Honey bee hobbyist The care and keeping of bees
Book - 2010
Saved in:
- Subjects
- Published
-
Irvine, Calif. :
Hobby Farm Press
c2010.
- Language
- English
- Main Author
- Physical Description
- 174 p. : col. ill. ; 28 cm
- Bibliography
- Includes bibliographical references and index.
- ISBN
- 9781933958941
- Chapter 1. - To BEEkeep or not to BEEkeep
- Bees as pets
- The fear of stings
- Getting help from other beekeepers
- Where to keep your hives
- When to start a new colony
- Ordinances that regulate beekeeping
- Chapter 2. - The world of honey bees
- The honey bee society
- Nose-to-nose with a honey bee
- The head
- The thorax
- The abdomen
- Inside the bee
- The alimentary canal
- Chapter 3. - The bee's home
- Hive structure
- Nest architecture
- Components of the hive
- Chapter 4. - Getting started
- Hive equipment you need
- Tools and protective clothing
- Buying bees for your hive
- Borrowing bees from a friend
- Catching a swarm
- Buying an established colony
- When to expand hive size
- Chapter 5. - Reproduction
- The queen
- Reproduction within colonies
- Production of new colonies
- Life Expectancy
- Chapter 6. - Activities inside the hive
- Temperature control
- Grooming behavior
- Nest cleaning
- Comb building
- Communication and food sharing
- Bee Dances
- Feeding larvae
- Food processing and storage
- Drone activities
- Division of labor
- Chapter 7. - Activities outside the hive
- Plants that yield pollen and nectar
- Dynamics of foraging
- Nectar foraging
- Weather effects on foraging
- Moving hives to the honey flow
- Water foraging
- Propolis foraging
- Pollen foraging
- Chapter 8. - Colony defense and sting prevention
- Bee stings
- Causes of colony defense
- How to BEEhave near the hive
- Magic Smoke
- How to use the bee smoker
- Opening the hive safely
- How a sting works
- Defusing the sting
- Reactions to stings
- Africanized Bees
- Chapter 9. - How to manage bee colonies
- Seasonal cycles in colonies
- Winter
- Spring
- Summer
- Fall
- Monitoring hive conditions
- Protecting bees from themselves
- Brood pattern
- Food stores
- Worker bee population
- Adequate comb space
- Threat of spring swarming
- How to prevent swarming
- How to move hives
- Dividing colonies
- How to introduce queens
- Feeding bee colonies
- Producing high quality combs
- Pollen feeding
- Diseases of bees
- Parasites of bees
- Pests of bees
- Pesticide threats
- Benefits of honey bee pollination
- Potential problems with neighbors
- Arrangement of hives in apiary
- Chapter 10. - Harvestable products from the hive
- Composition of honey
- Granulation of honey
- Fermentation of honey
- Hygroscopic properties
- Harvesting honey from the hive
- Extracting honey from the combs
- Processing and storing honey
- Eating honey in the comb
- Pollen as human food
- Propolis
- Bee venom
- Appendix A - Fun things to do with bees
- Glossary
- Resources
- Index
- About the author