Beekeeping – Bee Package Installation
This video outlines the core elements of installing a package of bees into a colony.
- PSUPhoenix
The Disappearing Bees Populations
News agencies started reporting on a disturbing phenomenon in the bee population, in the spring of 2007. It was reported beekeepers were visiting their hives to discover that their bees had disappeared. The queen and a few newly hatched bees were all that remained. The presence of predators feeding on the bees did not leave any evidence of having been there. There was no evidence of dead bees from bee diseases either. Based on the lack of evidence, it seemed unlikely that the bees had gotten sick and died. However, many beekeepers reported that moths, animals, and other bees steered clear of the newly emptied nests. This is a normal reaction when bees die from disease or chemical contamination.
The news reports were alarming. They described beekeepers losing more than half of their bees and explained the importance of honeybees in the pollination of food crops. Some of the articles implied with the disappearance of the bees widespread starvation would follow. The disappearing of bees or otherwise called “Colony Collapse Disorder: is a real phenomenon. It has the potential to impact food and honey production, but it is more complex than it has been reported. The colony collapse disorder has had an effect primarily on the domestic, commercial honeybees. These bees are raised exclusively for producing honey and pollinating crops. It also seems to effect bees from hives that are moved from place to place to pollinate crops. Of the overall bee population, the commercial honeybees make up only a small portion. Africanized honeybees, along with other types of bees, do not seem to be affected.
Also, this is not the first time the honeybee population has suddenly and unexpectedly declined. In the last 100 years beekeepers have reported sharp decreases in their hive populations several time. In 1915, beekeepers in several states reported substantial bee losses. The condition became known as the “Disappearing Disease”. It was not named for the bees disappearing, but because the condition was limited and did not happen again.
Researchers never determined the cause for Disappearing Disease or the declines in bee population, and the causes are still unclear today for the colony collapse disorder. Several possibilities have been ruled out because they are not present in all of the affected colonies. The bees in the affected colonies were all feed using different methods, mites and other pests were controlled in a different way. The bees did not even come from the same supplier. The work group investigating the phenomenon does not suspect genetically altered crops to be the problem.
There are some theories on the causes of colony collapse disorder.
The process of transporting bees over long distances in order to pollinate crops may cause stress, which has depressed the bees’ immune system, exposed them to additional diseases or affected their navigational abilities.
Mites generally feeding on the bees may be exposing the bees to an unknown virus. Mites have caused colony collapse in the past, but they have also left evidence, which is not the case in colony collapse disorders.
One common theory regarding cell phones as the culprit, but it has been discounted. This theory made the news in April, 2007, “The Independent” who featured the article about a study being done on the cell phones and linking them to the bee disappearance, they failed to dig deep enough for their story. The study was not related to cell phones, but was on the electromagnetic energy coming from the base units of cordless phones. A cordless phone uses a different wavelength than the cell phone.
It is unknown exactly where the honeybee species is headed or exactly how the drop in the population of the bee will affect the world’s food supply. The drop in population in all likelihood not lead to the sudden extinction of the human race, it is going to have an l effect on what we eat if it continues.
- Jack Stanley
How to Keep Bees – How the Seasons Affect Beekeepers
In learning how to keep bees you will find that your planning and your activity is ruled by the seasons. Beekeeping is a wonderful pastime through which you can help to boost the declining honeybee population, not to mention have a ready and plentiful supply of honey. If you manage to produce more honey than you need (which you most certainly will) then you could make a little extra money selling it to friends and neighbors.
Although there is no real set time to start, the best time to begin your beekeeping project is the winter. This is really the planning and preparation period. So during this time you will need to purchase your equipment; principally the bee suit, hive and smoker. You should also think about where you are going to site your bee hive, ideally this should be in a relatively sheltered position facing away from the prevailing wind.
Although not essential, the best time to obtain your bees is early spring so as to make sure that your colony is well established by the time they are collecting nectar and producing honey. You can obtain a starter colony by mail order from specialist suppliers or contact your local beekeeping association who may have a member who has a queen and small colony to spare. It is possible to collect a passing swarm of honey bees, but this is really not recommended for beginners.
During the summer, your bees will be busy collecting nectar, producing honey and reproducing. Your main tasks are to check your bees to make sure that they are free of mites and to make sure that they have plenty of space. The issue of space is important as if they start to run out of room then this will trigger the queen to initiate swarming – essentially this is a case of the bee colony leaving their hive in a bid to find more roomy accommodation. You obviously want to avoid this as this will mean you no longer have any bees. Not only this, but your neighbors might find it a little disturbing to find a swarm of honey bees in the back yard!
Late summer is honey collecting time. This is a sticky and messy task, but highly rewarding. This is after all the reason why you learn how to keep bees. It is a matter of straining the honeycomb to produce clear honey. A honey extractor make the task considerably easier. Alternatively, you could simply cut the honeycomb into pieces and package it into jars as it is.
Over the winter, your colony will be less active and your main task is to check that your beehive remains weather proof, replacing any damaged boards or filling holes with weatherproof filler. You will need to replace the honey that you have taken with sugar water to provide your colony with food.
As you can see, the natural process of keeping bees and producing honey is tied to the rhythm of the seasons and you need to bear this in mind when planning for your beekeeping project.
- Mark Daymond
Bible Versus Quran Versus Sciences (2) the Bees
Before dealing with the topic of the Bees in Quran versus Bible versus sciences, it is mandatory to give some statistical hints.
The total words in the Bible are 788,280 while total words in the Quran are 77,473. It follows that, the Bible is more than 10 times the Quran word-wise. In other words, the Bible has the potential of more than 10 times than the Quran to exhibit its topics.
Back to the bees, they are mentioned four times in the Bible and once in the Quran.
Bees in the Bible
Danger of their attacks
The Bible is talking about the danger of the attacks by bees
Deuteronomy 1:44
“And the Amorites who dwelt in that mountain came out against you and chased you as bees do, and drove you back from Seir to Hormah.”
Psalm 118:12
“They surrounded me like bees; They were quenched like a fire of thorns; For in the name of the LORD I will destroy them.”
Could bees live in a cadaver?
It is something very interesting to know that the Bible says that the bees established their colonies inside a cadaver of a lion and made honey.
Judges 14:8
“After some time, when he returned to get her, he turned aside to see the carcass of the lion. And behold, a swarm of bees and honey were in the carcass of the lion.”
As far as I know, bees NEVER do that and never make their colonies inside a cadaver of any animal. We know that bees are very clean and can not live inside a putrefied cadaver.
Bees are they symbol of enemies?
Isaiah 7:18
In that day the LORD will whistle for flies from the distant streams of Egypt and for bees from the land of Assyria.
According to the Biblical commentaries and dictionary,
It is said that, In Isaiah 7:18 the “fly” and the “bee” are personifications of the Egyptians and Assyrians, the inveterate enemies of Israel.
It means that the Bible uses the bees as a symbol of enemies.
Bees in the Quran
It is interesting that the Surah (or chapter) No. 16 called the “The Honeybee” while there is no chapter in the Bible that is called the Honeybee!
The Quran describes the functions of the FEMALE bees and their products.
“And your Lord revealed the FEMALE Honeybee; build homes in mountains, and trees, and in the hives people built for you.
16-The Honeybee, then to eat of all the produce and fruits (of the earth), and find with skill the spacious paths of its Lord: there issues from within their bodies a fluid of varying colors (and tastes and characters), wherein is healing for men: verily in this is a Sign for those who are thinking”.
Surah 16:68-69
In describing the activities of the honeybee, the Quran uses the feminine gender.
It is known that in Arabic, verbs are conjugated according to gender. The use in the Quran of the feminine gender in conjugation shows that the acts were done by the female bee. To address the honeybee in the verse with the addition of the adjective “female” before the honeybee would be miraculous.
The following functions are performed by female bees as described in the Quran:
1- Building of hive
2- Collecting of nectar, new material for production of bee products
3- Making the bee products
4- These bee products have different colors, tastes and characters.
5- These bee products have
At the time of the revelation of the Quran, Arabs did not know the details of the distribution of work among the bees living in a hive; they would not recognize that those actively working in the hive were females. They had no idea about the function of producing honey and collecting nectar from fruits belonged to female bees. They had no idea about the bee products.
Therefore, it is interesting, without a doubt, that in listing the duties of bees, the Quran used the mode of conjugation in the Arabic intended for the female gender. Not only that but I may admit that the Quran is the first book on earth which talks about the bee products that include liquids of different colors, tastes and characters and have healing effects.
The subject of healing effects of bee products will be discussed later on.
- Prof.dr. Ibrahim Khalil
Principals of Beekeeping : How to smoke bees
Run your own bee hive; smoking bees is an important part of the beekeeping process. Learn how to smoke bees from a professional beekeeper in this free beekeeping tutorial video. Expert: Jorge Gomez Bio: Jorge Gomez has been a professional beekeeper for over 15 years. He currently cares for many bee hives in the Austin area.
- expertvillage