Honey bee production / Bee keeping

Bees are hard working insect that gives us honey (what else..). As what they say, honey is the only food that never spoils. Honey is primarily from the nectar of plants on which the honey bees extracted and deposits it in their honey comb.

It is high time to invest in the honey bee production. Currently, USA production is very down. They are experiencing a mass bee death with unknown etiology since last year and currently it is still on going. And if their production is down it only means that they need to import from other countries like the Philippines.

Here is an article about Honey Bee production.

Suitable areas for rearing native honey beesColonies of native bees could easily be established in areas where there are plenty of flowering plants throughout the year. Bees in these areas will practically yield more honey.

Having diversified farms, Cavite and Batangas provide good foraging grounds for bee colonies. In Quezon where coconut palms flower throughout the year, bee colonies under coconut plantations would just be alright. Mindanao is another good area to raise honey bees.

One practical method of assessing the suitability of an area for beekeeping is counting the number of wild bee colonies. If the density of bee colonies is high, it means that the area is suitable for bee culture.

Transferring wild colonies of bees to a wooden hiveBolo or ax may be needed in exposing the colony of native honey bees. Determine the number of combs in the hive. Spray worker bees with small amount of water to prevent bees from flying. A little amount of smoke is needed to drive worker bees away from the first comb. By means of a sharp stainless knife, cut the base of the first comb. Oftentimes, this comb does not contain brood (immature bees) or honey. Using water and smoke, do the same to the other combs.

Fix the comb with capped brood (pupal stage) on the center of the wired frame. To do this, cut evenly the base of the comb. Place the comb below the wired frame and cut through the middle section of the comb by using the wire as guide. Now, could push half of the comb through the wires. Tie the comb to the top bar by means of a plastic straw. Bees will begin to cluster outside the combs because of the disturbance. Occasionally, examine this cluster to see if the queen is with them. One or two combs with capped brood is enough for the new hive depending on the total population of the feral or wild colony. Be sure that the comb attached to the frame would be totally covered by bees after the operation.

Now, look for the queen. Among the bees in the colony, she has the longest abdomen. If you find her, grasp her wings gently with you two fingers. Do not hold her on the abdomen. Put her on the cage together with five newly emerged worker bees. After covering the cage, tie it below the top bar adjacent to the comb. With the queen and two combs on the box, you are now ready to transfer all bees to the box. Give the queen a handful of bees. Some of these bees will guide the remaining bees to the new hive. Apply some smoke to the cluster of bees remaining in the old hive to facilitate the process of bee transfer. After all bees have transferred, bring the box to the desired location.

Source: greenstone.org

Picture from:advocacy.britanica