Bradford Beekeepers Association Certificate of Competence as a Beekeeper Managing Bees

Transcription

1 Certificate of Competence as a Beekeeper Managing Bees This learning guide will help you meet the requirements of the activity: BfdGB2 Select and Assemble a Beehive In this activity you will learn about: Types of beehive Selecting a beehive to keep your bees in Constructing a beehive with the correct dimensions Regulations that relate to beehives and to this work. Why it is important You will be working with this equipment for a long time. It needs to suit your physical abilities and it needs to provide a suitable home for bees that live in the area where your apiary is situated. Correctly constructed beehive material should last at least 20 years; poorly constructed items may only last 2 to 3 years. The concept of BEE SPACE is essential to mordern beekeeping with moveable frame hives. Get your beespace measurements correct and beekeeping is a pleasure get them wrong and both you and the bees will be frustrated and annoyed. The following gives a brief history of the development of the bee space concept. Resources you will need for this Activity Personal protective equipment: face masks gloves overalls safety goggles Tools: drill hammer paint brushes pliers wire cutters nail gun Clamp or workbench nails and staples wood working glue wood preserver or paint Important safety note Ensure that you have the appropriate experience with tools before starting this work. You must also follow any instructions given on preservative or paint containers.

2 Beehives and the development of the modern moveable frame hive A hive may be any space or box in which bees can set up their home. Feral bees build their hives in any convenient place including tree holes or in house cavities. Swarms will move into cavity walls, chimneys, shower vents and lots of other spaces built into modern premises. The purpose of beekeeping is to manage colonies of bees for their honey, wax and pollination value, beekeepers obviously need to be able to get easy access to the honey and to be able to check the colony for its health and to carry out beekeeping husbandry tasks, such as manipulating brood and introducing queens. Many beekeepers also want to be able to move their hives to new nectar and pollen sources at different times of the year. While beekeeping has been carried on for thousands of years, it was only in relatively recent times that beekeepers adopted purpose-made boxes that could be fitted with removable frames. Traditional skeps were made of plaited or woven straw. Skeps are around 42cm across by 38 cm high. In the rest of the world almost all beekeepers use Langstroth hive boxes but in the UK we are blessed with the Modified National Hive which is used by almost all hobbyist beekeepers. Many Bee Farmers use them too as their main income is from selling bees to hobbyists but other hives are better for mass honey production. The Langstroth hive was designed in 1851 by the Reverend Lorenzo Langstroth of Philadelphia, USA and consist of a hive body or box, which contains the removable frames for the bees to build their comb. Rev. Langstroth claimed that: "...the chief peculiarity in my hive was the facility with which they could be removed without enraging the bees... I could dispense with natural swarming, and yet multiply colonies with greater rapidity and certainty than by the common methods... feeble colonies could be strengthened, and those which had lost their queen furnished with the means of obtaining another.... If I suspected that any thing was wrong with a hive, I could quickly ascertain its true condition, and apply the proper remedies." L.L. Langstroth in Langstroth on the Honey-Bee, Langstroth also identified the importance of bee space. This is the space between combs and other hive parts which gives the bees proper room to work it is normally a 8 10 mm gap. A smaller space prevents them from building comb properly and a larger space encourages bees to build brace comb or burr comb. The right amount of bee space between frames also allows the beekeeper to lift and move frames without injury to the bees. Too much bee space allows bees to build burr or brace comb. The national hive is smaller than the Langstroth hive but its design is based on the same principles of bee space. The national is also much easier to lift and move. Top Bar, Warre Hives and other hive designs Many hobbyist beekeepers are interested in keeping bees hives that more closely imitate the natural hive. Most of these involve allowing the bees to produce new honeycomb in which to store their honey using frames with only a top section. Honey from these hives needs to be used as cut comb or to be squeezed out of the wax comb as the frames cannot be used in a spinning extractor. If you are using one of these hives for this activity then please adapt the tasks to fit the hive you are using. BfdBKA / Bill Cadmore Certificate of Competence as a Beekeeper 2

3 The parts of a Hive Task: Name the parts of the hive BfdBKA / Bill Cadmore Certificate of Competence as a Beekeeper 3

4 The Function of the Hive parts Task: state the function of each part Bradford Beekeepers Association Hive Part Give detailed description Function(s) of this part of the hive Note that the floor shown in the diagram is not a mesh floor. Explain why all beekeepers now use a mesh floor. BfdBKA / Bill Cadmore Certificate of Competence as a Beekeeper 4

5 What are the best materials to build hives from? You have several choices of materials that your hive can be made of. Task : List the advantages and disadvantages of the materials Material Advantages Disadvantages Timber softwood Timber Hardwood Timber Cedar Plywood Polystyrene Plastic BfdBKA / Bill Cadmore Certificate of Competence as a Beekeeper 5

6 Hive Designs Task: Listing the advantages and disadvantages of some common hives Available in Wood Available in Polystyrene Cost for full hive Easy lifting Filled weight Dimensions Used by local beekeepers Availability of local bees Spares available Appearance Modified National National 14x12 Langstroth WBC Top Bar or Warre Hive Will bees like this hive? The Hive I think will suit my needs Reasons BfdBKA / Bill Cadmore Certificate of Competence as a Beekeeper 6

7 What is the purpose of a hive? Bradford Beekeepers Association The bees are not too bothered what materials the hives are made from but there are key requirements that a space must have if the bees are to make themselves a happy home inside it. There has been much research on this topic which is very interesting to read. Bee Requirements How does the hive you have chosen fully provide for this? Volume of space for the colony to expand to full summer size Small defensible entrance which can be enlarged or reduced as needed Waterproof Draft & windproof Ventilated to avoid damp Beekeeper (your) Requirements How does the hive you have chosen fully provide for this? BfdBKA / Bill Cadmore Certificate of Competence as a Beekeeper 7

8 Buying Equipment Task: What equipment do I need to start my beekeeping career? Hive parts I need to purchase:- Price PPE I need to purchase:- Price Additional Equipment I need to purchase:- Price Books / DVD s / Leaflets I want to purchase:- Price Total I need to spend Task: Purchase Your Hive and Equipment BfdBKA / Bill Cadmore Certificate of Competence as a Beekeeper 8

9 Assembling Hive Parts Task: Assemble any flat pack hive parts following the instructions provided by the manufacturer Task: Check the following Diagonal measurements of floor, boxes and roof. Are they the same? Bee spaces between boxes are correct? Hive parts stack without gaps? Selecting and Buying Frames The most common brood box frame styles for the type of hive I have purchased are:- The most common super box frame styles for the type of hive I have purchased are:- Task: Buy and construct the frames you have selected using the instructions given below BfdBKA / Bill Cadmore Certificate of Competence as a Beekeeper 9

10 BfdBKA / Bill Cadmore Certificate of Competence as a Beekeeper 10

11 Spacing Frames Task:- Which methods of spacing are available in the brood box? Complete this table. Spacing Method Advantages Disadvantages Self Spacing Hoffman Narrow Plastic Ends Wide Plastic Ends Castellated Spacers Top Bars Task:- Which methods of spacing are available in the super honey box? Complete this table. Spacing Method Advantages Disadvantages Self Spacing Hoffman Narrow Plastic Ends Wide Plastic Ends Castellated Spacers Top Bars Task: Choose which method of spacing frames you intend to use:- My Choice No. of Frames Reason Brood Box Super Honey Box Using a dummy board? BfdBKA / Bill Cadmore Certificate of Competence as a Beekeeper 11

12 Hive Treatments Task: Decide what sort of preservative and other treatments you are going to apply if any. Apply the preservative and treatments to the completed boxes, making sure that you work follow the requirements of the Materials Safety Data Sheets and original container labels for ANY chemical substances you are using. Are you treating your hive? YES/NO What treatment did you select? Why? Use of wood preservatives Food Safety Acts and/or Health Acts require that if you are going to treat materials that come into contact with food, you must only use food grade treatments. Certain substances cannot be used. Disposal of waste products All waste materials produced in the construction and repair of beehives must be disposed of according to local council and environmental regulations. Marking of beehives There are no legal requirements for you to mark your hives but it is useful to identify each hive if you have more than one. The simplest method of doing this is to number the roof in some way. The roof can then follow the queen if you move or split the bees. This helps with record keeping. For security the simplest method is to use a permanent marker to write your name and postcode on the inside surfaces of each hive component. You can also use a branding iron to mark wooden hives. Final activities and assessment Now that you have completed all the activities in this Workbook, take some time to practice constructing and repairing frames you ll need lots of these. When you are ready, you can complete the assessment tasks that are listed on the record sheet for this activity. BfdBKA / Bill Cadmore Certificate of Competence as a Beekeeper 12