Urban Bee Keeping

reStore Gardens

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This guide is based on the live demonstration conducted by Mr. Vasantha Kumar at the 3rd National Conference on Urban Gardening held in Chennai, on 25th January, 2013.

The Bee Box

To start a hive, you will need a bee box. This box can be bought along with a starter bee colony.

The bee box is made of wood and is approximately 18 inches tall and 12 inches wide. The box has slots on the inside where empty wooden frames can be fitted in. There is a small window on the bottom for the bees to enter and leave.

Keep the bee box in a cool place, like under a water tank. The box

should be slightly elevated to keep it safe from ants and predators such

as lizards.

You will need a smoker to operate the hive. The smoker is a device, with bellows, filled with burning coconut husk or other natural combustible material. The smoke puts the bees into a defensive mode – they will not attack. Don't panic if a bee sits on you. A little smoke will make it fly away.

The Smoker

Inside a new bee box will be a horizontal stack of empty frames. The bees use these frames to build their honey combs.

The Frame

This frame is completely covered with bees. It takes <__> days to fill a frame with honeycomb.

This honeycomb is full of honey. It has a natural wax seal that prevents the honey from leaking out. To extract honey, this frame is fitted onto a specially designed centrifuge and the honey is churned out.

Things to remember

Bees need flowering trees to produce honey – they thrive in mango and rubber orchards. Bees need trees with varying flowering seasons to ensure that they get pollen and nectar throughout the year. In the Chennai area – this is a combination of mango, moringa (drumstick), neem and sarakondrai (golden shower tree or cassia fistula). The honey often tastes of the flowering season. We sampled lemon honey.

Bees synthesize protein from pollen and carbohydrates from nectar. The nectar is what makes the honey.

The queen bee needs to be constantly fed by other bees. The queen will leave the colony if she does not get enough food – leading to colony collapse. To prevent this, and during the non-flowering months (rainy or windy season) you need to place a small bowl of sugar syrup outside the box at regular intervals (once a week).

For more information, questions, clarifications or to set up a bee hive contact:

D. Vasantha Kumar

+919941868926

vasanthakumar75@gmail.com

A reStore Gardens publicationreStore Adyar Centre No. 27/ 10, 2nd Main Rd., Kasturba Nagar, Adyar,

Chennai - 600020 IndiaEmail: info@restoregardens.org