Why Do Bees Buzz?: Fascinating Answers to Questions about Bees

11. Beekeeping

ELEVEN Beekeeping Question 1: Is beekeeping dangerous? Answer: A prudent beekeeper will say that beekeeping is not dangerous, but a person who remembers a painful bee sting would probably disagree. The best answer to this question is “it depends.” With careful attention to the hive and some basic knowledge of bee biology, beekeeping is not dangerous. The behavior of bees is relatively predictable; with experience, a beekeeper can safely manage the colony and keep the bees calm. Using a smoker to puff cool smoke onto the colony before it is opened is one important step in good beekeeping. In addition to using smoke, the colony will be calmer and easier to handle if the beekeeper wears light-colored clothing and moves carefully when working around the colony. Good weather conditions, ample nectar sources, plenty of food stored in reserve in the hive, and calm bees with good genetics are other key factors that help maintain safe conditions. The beekeeper’s behavior is of prime importance, and carelessness on the part of the beekeeper can elicit an aggressive response from the bees. The likelihood of arousing the bees and getting stung is increased by wearing dark-colored clothing or strong perfumes near the nest, moving quickly around the bees, or opening a colony during rain. Conditions that can destabilize a colony are a shortage of food, the proximity of pesticides or other chemicals, too much or too little water (water stress), disease, and overcrowding. R5192.indb 169 R5192.indb 169 11/30/09 3:03:01 PM 11/30/09 3:03:01 PM 170 WHY DO BEES BUZZ? Question 2: What does a beekeeper’s hive look like? Answer: In the United States, the standard hive used by beekeepers is called a Langstroth hive, named after the person who discovered the “bee space”—the size of the space that the bees prefer between combs (see chapter 5, question 8: What is propolis?). An important feature of the Langstroth colony is its modularity, which means that the basic features of the colony are exchangeable, replaceable, moveable, and expandable. Essentially, the hive is a solid wooden box measuring about 16 by 20 inches long (or about 40 by 51 centimeters), and it contains ten wooden frames in which the bees build their combs. The frames hang much like hanging file folders in a file cabinet, and the depth of the box can vary from almost 6 to over 9 inches (or about 15 to 23 centimeters). Each frame is typically supplied with a vertical sheet of beeswax or beeswax-coated plastic, called Fig. 34. A beekeeper, wearing a protective suit and veil, checks the health of the hive in a small colony in Pennsylvania. Note that gloves are not always necessary while working. (Photo by Corey J. Flynn.) R5192.indb 170 R5192.indb 170 11/30/09 3:03:02 PM 11/30/09 3:03:02 PM BEEKEEPING 171 foundation, which provides structure and support for the wax. In the wild, European honey bees normally build vertical sheets of wax to use for brood rearing and food storage; the bees in managed colonies build their wax over the foundation template, which becomes the bottom of the honeycomb that they build. Beekeepers call this process building out or drawing out the foundation. The wooden frames with a drawn-out foundation in place become very stable, a characteristic useful to efficient honey harvesting (see this chapter, question 6: How does a beekeeper take honey from a hive?). Fig. 35. A two-story Langstroth hive on the campus of Bucknell University. This colony has one tier for brood rearing and one for honey storage. (Photo by Debra Cook-Balducci.) R5192.indb 171 R5192.indb 171 11/30/09 3:03:02 PM 11/30/09 3:03:02 PM 172 WHY DO BEES BUZZ? A single Langstroth box is called a “hive body”—a wellmanaged beehive typically has one or two hive bodies where the bees rear the brood and then one or two “supers” for honey storage. Brood rearing occurs on the lower tiers of the colony, while the upper tiers serve as the pantry. The bees will also store pollen in the form of bee bread and some honey around the brood nest areas. A beekeeper doesn’t need to do anything to tell the bees where to rear brood or store honey—they naturally organize their colonies in this...