So You Think You MIGHT Want to

be a Beekeeper?

Investment vs. Benefits

2010

Agenda

• Falling in love with a bug

• Starting the adventure

• Beekeeping calendar

• Sweet rewards

• 2010 Philadelphia Honey Festival

• Resources; next steps

• Western Honey Bee (Apis mellifera), an insect

• Superorganism: one individual bee cannot survive by itself– Labor is divided within

the superorganism– Multiple generations live

together– Young are cared for

cooperatively

Falling in Love with a Bug?

Resistance is Futile!

The Amazing Language of Bees

• Pheromones – “glue” that holds it together– Queen Substance – Workers’ pheromones– Brood pheromones

• Dance Language– Waggle Dance – distant location & type of food– Round Dance – near location & type of food

• Piping

Starting the Adventure

• Determine your potential– Fear, allergy, location, laws,

money, time– Basic protective equipment &

tools (approx. $100)– Basic hive “woodenware”

(approx. $170/hive)– Package of bees

(approx. $85)– Total startup cost ~ $355

Woodenware from the Bottom Up

• Cinder block

• Bottom board & entrance reducer

• Brood chambers with frames of foundation

• Queen excluder

• “Supers” (boxes above the queen excluder)

• Inner cover

• Outer cover

• Rock

Demonstration of Parts

City hive on front lawn, PhiladelphiaCountry hives on Saul High School

farm, Philadelphia

Thanks to the Good Rev. LLL

• The moveable frame hive allows for manipulation of individual frames of bees

• Intense observation & experimentation opportunities

• Ability to monitor the health of the hive throughout the beekeeping year

• Flexibility in managing the colony & apiary

• Sustainable economic industry: apiculture

Which is more complex? Which takes more time?

Beekeeping Calendar

• Jan, Feb – buy equipment & reserve bees• Mar – assemble & paint your hives • April – package bees arrive/ install & feed• May – swarm watch & management• June – add chambers, excluder, super• July – harvest honey• Aug, Sep – feed as needed; make candles• Oct, Nov – make mead, prep hive for winter• Dec – relax, read back issues of bee mags

City hive on front lawn, PhiladelphiaCountry hives on Saul High School

farm, Philadelphia

Sweet Rewards

• Honey Harvest

• Wax, Pollen, Propolis

• Stress Relief

• Bees as Pollinators

• Being part of the big picture: Save the Bees

• Getting an education & passing it on

• Meeting some interesting people

• Philadelphia Honey Festival

Resources

• PhillyBeekeepers.org

• Montcobeekeepers.org

• Chescobees.org

• Beekeeping equipment suppliers– Dadant– Brushy Mountain Bee Farm

• Bee-related courses, lectures and events– Check the county-specific websites

BACK UP SLIDES

2010 Philadelphia Honey Fest

• Celebrating Langstroth’s 200th Birthday

• Sept. 10-12 and year-around

• Volunteers needed

2010 Philadelphia Honey Fest

• Arts/Culture: Hive art, “The Bee Man”, candle-making, bee-bearding(!)

• Food/Beverage: Honey tasting, mead & honey brews, cooking with honey contest

• Hive and the Bee: Extracting honey, colony collapse disorder, alt. hive types

• Science/History: Langstroth’s hive, the importance of pollinators to our survival

How & Why Bees Make Honey

• The colony requires about 80# of stored honey going into the winter

• Honey is the fuel used by the bees to maintain a temperature of 57ºF inside hive

• Temperature increased to 95ºF mid-Feb as brood rearing begins

• Shivering action of wing muscles, without beating the wings, converts the food into heat

Nectar Enzymes - Water = Honey

• Nectar collected from blossoms by the field bees is transported in the honey stomach

• House bees accept the nectar from the field bees (mouth to mouth transfer)

• Sucrose is broken down to glucose & fructose

• “Fanning bees” evaporate the moisture• “Builder bees” cap the cured honey with wax

when moisture is down to 20%