax, bees, pollen, bee venom. The total income will be about $4,400. Already in the first season you can recoup the costs of creating an apiary and in the future income will continue to grow.

The main task in beekeeping is to carry out all apiary work on time and correctly. As a result, by the beginning of the honey harvest period, healthy and strong bee colonies will be obtained.

Much has been said about the prospects of beekeeping. The return on financial costs in this area of ​​agricultural activity is very fast. By properly organizing the breeding of bees, the owner of the apiary can count on very substantial income in the future. Among other things, beekeeping is an interesting activity that can bring pleasure and delight with excellent results.

Nowadays, beekeeping is not a problem for beginners, since enthusiasts can always acquire complete information regarding all issues of interest. From specialized literature and numerous videos, you can find out how a wasp differs from a bee, and get information about all the nuances of beekeeping. Also, you should not ignore the folk secrets of bee breeding, based on many years of practical experience of successful beekeepers.

According to owners who diligently engage in beekeeping, activities in the apiary can have a beneficial effect on a person’s psychological state, calm the nerves, and drive away unpleasant thoughts. This does not mean that breeding and keeping bees is an easy process, equated to a hobby and nothing more. You will have to work hard to set things up, as well as solve current problems.

Valuable beekeeping products are not the only thing an apiary owner can count on. The vital activity of striped honey plants will have a beneficial effect on improving the condition of the vegetation of the garden plot and will help increase productivity.

It is important to realize that all bee colonies exist within the framework of certain laws that need to be accepted and not attempted to be radically changed. Excessive interference in the life of insects, too frequent inspections of nests can negatively affect the development of bees and the quality of honey. Each individual deserves careful treatment, since it is a significant unit of the swarm.

Beekeepers are concerned with the question: “How many bees are in one hive?” — a definite answer to which is difficult to give. The fundamental difference between a bee and a wasp lies in the number of individuals in the family. Wasps are either solitary or form small swarms. For bee colonies, the number of individuals can vary from 20 to 100 thousand. At certain periods during the year, different indicators of the number of bees in the hive are possible. It all depends on how strong and healthy the swarm is.

For a successful start, small 3-4 families of insects are enough. This will allow you to gain practical experience and learn all the intricacies of doing business. Next, the owner of the apiary will be able to gradually increase the number of individuals in families, as well as the number of swarms.

When thinking about where to start breeding bees, it is advisable to make a list of items of equipment that you will have to purchase or make yourself. The priority is to purchase a smoker, the necessary clothing, frames, chisels, containers, and devices that allow you to pump out honey and carry bees. To succeed, you will need to decide on the type of hive you need.

Popular types of hives

In order to solve the problem of how to get bees, the future owner of the apiary needs to understand the types of hives in order to choose the best option. Today there are many types of bee houses on sale, each of which has certain advantages and disadvantages.

Having given preference to the alpine version of the hive, the beekeeper will become the owner of a multi-tiered structure, which has one entrance and no internal dividing bars. Such models are quite expensive, but the substantial costs will be repaid later, thanks to the high productivity of honey and the production of a large litter of insects.

Multi-body hives are characterized by small volumes and structural lightness. A significant disadvantage of this option is that it is only suitable for a strong family with a young, fertile uterus.

Horizontal hives (beds) are also suitable only for young families. The main advantages of such structures are: ease of cleaning, ease of laying frames.

An inexperienced beekeeper will not go wrong if he chooses a Dadan hive, which has the appearance of a house, the design of which includes 12 frames. The presence of hives of this type will allow you to easily breed bees on a summer cottage, in the courtyard of a private house, or in an off-site apiary.

If desired, the beekeeper can very well, which will work well when used in the pavilion. Such structures are lightweight and their assembly is extremely simple.

Cassette hives are justified when it is necessary to successfully resist bee diseases, since the microclimate in these structures is regulated by the insects themselves. Experts do not recommend painting these hives; as an alternative, they suggest impregnating the structures with wax.

In addition, a beekeeper can become the owner of quite specific hives. The “Japanese” version has no frames; the formation of honeycombs occurs on the surface of the walls. The Warre hive also does not have frames, but there are rulers for attaching the honeycombs. A significant advantage of such structures is this: they are aimed at creating the most natural habitat for insects.

Features of the location of the apiary

When studying the information “Bees: breeding and maintenance”, you will need to pay attention to the recommendations for arranging an apiary. The key to success will be finding a good place where the hives will be placed.

The priority is to choose a site on the south side, well lit, protected from the wind, surrounded by many trees.

This will contribute to the good functioning of insects and make them more protected from various diseases.

A good solution would be to make an apiary fence in the form of a fence or to create a hedge with a height not exceeding 1.5 m. It is important to provide for the distance of the hives from paths frequently visited by people, transport roads, and industrial zones. The choice of a place in a lowland or pit is excluded, since dampness can cause discomfort to the existence of insects.

Bee breeding methods

You need to spend a lot of time familiarizing yourself with the theory of “Bees: Breeding and Keeping for Beginners” so that in practice you do not encounter insoluble problems. In particular, a beginner will have to decide on the optimal method for breeding insects. Experienced beekeepers who know how bees reproduce advise beginners to stick to two methods: layering and half-summer division.

Spring development of bees

The first method involves the spring, when the queen is moved from one nest to another with a small amount of already existing brood of different ages. The isolated queen, responsible for the reproduction of bees, will begin to actively produce new productive individuals through the creation of fistulous queen cells. It will take about two weeks for new queens to emerge. Around day 13, the beekeeper will have to select visually mature queen cells in order to layer them and place them in other hives. After this procedure, the queens will have the opportunity to live in a new place, they will begin to lay bee larvae, due to which the swarm will quickly begin to grow.

Selection of a strong swarm

The second method requires choosing a strong swarm, which will need to be divided into 2 relatively equal halves. The queen remains in one part, and the productive individual is placed in the second. It is advisable to install hives with the same distance from the location of the old nest, so that the working insects have the opportunity to divide into new families in optimal proportions. A beginner who is interested in how a bee differs from a wasp will certainly pay attention to the pronounced care of a bee swarm for its queen, which is not at all typical of a wasp family.

Pavilions for bees

During the period when plants finish flowering, the beekeeper should be concerned about finding a new place to install the hives. For the convenience of transporting the apiary farm, you can get a wheeled pavilion with multi-colored bee houses built into it. Painting hives in different colors is practiced to make it easier for insects to find their houses. Thanks to good insulation, bees can be kept in such a pavilion all year round. Naturally, the purchase of such a structure will require certain financial costs, but in practice it will turn out to be cheaper compared to the purchase of stationary equipment.

What is the essence of the rotational method?

Beginners are unlikely to benefit from the rotational method, which is often used by experienced beekeepers. This is explained by the need for constant care for insects throughout the year.

This technique involves the purchase of single folding hives, protected from low temperatures, and allows you to minimize swarm diseases.

Keeping the nests clean is of great importance.

After the onset of warmth, the apiary is installed in an area abounding in flowering trees, due to which the bees begin to work painstakingly after wintering. The beekeeper must constantly monitor the amount of food, if necessary, quickly making up for the lack of it in the feeders or removing excess. The appearance of the first spring honey is a signal for layering and harvesting of drone brood.

Due to tireless care, insects do not suffer from diseases. This is the key to obtaining strong, healthy families that produce a lot of honey and produce large, high-quality offspring.

Honey collection period

The time for bees to collect honey is very important. You need to prepare for it in advance by providing the swarms with the required number of cells. For a strong family, a set that contains a Dadan hive will not be enough. In such cases, it makes sense to use paired extensions or add housings. This will encourage insects to complete the honeycomb, secrete wax, and prevent swarming.

Often beekeepers introduce an additional queen into the hive, but such an event requires the installation of a special diaphragm between the old and new productive individuals. During the main feeding period, the septum is removed, after which only one more fertile queen should be left in the nest. Another provocation of a stronger bribe could be the temporary removal of the queen from the hive or the replanting of an infertile individual as its replacement. Thanks to such manipulations, honey collection rates can be increased by up to 30%.

Preparatory activities for wintering

When studying in theory how to breed bees, in order to subsequently apply knowledge in practice, you need to understand that this process may initially be associated with annoying mistakes. You shouldn’t expect perfect results right away. Miscalculations should be perceived as valuable experience that allows you to avoid failures in the future.

Initially, such activities will require considerable financial investments from the beekeeper. However, after a couple of years (or even a year), the apiary owner will be able to recoup his expenses and make a profit. In the future, you can count on good income with minimal costs. As a result, beekeeping as a business is guaranteed to be a win-win option for a person who loves hardworking insects and knows how to care for them.

Breeding and keeping bees is a very useful and profitable business. To do it, you need to buy a plot of land and determine a suitable place for an apiary near honey plants. In order for a business to prosper and bring in a stable income, you need to approach its organization and layout wisely. So, where should an inexperienced beekeeper start?

Content Features

More information about the features of keeping insects can be seen in the following video:

Breeding technique

This technique involves the use of layering and division of insects. To obtain layering, it is necessary in early spring to move the queen from one hive to another, which already contains a certain number of brood of different ages. When the queen is isolated from other insects, she begins to lay fistulous queen cells, which leads to the appearance of new queens. After 12–14 days, it is already possible to move the queen cell into the layering, initially formed from many hive frames.

An important point is to determine the bees' flight technique. To determine it, it is necessary to divide the bee colony into two parts and place them in two different hives. After this, they should be placed at a sufficient distance from each other, and each of them should have its own uterus. The best option would be if the bees can raise it themselves, because after flying around it will be engaged in productive egg laying.

The growing method includes the following points:

• care for insects in winter;
• queen rearing;
• control and support of honey collection;
• selection of the best varieties of bee colonies;
• keeping insects in various variations of hives.

You should also pay attention to the climate, which determines the amount of time it takes to raise a bee colony. The average amount of time required to complete this process is 70–75 days.

You also need to regularly monitor whether the insects have enough food and pollen. Queens lay eggs for at least 14 days, and they need to be fed well to fully recover.

One of the main methods is rotational (24-hour) bee breeding, which includes:

• preventing the appearance of one of the most dangerous mites – Varroa;
• drone brood control;
• keeping individuals throughout the year on a mesh tray.

Raising queen bees

Beginning beekeepers often wonder what to do first? Experienced beekeepers recommend starting with raising queens in order to make the bee colony stronger and more resistant to diseases and cold climates.

To breed queens, you must follow these rules:

• select special cells where oviposition will be carried out in the future;
• apply additional fertilizing in case of nectar shortage.

Breeding should only be done with productive parents to ensure good genetics are passed on. It is also necessary to take into account that the variety of individuals plays a major role in the further productivity of insects.

Experienced beekeepers claim that the bee colony, which works on the main bribe, is the most productive and hardiest in winter. This queen does not need additional feeding, since she is already fertile enough. Already in winter, a bee colony can begin active preparations for collecting honey; it itself begins to build up strength for further productivity. Therefore, for cultivation it is necessary to select exclusively strong and resilient bee colonies. You can learn more about breeding queens from this video:

The procedure for raising bees in a summer cottage

It's no secret that the most suitable place to place an apiary is a summer cottage, since it usually has a large number of different crops. A country apiary can provide not only high-quality products, but also the energy emitted by insects.

It’s good if there is a garden on the site, this gives the bees additional places to work. For productive work, place the hives in the shade, preferably under trees.

An apiary can also be equipped in a barn, on the roof, by cutting entrances in the walls and creating a corridor made of wood. However, we should not forget that, despite a lot of positive aspects, various diseases will also be present in the country apiary. In order to protect the apiary from many diseases, you should regularly carry out preventive maintenance of the hives and immediately eliminate even the slightest manifestations of diseases. The procedure for raising bees in the country is described in the following video:

To summarize, it must be said that raising bees for beginners is quite troublesome and time-consuming. To become a good beekeeper, you need to adhere to all the rules of beekeeping, listen to the opinions of more experienced colleagues, take a special preparatory course, study books about beekeeping, watch many educational videos, and so on. This is the only way to achieve success in this difficult, but at the same time exciting activity.

Many people consider beekeeping an interesting and promising activity that does not require much labor or material investment. But in reality, before you start breeding bees, you should study their biology, become familiar with the rules of care and the sequence of seasonal work. In addition, significant investments will be required if you want to subsequently make a profit from this business.

To answer the question: “Is beekeeping profitable?” was positive, it is necessary to stock up on beekeeping equipment and provide insects with comfortable living conditions.

Preparation

First of all, you should prepare for unforeseen circumstances. Therefore, you need to buy not one bee colony, but at least 3-4. Over time, you can gradually increase your apiary.

Many beginners are interested in how many individuals there should be in a family. We answer - the number of insects can vary from 20 to 100 thousand, depending on the season and the strength of the swarm.

It is believed that it is best to start bee breeding with three colonies. But if you plan to turn your hobby into a business, you will need to purchase at least 50 bee colonies over time.

It will also be interesting for a beginner to know that a bee colony collects about 20 kilograms of nectar per day, which will ultimately yield 10 kilograms of honey.

It wouldn’t hurt to join the beekeepers’ union. Its members help beginners and are always ready to provide useful tips on keeping bees. You can also purchase beekeeping guides for beginners.

Many beginners are afraid of bee stings. But these insects simply do not sting, since after the bite they die. To avoid bites, you should not make sudden movements or make loud sounds, and wear clean, light, lint-free clothing that does not contain foreign odors. A special smoker is also used to calm the patients. Over time, the bees recognize their owner and sting him extremely rarely.

So, a novice beekeeper needs:

• choose a place for an apiary that meets general requirements;
• purchase beekeeping equipment;
• select a breed so that it feels good in the local climate and is characterized by high productivity;
• Learn the basics of beekeeping for beginners.

Purchasing bee colonies

Before breeding bees, you need to buy layerings or bee colonies. It's better to do this in the spring. The cost of a family at this time will be higher, but it will immediately produce honey and allow you to get layering.

Insects should be purchased at a distance of at least 5 kilometers from the apiary so that they do not return home. It is advisable to buy dry frames along with them. They are necessary for expanding families. It is better to make a purchase from familiar beekeepers or on recommendation.

You should go shopping after lunch, taking with you either your own hives or special boxes for frames. After purchase, all frames are rearranged into the hive (the frame with the queen is placed first) in the same order as they were originally.

Then they are secured with a board so that they do not move during transportation. They place their hive in the place of the owner's. Flying bees, returning with a bribe, will fly into a new house. Next, they simply close the taphole and take away the structure.

When purchasing a bee family, you should pay attention to several points:

• a sufficient number of flying individuals must sit on the frames containing the brood;
• there should be no gaps during sowing - such brood is called variegated;
• different colors of cells and perforation of the lids may indicate a disease;
• if there are a lot of crawling bees in front of the hive, many of which have deformed wings, then they are sick.

If you have even the slightest suspicion of a disease, then it is better to refuse the purchase.

Beekeeping for beginners includes following several important rules:

• When installing an apiary in a populated area, you must first obtain the consent of the neighbors.
• The hives should be located 50 meters from residential premises and 10 meters from the boundaries of the site.
• If your personal plot is small, you will have to give up beekeeping, or find a suitable abandoned plot and rent it out.
• The hives should be placed in a quiet place, well protected from the wind.
• It is recommended to install rows of houses at a distance of 5-6 meters from each other, and leave 4-5 meters of free space between the hives in the rows.
• There should be a lot of trees growing around the apiary, which will help avoid many diseases.
• To ensure optimal lighting, it is recommended to install structures with a slight slope to the south.
• The entrances should be directed inside the apiary.
• The apiary must be fenced (the height of the fence is at least 2 meters).
• The apiary should be located away from highways and crowded places, as these insects do not like noise. If it is located in the country, then you need to choose a remote area where people rarely go.
• Damp areas and lowlands, places near large factors and factories are not suitable for placing hives. Failure to comply with these conditions significantly increases the risk of disease.
• It is desirable that honey crops grow around the apiary, blooming at different times. If this condition cannot be met, then do not be upset: the apiary can be transported periodically.
• If you plan to sell beekeeping products, you will have to obtain a sanitary and veterinary passport.

Beekeeping for beginners will be successful only if all these rules are strictly followed.

Arrangement of hives

You can make houses for insects yourself or purchase ready-made ones. It is better for novice beekeepers to buy them from more experienced colleagues, since production will require special tools and boards made of soft wood. In addition, you will have to strictly adhere to the drawings, which not everyone can do.

The hive must be coated with a special varnish-paint to prevent moisture from penetrating into the home. In addition, in this case the bee will be able to see its house from afar. But you should pay attention to the fact that bees cannot distinguish between black and red shades. Therefore, you should not use these colors for painting. It is not recommended to paint all hives the same color. It's better if they differ.

The hive must provide comfort to its residents and meet certain requirements. It should be loose enough to accommodate brood, honey and bee bread supplies, and serve as reliable protection from rain, dampness and sudden temperature changes.

The house should be warm, but in the summer its walls should not overheat. In the case of a single-wall structure, the wall thickness should not be less than 3 centimeters. If a double-walled hive is used, then the space between the walls is filled with moss.

When producing evidence, it is necessary to ensure ease of maintenance and the ability to adjust the volume. It is advisable to make the hive collapsible. It is necessary to provide a removable bottom and a tray with a mesh to facilitate the fight against ticks.

There are many types of hives:

• Alpine represented by a multi-tiered structure. It has only one tap hole and no dividing grids. Such a house is very expensive, but it will recoup the costs, as it will provide large offspring and high productivity of beekeeping products.
• Multihull, or vertical. Very light and small. They allow you to obtain an increased amount of brood and prevent swarming. But they can only be used for a strong family with a young queen.
• Horizontal, called beehives or retiree hives, are easy to clean and maintain. Frames are easily placed in them, and the nest is accessible for inspection. But they are also suitable only for a strong and young bee colony.
• Dadan's Hive in appearance it resembles a house. It is designed for 12 frames. This design is ideal for a novice beekeeper. It can be used in the courtyard of a private house, in a country house, or in an outdoor apiary.
• Cassette hives allow insects to independently maintain an optimal microclimate, which helps prevent diseases. But such hives cannot be painted, they can only be impregnated with wax.
• Japanese hives. Their distinctive feature is the absence of frames. Honeycombs are placed on the walls.
• Hive Varre also do not have frames, but here the honeycombs are fixed using rulers. These hives allow you to create a microclimate that closely matches the natural environment.
• Plywood hive The beekeeper makes it himself. It is characterized by low weight and can be used in pavilions.

The number of hives must exceed the number of bee colonies. Houses must meet the needs of the selected breed.

Pests and diseases

A novice beekeeper should pay special attention to the fight against bee diseases and pests. Otherwise, they will cause serious damage to the bee colony and may even cause its death.

The most common pests are:

• Mol. To prevent its reproduction, you should keep strong families and constantly maintain order in the hives. If the pest does appear, mint or nut leaves are placed in the bee houses, and spare frames are moved to empty hives and smoked with sulfurous smoke.
• Mice. They only cause harm in winter: they chew honeycombs, eat honey and bee bread, and sometimes bees. In addition, they emit a sharp, repulsive odor and are constantly moving, which adversely affects the health of the bee colony, weakens it and can cause death. To prevent rodents from settling in winter huts, their floors are made of clay, to which broken glass is added, and special barriers are installed on the entrances. They also use various baits and traps.
• Ants. To protect the hives from ants, a moat is made around them, which is filled with water or the stands are treated with a special pencil. Some beekeepers raise the hives above the ground, but usually this measure does not protect against ants.
• Birds. To protect insect housing from birds, for whom bee brood is a delicacy, the entrances in the hives must be of such a size that birds’ heads cannot pass through them. At the same time, they must allow several bees to pass at the same time.

To avoid the development and spread of diseases, preventive measures should be carried out in a timely manner. But, if you still cannot avoid the disease, you need to immediately begin treatment. The development of the disease is usually indicated by inappropriate behavior of bees.

All known bee diseases are divided into 2 groups: seasonal and pathological. Of particular danger are pathological diseases, which include foulbrood, paralysis, and calcareous brood. They need to be treated only with medications.

According to another classification, a distinction is made between contagious and non-contagious diseases. Infectious diseases, in turn, are divided into infectious (pathogens are bacteria, viruses and fungi) and invasive (develop when microorganisms of animal origin enter the body).

Equipment

Keeping bees for beginners requires the preparation of beekeeping equipment:

• hives;
• face protection nets;
• smoker - smoke calms insects, reduces aggressiveness;
• drinking bowls;
• feeders;
• beekeeping frame;
• cages - queens are placed in them for a while;
• caps - with their help they transfer the uterus to a new family;
• roller - hang frames;
• chisels - remove bee glue, clean off wax, scoop out the queen cell, lift the frame;
• sweeping brushes - sweep away insects from the frame;
• forks - open the honeycombs and remove the bar;
• a special knife - cut old honeycombs from frames;
• patterns - placed under the frames;
• road barriers;
• bars - temporarily separate the uterus from the working part;
• boxes for carrying frames;
• swarm - remove and temporarily maintain a swarm;
• insulating pillows;
• foundation sheets - they are inserted into frames and processed with a hot roller, after which they are used for the construction of honeycombs;
• honey extractor – separates honey from honeycombs;
• wax refiners - makes wax from rejected honeycombs.

You will also need to purchase special clothing. The face is usually protected with a mask with a light frame. To protect your legs, you can use gaiters designed for skiers and hunters, and thick gardening gloves for your hands.

Bee breeding methods

There are several methods of raising bees. Among beginning beekeepers, the most common are layering and half-summer division.

Layering method

The queen is transferred to another hive, where there are already frames with brood of different ages. Orphaned bees, having not found a queen, will begin to form fistulous queen cells, from which queens will soon (on the sixteenth day) emerge. 2-3 days before their appearance, mature queen cells are cut out and layering is formed from them.

Division by half of summer

This method requires a strong swarm, which is divided into 2 parts. To do this, two hives, in which the brood is placed in advance, are installed side by side, in the place of the maternal family. Flight bees, returning from honey collection, will be divided into 2 parts. The family that is left without a queen will soon produce a new one. If you wish, you can add the queen yourself.

Rotational method

This method, also called 24-hour beekeeping, is only suitable for experienced beekeepers. It provides year-round comfort for insects. In this case, a mesh tray is used to contain the bees. They spend the winter in the wild.

When it gets warm, the apiary is placed in an area where there are many flowering trees, which activates the activity of bees. The beekeeper constantly monitors the amount of food, removing excess and replenishing deficiency. If the plants stop flowering, the apiary is transported to a new location. As soon as the beekeeper notices the first spring honey, he begins to harvest drone brood and prepare layering.

Regular family care allows you to avoid diseases and get healthy bee colonies, and, therefore, increase honey yield. This method also has a drawback - it requires a lot of effort and time.

Queen breeding

The correct choice of queen is important for successful beekeeping. It is noticeably different from worker bees in its large size, elongated abdomen and leisurely movements.

The queen must lay eggs in each cell. If the female misses cells, then she should be replaced.

To keep bee colonies strong, you should breed queens. In this case, the following conditions must be met:

1. prepare cells for eggs;
2. in the absence of nectar, feed the insects;
3. Queens should only be taken from quality parents from strong families.

Experienced beekeepers advise:

• breed only strong families and discard weak ones;
• You can strengthen a weak colony by adding a couple of brood frames to it at the exit, or by swapping families;
• leave at least 4-6 kilograms of honey in the hive at all times;
• expand the nest in a timely manner;
• locate the apiary in such a place that the distance to the honey plants is no more than a kilometer (if it is more than three kilometers, then the bees lose two-thirds of the nectar along the way);
• To control swarming, use the rule of the seventh frame: the appearance of the seventh frame of brood indicates readiness to form a swarm, and to prevent swarming, the previously mentioned layering is done.

Due to inexperience, beginners make many different mistakes. For example, they inspect nests several times a day, opening the hives. As a result, the temperature regime is disrupted, the bees are distracted, and growth slows down.

The most common mistakes made by novice beekeepers include:

• improper care, which disrupts the functioning of the family;
• untimely detection of the disease, which leads to the death of some or even all of the bees;
• improper preparation for wintering, which is why bees do not reproduce;
• lack of food in winter;
• improper installation of the hives: away from the reservoir and honey plants;
• violation of conditions for preserving honey: lack of ventilation in the hives, high humidity.

Seasonal bee care work

In order for the bees to feel good and produce a lot of honey, contributing to the expansion of the business, it is necessary to provide them with proper care. You should constantly monitor the temperature in the hives, monitor the condition of the bees and brood, and the amount of death.

In winter, the beekeeper builds hives and prepares equipment. In early spring, the entrances are opened and bee colonies are inspected, debris and bodies of dead bees are removed, and insects are fed.

If there are no bribes, then the bees are fed with sugar syrup every other day. For two days, the family will need about 500 grams of syrup.

Honey collection

Before the honey harvest season, bees should be provided with a sufficient number of honeycombs. If the family is strong, then the traditional Dadan hive set will not be enough. Therefore, it is recommended to add additional housings or install paired extensions.

Some beekeepers introduce another queen into the hive during the honey harvest season. But in such cases, it is necessary to install a diaphragm between the females. When the main bribe is received, one of the females, less fertile, will have to be removed. Another option is to temporarily remove the queen from the nest, or replace it with a barren individual. Such provocations can increase honey yield by 30%.

Preparing for winter

The hives should be well insulated for the winter (part of the frames should be removed and the free space should be filled with insulating pads), the entrances should be closed, high-quality ventilation should be provided, and it is advisable to install barriers for mice. You should also prepare a winter hut - this is the name given to the warm room into which the hives are moved for the winter.

You need to make sure that the insects have enough food. You should definitely leave the honey frames in the nest; they can be partially (30%) replaced with sugar syrup. In the southern regions, a bee colony eats about 15 kilograms of honey during the winter, and in the northern regions - about 20.

Features of bee breeding in pavilions

To make the hives convenient to transport, they are installed in a wheeled pavilion. It is best to use plywood hives in this case, as they are lighter. It is advisable to paint each house a different color to make it easier for the bees to find their home.

The pavilion is insulated with glass wool, which makes it possible to keep bees in it all year round. In addition, the costs for it will be much lower than for the purchase of a stationary structure. One pavilion can accommodate up to 30 families.

Income and expenses: is there a benefit?

Often a novice beekeeper wonders whether beekeeping is profitable. According to experts, the cost of raising bees in the first year will be $3,700 for 20 bee families. With this money you will need to buy bee colonies, hives, beekeeper equipment and apiary equipment, as well as means for preventive treatments.

But don't be afraid of these costs. Already in the first year, insects will produce more than 1,300 kilograms of honey, as well as wax, beebread, propolis, brood and pollen. As a result, you will be able to earn about $4,400. Consequently, the costs will pay off in the first season, and in subsequent seasons the income will only increase.

Beekeeping is a profitable, profitable and useful business. First, you need to select the most suitable piece of land; it is advisable that there are many honey plants nearby. For beekeeping to be profitable, you must adhere to basic rules and recommendations. Thanks to a properly located apiary, you can get a fairly strong bee family.

Keeping bees requires minimal knowledge, skills and experience. It is important to create an appropriate plan according to which bee families can be raised and bred.

Specifics of beekeeping at home

Keeping bees for beginners is a responsible step. Before starting this process, it is necessary to take into account some features, for example:

• hives need to be placed away from the road so that people do not walk near your apiary;
• make a fence using fences and hedges at least two meters high;
• tilt the hives to the south so that the apiary is exposed to the rays of the sun;
• The area should be windless and there should be many honey-bearing trees around it. In this way, bees can be protected from many diseases;
• To avoid serious diseases of bee colonies, do not place the apiary near factories, factories, or production facilities.

The beekeeping process begins with the selection of the optimal location, as it plays an important role in the success of the business.

Basic techniques

For insect breeding to be successful, it is necessary to select the optimal methods. You can use bee layer division. To obtain layering, all actions must be carried out in early spring. The mother should be transferred from one hive to another, where there will be a small brood of various ages. Having taken the queen from the bees, the queen cells are laid. After a certain period of time, the formation of new maternal individuals can be observed. Twelve days later, a ripe queen cell is taken to install in the layering. It is formed from many frames that can be taken from the hive.

In some cases, dividing the family into two parts is considered more appropriate. Families are located in different hives. The hives are placed at a certain distance, since some bees must go to one hive, and others to the second. If there is no mother in the hive, you need to take care of a new one. The best option is for the bees to raise a queen on their own, which will begin productive laying after flying around.

Breeding by any method takes into account the process of breeding maternal individuals, proper care during the wintering period, choice, compliance with honey collection, etc. Climate and weather conditions play an important role.

Bee breeding can take place according to a rotational method, which is called round-the-clock. It includes:

• surveillance of drone brood;
• active control of varroa;
• monitoring bees using a mesh type tray.

This type of bee breeding will allow you to protect insects from mite infestations.

Features of bee packages

When starting to create an apiary, you need to think about options for purchasing insects:

• several families of bees;

A bee package is a collection of insects that have been selected from various families in order to be sold. In the process of forming a bee package, several colonies, some of the food supplies and honeycombs are used, then everything is placed in a special box. They are given quality food to keep them strong and healthy. Each breeder has a unique opportunity to select families for their own breeding. It is better to purchase a bee package in the fall.

Varieties of breeding techniques

When it comes to raising bee colonies, there are many different options available in beekeeping. The main breeding methods can be considered the following:

• in hive beds;
• in single-hull and multi-hull hives;
• in the pavilions.

There are several advantages to hive beds:

• this type of device is quite heat-intensive;
• light, convenient transportation;
• there is no need to lift heavy cases;
• In addition to the fact that you can raise a whole family in a lounger, there is also enough space for a nuc;
• they exhibit high egg laying;
• a diaphragm is used, with which it is possible to create layering, which works as an effective anti-swarm measure;
• you can get a large number of strong and healthy families.

Beekeeping rules for spring and winter

To grow strong families, proper care will be required during the wintering period, as well as with the onset of spring. Proper care during this period involves regularly maintaining the required temperature in the hives and omshans. It is important to monitor the number of dead bees, the condition of mother bees, worker bees and brood. Make sure that they are in comfortable conditions and have enough food. If there is a shortage of food, you can feed it: honey, sugar syrup, kandi, protein feed or satu.

If you adhere to all the specified rules and recommendations, carry out timely disease prevention and monitor the condition of the bees, the apiary will be profitable, and the insects will be healthy and strong. You may be interested in other breeding methods such