Week FiveSustainable Beekeeping

Dara K. Dimitrovdkd4@waikato.ac.nz

Why Natural Bee Keeping?

Efforts towards holistic practices in raising and caring for bees

Natural bee keeping seeks to understand the nature of the bees

It is an apicentric approach to bee keeping The welfare of the bees are primary focus

Unlike conventional beekeeping which relies on the conventional agricultural solutions (chemicals and man-made solutions)

Traditional Ethiopian Bee Hives

Encouraging Indicators for Sustainable Bee Keeping

Bees who have swarmed seem to do better than hives that haven’t

Bees that overwinter on their own honey do better than hives that are fed sugar water

Bees that forage on predominantly organically cultivated land also exhibit better resistance to viruses and parasites

Bee Cell Regression

This is to do with cell size Bees vary over a wider range than the cell size

Cell size can also vary depending on the bee size

Large cells = larger bees

Cells can be anywhere from 4.9mm to 5.5mm

Commercial bee keepers may use hives to produce drawn comb for when they divide their hives later

Bee Cell Regression

Forced regression – place foundation sheets in the hive

Natural regression - no foundation at all – the bees are free to build the cells any way they wish.

Letting bees build their comb with a natural cell size is a fundamental tenet of sustainable bee keeping

Issues with Forced Regression

Large bees, from large cells cannot build natural sized cells They will always build something in between for brood cells

(5.1mm)

Natural sized cells have less Varroa – their capping time is shorter (by up to 24 hours) and therefore there is less mites

Swarm into a Sunhive

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HndNezyzWGw&feature=player_embedded

Top Bar Hives

Designed for developing countries – so simple and easy

Less expensive: no frames, foundation, covers etc

Can easily be manipulated – less heavier than working with a honey super (box) from a Langstroth

Low tech hive – you can use any stray material around to make your hive

The bars are where the bees build their foundation – so more wax – every bar with honey is an entire bar of wax

Working with Top Bars

You have to remove the bars – carefully – so you are better to work with a knife or screw driver than with a hive tool (the foundation is fragile and can be easily broken)

The foundation is usually Uneven and odd shaped (this is the natural method of

regression) – with travel tunnels

The bees will build the foundation down into the ‘space’ under the bars (so the foundation may sometimes stretch across bars) – so you have to do more comb correction and destruction to keep the comb freely movable

Bees have to rebuild any combs you remove each year

You must be able to inspect the top bar frames for disease

Top Bars Hives & Comb Comb is loaded in the same way as Langstroth hive

Always work with the bar carefully – there is no frame to support the comb and so DON’T HOLD THE FRAME SIDEWAYS (it will break off)

If it breaks off – you can reattach it with a hair slide that will attach to the bar and grab the comb (cut it out later)

You can use a piece of string soaked in wax and attach it to the top bar to give the bees something to attach it

If the comb is curved – you can ‘straighten’ the comb by slicing it gently at the ends and squeezing it back down

Burr comb (bits that jut out) – cut them off

You want to get a beautiful bar of honey from your top bar

Top Bar Hive

Working with the hive You have to work VERY carefully

Using a knife – slip the knife along the bar – to separate it from the other bars (its is way better than the hive tool)

If there are any burrs (cross-sections between the bars) – cut vertically through the burrs carefully

Remove 2 frames (in the same way as the Langstroth) – laying them down gently

And then work through the hive by shifting the bars toward the empty end

The bees are suppose to be much happier in Top Bar Hives

Biodynamics and Bees

The environment is seen as a strong, self-sustaining, vibrant organism

- Each component of the organism is seen as a different component of the whole organism- Special natural manures are used

- Herb based preparations are applied to the grounds to improve the fertility

- Only natural products are used to stimulate the microbiological life in the soil

- It also incorporates using the rhythms associated with the sun, moon and planets – using the lunar calendar

Bees and Biodynamics

Introducing bee friendly practices

No insecticides nor pesticides which unsafe for bees (eg neonicotinoids – which are fatal for bees)

Bee Friendly Practices

Placing the hives at least 1m off the ground Ideal is 2.5 – 6 metres

Never on the ground

It is warmer off the ground and receives more light

Value the bees as pollinators first and honey producers second

Planting gardens full of flowers and forage ‘messy’ gardens with lots of flowering weeds

Modern plants are ‘sterile’ and not bee food

Avoid any chemicals

Bee Friendly Practices

Harvest honey only in the late spring when there is sufficient honey flow

Allow the bees to overwinter on their own honey rather than feeding them sugar syrup

Allow the bees to reproduce naturally – let them swarm

Only open the hive when necessary Opening the hive causes the bees to be stressed

It can take more than 24 hours for them to recover

Bee Friendly Practices

Select your apiary site carefully Make sure that the bee density is low

It is away from industry, traffic and farm fields where pesticides and chemicals are used

The bees are on that site permanently

Bees that live near conifers (pine trees) are unusually healthy – so place near a pine forest

Perone Hive

A VERY big version of the top bar hive Is made out recycled wood

Basically a big square with bars in it

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SgriYH8gncQ

Guest Speaker for Next Week

Cameron from the Waikato Domestic Bee Keepers Association

Possibly the commercial guys too