Bee Hive



A beehive is an enclosed structure man-made in which some honey bee species of the subgenus Apis live and raise their young. 
Though the word beehive is commonly used to describe the nest of any bee colony, scientific and professional literature distinguishes nest from hive. 
Nest is used to discuss colonies which house themselves in natural or artificial cavities or are hanging and exposed. 
Hive is used to describe an artificial, man-made structure to house a honey bee nest. Several species of Apis live in colonies, but for honey production the western honey bee (Apis mellifera) and the eastern honey bee (Apis cerana) are the main species kept in hives.
The beehive's internal structure is a densely packed group of hexagonal prismatic cells made of beeswax, called a honeycomb. The bees use the cells to store food (honey and pollen) and to house the brood (eggs, larvae, and pupae).
Beehives serve several purposes: production of honey, pollination of nearby crops, housing supply bees for apitherapy treatment, and to try to mitigate the effects of colony collapse disorder. In America, hives are commonly transported so that bees can pollinate crops in other areas.[3] A number of patents have been issued for beehive designs.

Langstroth Hive


In modern beekeeping, a Langstroth hive is any vertically modular beehive that has the key features of vertically hung frames, a bottom board with entrance for the bees, boxes containing frames for brood and honey (the lowest box for the queen to lay eggs, and boxes above where honey may be stored) and an inner cover and top cap to provide weather protection. 

In a Langstroth hive, the bees build honeycomb into frames, which can be moved with ease. The frames are designed to prevent bees from attaching honeycombs where they would either connect adjacent frames, or connect frames to the walls of the hive. The movable frames allow the beekeeper to manage the bees in a way which was formerly impossible.

Nucs, or nucleus colonies, are small honey bee colonies created from larger colonies. The term refers both to the smaller size box and the colony of honeybees within it. The name is derived from the fact that a nuc hive is centered on a queen, the nucleus of the honey bee colony.
Swarming Bees

 Swarming is the process by which a new honey bee colony is formed when the queen bee leaves the colony with a large group of worker bees. In the prime swarm, about 60% of the worker bees leave the original hive location with the old queen. This swarm can contain thousands to tens of thousands of bees. Swarming is mainly a spring phenomenon, usually within a two- or three-week period depending on the locale, but occasional swarms can happen throughout the producing season. Secondary afterswarms may happen but are rare. Afterswarms are usually smaller and are accompanied by one or more virgin queens. Sometimes a beehive will swarm in succession until it is almost totally depleted of workers.



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Essential Beekeeping Equipment

Image
if you are considering getting into beekeeping you first need to know what it requires. Obviously, doing your research is a benefit. But there is certain equipment you will need. Here are the tools and other items you will need to get started on this journey: 1! Hives Hives are where the bees live. You will need to do some research to decide which type of hive you’d like to have. I personally use Langstroth hives, but I hope to try out a Top Bar Hive sometime soon. So you’ll need to decide if you are going to keep bees as a hobby or try to morph them into a business for your homestead. This will determine what type of hive you’d like to use. 2.  Frames Frames are rectangles that hang inside of a hive like a filing system. The bees will build their comb inside of these frames. This is where they will make honey, lay brood, and live their lives constantly preparing for winter. Now, you’ll need to decide if you just want to  purchase
Read more

An Introduction to Urban Beekeeping

Image
Perhaps you’ve found it a bit confusing where best to keep bees, especially if you are living in the city or in any other urban area. There is always the misconception that beekeeping is reserved for those the rural areas and that keeping of bees in urban areas is not possible. However, contrary to popular belief, it is; and urban beekeeping can be just as thriving as backyard beekeeping. Whether you want to keep bees in an urban setting as a hobbyist, or as an investment for profit, you will still need to follow these tips below to get started with urban beekeeping: 1. Acquaint yourself with the laws that govern beekeeping in your urban locality Different cities or urban areas have different laws that govern beekeeping, and while there are those that outright forbid, some allow it as long as the beekeeper follows laid out rules. For this reason it will be important that you first check with your local authorities and ask them what the law says about beekeeping. If you
Read more

Connecting Schools with Nature

Image
Growing Gardens Connecting Schools with Nature With the new school year starting soon, we want to update you on our school gardens project, which we  wrote about last May . Our goal has been to help several Toronto-area schools learn about pollinators, grow their own food and become more connected with nature. We’re pleased to say that the gardens have been growing well throughout the summer and the school communities have enjoyed this unique and rewarding experience, as you’ll see from the following photos. It’s no surprise that some of the standout garden performers have been the native plants, like lance-leaved coreopsis, black-eyed susan and swamp milkweed. These plants, which have evolved to be ideally suited to this region, brought beauty to the school yards and admiring looks from passersby. Garden visitors were also rewarded by the opportunity to observe solitary bees, bumble bees, honey bees and butterflies that were attracted to these plants. A solita
Read more