A beekeeping guide 1989

MICROFICHE REFERENC LIBRARY A project of Volunteers in Asia A Beekwina Gui& By: Harlan H.D Attfield Published by: Volunteers in Technical Assistance, Inc 1815 North Lynn Street, Ste 200 Arlington, VA 22209-2079 Available from: Volunteers in Technical Assistance, Inc 1815 North Lynn Street, Ste 200 Arlington, VA 22209-2079 Reproduced with permission Reproduction of this microfiche document in any form is subject to the same reWictions as those of the original document by illustrated by MARINA pub1 i shed F MASPERA by VOLUNTEERS IN TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE, INC t 815 North Lynn Street, Suite 200 Virginia 22209-2079 USA Arlington, Fourth ISBN: printing, O-86619-154-2 1989 TABLE OF CONTENTS 'THE BEE COLON'! The Queen The Drone The Worker Cell RELATIVES OF HONEY BEES WHAT BEES NEED TO LIVE Beeswax Nectar Water Flowers AHome ,I BrEttIvES Eanqstroth Hive Newton Hive Simple i-fives Rock ke ot c i ant Little lic;e! Indirtn ikz@ ~ European Pm2 Hce , rn ~ ~ ~ I * - I s s s s * e * I D - s - m L ‘ The The ‘The The : ! AIXWF VLTA Volunteers in Technical Assistance (VITA) is a private, noninternational development organization profit, VITA makes available to individuals and groups in developing countries a variety of information and technical resources aimed at fostering sc?.f sufficiency-needs assessment and program develsupport: opment by-mail and on-site consulting services: systems training; and management cf long-term information field projects VITA promotes the application of simple, inexpensive technologies to solve problems and create opportunities in developing countries VITA pl;ic*>s special emphasis en the areas of agriculture and food procesr;inq, renewable energy applications, water supply cilld :;anitntion, housing and construction, and 31~711 business ii@-"vi? 1opment VL'1'A's activities are facilitated by the active involvement of VITA Volunteer technical experts from around t_he rs:ot-ld :I& by its documentation center containing specialize4 technical material of interest to people in developing countries VITA also publishes a quarterly magazine and a variety of technical papers, manuals, and bulletins For more information, write to VITA, 1815 North L.ynn Street, Suite II ta, Arlington, Virginia 22209 USA hCMOWL,EXXXENTS This mcant~al presents cmnstt-uct ia,l details for several kinds auidelines for seloctinq sit,e:; and caring fotof hives, instruct icons for pr’oper clothing, etc It is based on hives, Packaqe Program of Internaof the Sylhet the experiences Inc., a community development ‘Jo u n t a r y Services, t ional effort in Rangladesh Harlan H D Attfield, the author, has been a VITA Volunteer for many years and is the author of a by VITA, inclcding published number of books and articles Ftaisimq Rabbits Keeping bees can be extremely fascinating A be7innina beekeeper needs to profitable of the habirs of bees, goofi locations for small amount of materials be Et can also have some kn,-wledge the beehives, and a TEE BEE COLONY Ho.:eybees live in a home of wax comb These six-sided wax cells a r f-2 very stronq the brood (immature bees) during and house development and provide storage space for honey and pollen In live in a sheltered cavity, such as a nature, bees usually ho1 low tree or rock crevice The colony is composed of a queen, drones, and workers The Queen There is only one queen bee in the colony (family) As mother of thp colony, her purpose in life is to lay eqqs She may lay SPV~~t-‘B htlndrc?ci eqgs 1n one c?ay Thesr? eqqs may hatch into dK-WlC?S (males;), workers, or new qtlf?f?ns 7% t? ~~~~,IE?c?II can determine which type of eqcg she is going to lay She Lafs only the type that she feels the ~010ny needs It takes sixteen da\ ;g'r the qtlf?t?n to develop f r:ll jn eqq 4t,: It : z into xlult an the seventh aEter t: t~hinq, day EN flies from the hive and mates with one OK more the queen that r;-~ queen mates, drones Th is is the only time in her life may live four to five years though she The queen is larger than the worker and longer than the drone Her wings are shorter in proportion to her body length than the drone or those of worker She has a long, tapering When undisturbed, a mated, abdomen laying queen will usually be found on or near the comb containing the eggs in the hive The Drone The number of drone bees in a colony varies seasonally There may be none when the bees have little food, but up to 1,000 during the honey-collecting season When the honey season is over and food and water become scarce, the drones are driven out of the hive to die It takes 24 days for a drone to develop from an egg into an adult The drone does nc work in the hive His only function in life is to mate with the virgin queen outside the hive He dies after mat: ing with her The drone:: are the only male bees in the hive Drones are larger and fatter than the queen or the workers Their bodies are not as long as the queen's The drone has a short tongue*he uses to take food from workers and from stored honey in the hive He does not have legs fit to carry pollen, and he is unable to produce wax He has no stinger to defend himself Children enjoy handling drones! The Worker There are 5,000 to 75,000 worker bees in a colony They all Some workers qo out of the hive to the house and Eield work and propolis (bee glue) Other bring in water, pollen, nectar, to guard against enemies St;;i in the hive workers remain the young, and build wax comb, nurse others clean the hive, Workers eat honey to procontrol the temperature of the hive and fan their wings to keep the hive duce heat in cold weather cool in hot weather It takes 21 days for a worker an to grow from an eqg into honeythe Durinq adult workers period, collecting live about six weeks Workers legs equipped have special They baskets pollen with also have qlands that produce r.ecc?ssiirj wax and the scent Eor carrying out their many 'Workers are smaller rlut ies tnan either the drones or the They have a stinger, which, unlike the queen When a worker stings something, barbed on the end remains behind and the bee dies N6RIIER queen’s, the is stinger Cells - The cells QUEE;i oE the CELLS queen, drone, DRONE and worker CELL all differ, WORKER CELLS as shown RELATIVES OF BONEYBEES mistaken for bees by Wasps are not bees but are sometimes xasp and brown wasp are shown below.) Their people (A black homes are made of mud or paperlike materials Many wasps are parasitic, laying their cqqs in or on the bodies of other insects or spiders Wasps are not good for honey production BLACK BROWN WASP WASP Several kinds of bumblebees are found around the world Although color varies a great deal, some common bumblebees are blue-black or black and yellow They make their homes at or near ground level, often in empty mouse nests Like wasps, they are not qood for honey production Dammar bees are the smaX’Lesk of th? honey yielders and are known by many people as stingless bees (Melipona spp and _I_ Trigona spp.) However, it is not completely correct to call them this because they have stingers although imperEect for use These bees not sting but bite instead They resemble a honeybee somewhat, but are much smaller They build their homes in the hollows of trees, rocks, walls, keyholes, and roof cracks Al thouqh these bees store honey, the yield is too little to warrant keeping them Unfortunately, rock in high places and soon leave bees have ferocious tempers and have been known to attack people and animals when disturbed or excited with smoke and are as successhowever, controllable They are, of honeybee fully managed in this way as any other species ProEessional honey qatherers and modern beekeepers are able to Some beekeepers have tried handle them with little difficulty but the bees prefer their homes to keep rock bees in box hives, TEE LITTLE BEE (Apis after a few days, florea) These bees move about more than five months and seldom remain at one place for at a time They make a single small comb about the size of the palm of! the hand The comb can be found hanging from branches of bushes, trees, empty boxes, piles of dried sticks, often or the ceilings of buildings The portion The workers are very noticeable just behind the legs and wings is white stripes near its end These the golden brown queen and black of the bee's body bright orange, with black and workers are much smaller than drones with smoky qrey hair Although little bees are more small comb yields only O.5-lkq remain in the wild qentle THE INDIAN This is the (l-2 than rock bees, their lb), and they prefer to BE% (Apis best bee for producing honey and can easily be housed in wooden boxes, packing crates, kerosene tins, earthen jars, Unlike its rock bee and little bee and wall recesses the Indian bee makes several combs for storing honey sisters, There are several reqional varieties or strains of the Indian are the hili and plains varieties The Two common strains worker bees of the plains variety are comparatively smaller and have a deeper yellow color and At hiqher altitudes larger bee darker bees are found 42 The habits of this bee vary from strain to strain Generally and is easy to is a bee with a gentle temper speaking, it handle even by the beqinner It responds to smoking; but in bees showed a little uneasiness several cases, colonies yield 3-5kg (7-11 lbs) of honey each On the average, year at higher altittides and 1-3kq (2.2-7 lbs) each year on the Experienced beekeepers in other parts of Asia have plains recorded yields of 13-1Ekg (29-40 lbs) of honey per year using special, movabie frame hives, described in this Bulletin By continually selectinq the best honey-producing colonies and discarding all the rest, some experienced beekeepers have had hives yieldinq as much as 25-40kq (55-88 1b.s) in one year This requires much skill and a location where the bees will find qood honey plants The Indian honeybee is a good producer but has a few defects to keep in mind Sometimes colonies will leave the hives of the beekeeper and return to living in the wild At other times, a stronq colony will rob the honey from weaker hives in the beekeeper's yard causinq its death In addition, the bees use little propolis and are often helpless against certain types of which enter the hives and damage the combs wax-moth, TRE EUROPEAN BEE (Apis _I_mellifera) This bee is worth learning about because of the large amount of honey it is able to produce Average yields of 44-180kq (99-396 lbs) per colony in groups of 500 or more colonies are common in the IJnited States The best yield recorded to date is that of 45.3kq (100 tbs) from a colony in the USA The European bee is found all over Europe and has a large number of well recoqnized varieties and strains The Italian variety is considered to be the best and has been introduced in almost all countries of the world It is similar in habits to the Indian bee in that it makes its home in enclosed places and builds several combs for storing honey Queens are qood layers; the bees have gentle tempers, qood honey-gathering habits, and 43 guard their home against all bee enemies except wasps It has adapted itself particularly well to the movable-frame hive and modern methods of management Man has even developed special strains for gentle temperament, honey gathering, pollination, and other qualities f Importation of the European bee should be restricted equipped Government-sponsored establishments with arrangements Private beekeepers are urged not foreign bees to avoid several bee diseases, which among bees available in Europe a;ld America 44 to well quarantine to import are common First Lessons Rearing in _Beekeeping, Queen Honeybees, - Beekeepingr Dadant Roger B R Saubolle & Sons: A Morse, Inc Wicwas and A Bachmann, Press, Sahayogi 1979 Prakashan, 1979 INFORHATION AND MATERIALS All India Reekeepers' India International Boulevard, 424 8, Association, Agency for Rockford, Agriculture Illinois 45 Shaniwar Development, 61103 USA Peth, Poona, 3201 Iiuffman PRODUCTION IDGS HONEY FMW = HIVE # -DATE I _ LOCATION -QUANTITY I_ COMMENTS -I _ _ HIVE t DATE LOCATION - QUANTITY COMPiENTS - _ sl_l . -HIVE # -~ DATE , I_ LOCATION -QUANTITY -COMMENTS -l- _ _-HIVE % -I m-e _ _ -, 1~~1~1 1-w -. I - p-w;:_- DATE I_ LOCATION I QUANTITY -^ -COMMENTS -l ll _ _I_ HIVE # DATE LOCATION QUANTITY COMMENTS - - - i HIVE # ~ -r DATE c _ -LOCATION ^ _ -QUANTITY _I -COMMENTS - HIVE: # DATE LOCATION QUANTITY COMMENTS ~ _ - - HIVE -1 - z-x - # -_ l ~_ ~ -L - DATE LOCATION QUANTITY COMXENTS - - HIVE DATE - -~ -I - - - - s. -.a-". LOCATION QUANTITY - CCIMMENTS -_ _ HIirE # DATE LOCATION QUANTITY COMMENTS - - BLOOM DATES V=ARIETY DATE/DURATION -Ix)CATION -~ -I- - -I w w QUALITY - COMMENTS VARIETY ^ DATE/DURATION -e ^ I&CATION QUALITY -COMMENTS = VARIETY -_. -l_ -~ -z == Y I - DATE/DURATION -~ - WCATION . . -QUALITY ( I -. -COMMENTS = ~-~-PP _-l=~~VARIETY -s -DATE/DURATION I LQCATION ==== =====;: - - _.-. -====-~======~= - QUALITY COMMENTS A VARIETY -_I_ -_ -= =====-I DATE/DURATION -XK!ATIGN -QUALITY u_I _ COMMENTS VARIETY - DATE~DURATION c -LOCATION -QMLITY -s m COMMENTS -m v _- _I _ s -u -DATE~DURATION . , -UXATION H -. -_. QUAUTY . -Y -COMMENTS VARIETY -a DATE/DURATION I&CATION -Y m-m - QUAIZTY a COMMENTS -VARIETY -M~/DURATION -ILlCATION L _QUALITY -CGIYMEMTS we DATE/DURATION - ILXATION c - QUALITY WAX PRODUCTION HIVE # -a - DATE - LOCATION - QUANTITY -^ - COMMENTS - ' -a - HIVE # DATE - LOCATION P -o QUANTITY - COMMENTS pI~-III- ._~ -P- -~========~====m= -. -. -_- HIVE P -I - DATE ^ LOCATION -QUANTITY - COMMENTS HLVE # -. DATE -I-pI LOCATION -pI - _I QUANTITY p-IpIpII- -p -I -I _ _-_- _ _ COMMENTS - .-. _ _ -_l _1IIVE # DATE -I LOCATION o-op _p QUANTITY pp-pIpI I-oI-L i -_ - -. -. -. ~ _ -' "-a. "' I-I p-e-uII-p-p s I -. - - - - - HIVE # DATE ~ LOCATION -QUANTITY ~ COMMENTS HIVE I DATE LOCATION _ QUANTITY -COMHENTS -I-. DATE -LOCATION u -w - QUANTITY -M - COMMENTS -A HIVE t I_ DATE -LOCATION -QUANTITY _^ COMMENTS - IiIvJ3 # - _ - _ - lo m _-mmm mw- .s c -I- -B -e e -e - -A - SWANKING -~ - HIVE # -DATE -IXXATION -~ -SIZE -YI_ ~ COMMENTS HIVE # DATE -I LOCATION SIZE COMMENTS HIVE -B -m - -.,. s. - -w - - - - -I # Be I DATE LOCATION - SIZE COHHENTS w I -I - - -m. - ,,.-m -x=: HIVE # -_ =-_ -DATE _- _ LOCATION SIZE I I .* -Y -COMMENTS DATE LOCATION -a w -a-* -, -1 , - - HIVE -x # - -L c DATE I_ -LOCATION _3 -SIZE L _ -COMMENTS HIVE # -DATE c LOCATION -SIZE -_ I -COMMENTS - - - I - _ -_ -^_ -s - I - I -~ i -.l m e,.e" -.-zczz~==== z=zZ HIVE # -.m. DATE LOCATION I - SIZE COMMENTS ~ l 1'fIIvE # w w~ -e e ww DATE -~~ ~~ -LOCATION SIZE -c -eM -vww COMMENTS II HIVE I_ -L- ~==-=:1== -=-=-r .====I_-==== t DATE -^ LOCATION _ -SIZE I - -_ -_ - - _-l e_ -_ NEW BEE PURCHASES/TRADES DATESOURCE TYPE QUANTITY COST TO HIVE# LOCATION COMMENTS HONEY/WAX SALES ~ =I=-m-e - ;;;E- QUANTITY m-z PRICE -=: COMKENTS -w-w - -I_ - I ... ! AIXWF VLTA Volunteers in Technical Assistance (VITA) is a private, noninternational development organization profit, VITA makes available to individuals and groups in developing countries a. .. transitional frames (see Figure 14) The transitional frame is similar to the staple-spaced frame but uses half side saving the cost of bottom bars and half af the side bars, by nearly half and... VITA also publishes a quarterly magazine and a variety of technical papers, manuals, and bulletins For more information, write to VITA, 1815 North L.ynn Street, Suite II ta, Arlington, Virginia