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For all the beekeepers and future beekeepers out there , this one is for you!Your journey to successful beekeeping begins with constructing a suitable harbour for honeybees , otherwise live as the bee hive .
The chase is an excerption fromRaising Resilient BeesbyEric and Joy McEwen . It has been adapted for the web .
Bees and Humans: A Historic Partnership
Figure 3.1 . Inspecting a Natural Nest colony during the midsummer nectar flow . This is past the season of prodigious wax production . No more super will be contribute to this colony , thus encourage backfilling of portions of the brood nest with honey . Photo by Ammon Cluff
Human interactions with the love bee date back at least 12,000 years to the earliest solar day of tend manage colony .
Before this , we , like many other mammals , likely engaged in love hunting , finding way to master the fury of unhinged colonies for enter the hoarded wealth within the tooth decay that acts as the bee ’ buttery .
Figure 3.1. Inspecting a Natural Nest colony during the midsummer nectar flow. This is past the season of prodigious wax production. No more supers will be added to this colony, thus encouraging backfilling of portions of the brood nest with honey. Photo by Ammon Cluff
A natural progression chair observant man to debar destroying the settlement during this process .
To despatch of the colony for get to the sweet nectar was to take in only a individual enjoyable reward ; to control the artwork of nondestructive harvest home allowed the prodigious dependency to accrue ever more of this precious resourcefulness .
Around the domain , wherever honey bees were to be witness , human culture were smitten with desire to associate with them and thereby share in the spoils .
Beekeeping: A Heart-Centered Hobby
As human civilizations developed , their desire tardily transform , evoking a deep hungriness to not just take from the bee but to invest our intellect in truly caring for their well - being is an perceptiveness into the true and generous nature of world .
Creativity paired with diligence is the peak of human race , where well - intentioned travail can lead in a mutualistic symbiosis that benefits all political party .
Beekeeping is such a slyness , when our actions remain heart center .
We hope that this manifesto is a continuation in this descent of well - intend beholder who desire to unlock the secrets of the bees ’ mode and let their insights run innovation for the amelioration of the craft .
Honey For Shelter: An Even Exchange
Honey bees have been very patient with our experimentation through the age , although many efforts to improve the status of their contrived home have perhaps been misguided and resulted in unacceptable deficiencies , be the bee dearly .
However , the bee have been ever present to paint a picture when our exploit are working in their party favor and offer their seraphic reward as bonus to keep on our piece of work .
Here we consider recent hive design innovation , comparing their relative merits in hopes of furthering the with child debate as to the good recitation for homo and honey bee . In our own practice , we were compelled to take duty for produce the fine of bee homes for the honey bees in our charge .
By manufacturing our own beehive equipment , we essay to make a calibre home that meet the bee ’ needs while operat- ing within the constraints of our modern society of imagination scarcity .
Our Natural Nest hive body forth an assemblage of hive constituent and have ideal for our realm and the agency that we keep bees . We will also talk to the moral we ’ve get a line about overall apiary layout .
The Bee Hive: Creating A Home For Creatures of Nature
If the dependency is a being , then the beehive is the skin that envelops the being , protect its internal workings from the inclemency of the climate and the malice of intruder .
The hive should be strong enough to withstand an unforeseen nose candy and stable enough to fend hard winds .
It should be warm and it should be teetotal . As long as a colony has stockpiled adequate honey stock within the hive and keep up a sizeable and robust population throughout the summer , it is prepared for winter .
The beekeeper ’s duty — which begin long before the first heyday of the time of year blossom out — is to secure the beehive is write of materials suitable for the surround climate and the creatures housed within .
Materials for Crafting A Bee Hive
Figure 3.2 . Like most apiculturist , we ab initio paint our woodenware with rubber-base paint key . However , it hinder our power to give - harvest gamy - timber propolis without veneration of contamination from paint chips .
When considering materials for hiving bee , the environmental or carbon step should be of fundamental importance .
The material and vigour expending call for in meeting colonies ’ needs must be balanced with thoughtfulness of the impermanence of these constructed homes .
For instance , Slovenian AZ hives require the twist of an entire building to domiciliate the box hives .
However this expense must be measured against the fact that this construction will itself last a very foresighted time and will likely increase the life-time of the hive equipment , as it minimizes the exposure of woodenware to the weather .
Hives constructed of charge card , in our opinion , constitute an inappropriate use of resource , and in the end pollute the very landscape we are examine to steward .
Likewise , lumber hives shape from whole tree bole section use large amounts of precious forest that could be used to construct more efficient hive that use less resources per colony , thereby contribute less carbon to the standard atmosphere over time .
Concrete & Sealants
Heavy concrete bases are even more unsustainable , concrete being a significant author of global carbon release as well as a source of soil contamination . Likewise , metal roofing , chains , and advanced shoulder strap with charge plate components seem like poor use of special resource in a Earth of scarcity .
Our own Natural Nest beekeeping standards , which are consistent with the best available constituent and biodynamic standards , use only innate material for hive construction and colony management .
affected sealants , adhesives , and glues should not be used in beehive construction , as the electric potential for taint is too great . Beekeep- ers must come up other ways to supply adequate auspices from the rains .
Any interior part of the hive should consist only of natural materials such as wood , wax , bamboo , or earth , and fasteners should be kept to a minimum .
Temperature Insulation
Hives with high radius - values ( radius - value being the quantity of the insulative value of a stuff ) serve the bees in maintain warm during the wintertime , which in bend fall their need to consume honey store for heat . However it is potential to create a beehive that is excessively insulated .
Hives insulated with foam board or insulative wraps can create such a warm environment that the bee are fool into a higher state of activity . When they become more alive inside the beehive , they may rear brood and waste love stores .
bee in this artificially induce state of activity are at risk of consuming all their winter buttery before the moth-eaten weather abates .
To attain the correct balance , it is best to make a hive that is strong , but not unnaturally so — unless you are observe bees in an domain with severe winters(such as frequently near 0 ° F [ – 18 ° C ] ) , in which pillowcase “ artificially warm ” may be just enough for survival .
Managing Costs
In his informative book , Keeping Bees with a Smile , apiculturist Fedor Lazutin detail the hive construction methods he found necessary to keep bee in the extreme cold and lengthened winters of central Russia.1
While the cost of materials for each of his hives is comparatively high , the environmental conditions in his area are so severe that they seem warrant .
His hives include polystyrene foam boards , but they are well protect from the elements and can be used to make unexampled hives when the wooden components have reach the goal of their life-time .
Each beekeeper must do their own cost – benefit mathematics to learn how best to make desirable cavity for their bees . In marine Oregon , our winters do not guarantee such components , and they may even be detrimental to the honey bee in our clime .
Minimizing Moisture
While bees can handle the cold to a gunpoint , they are far more particular about wet .
The heating required to re - vaporise urine that has been absorb by the hive interior is fantastic , and the bees must generate this heat themselves using lay in dear reserves for energy , unnecessarily consuming winter storage .
This hinder spring expansion at the start of the time of year and at long last limits the beekeeper ’s harvest as well . Hives that minimise water system absorption offer a great vantage to the colony , peculiarly with respect to winter survival and natural spring build - up .
In our beehive construction we practice only natural materials in a natural state .
Wood , stubble , and earth are all instinctive materials that breathe , which is an important feature of a natural cavity . The less processing , the good .
Creating A Structure: Which Wood?
Figure 3.3 . We reconnoiter out cedar and sequoia , looking for sustainably harvest whole tree , and then channel them home for litigate in a portable mill . This incense cedar was a stand up dead tree diagram , removed by the land highway section .
We prefer unfinished Ellen Price Wood open , which make an internal hive surface that is more intimate to the bee and promote them to lend oneself propolis to the hive interior , which contributes to a more moulding - resistant and waterproofed environment .
In particular , we prefer wood that is source regionally and sustainably .
For this cause — and others related to operation — we no longer use hive physical structure constructed of pine tree milled by commercial equipment manufacturers .
This Grant Wood is undoubtedly sourced from clear - cut logging , a praxis we can not endorse for any purpose , countenance alone for the construction of equipment with such a finite lifespan .
We live in the region of the country where much of the country ’s wood products are produced , and we see at first hand the impacts of all the way - cut logging .
Keeping Your Bee Hive Dry & Warm
We construct our nettle rash out of extremely insulative forest from the cypress kinsfolk , specifically either incense cedarwood or coast redwood , both of which are locally abundant .
Whenever possible we source log from stand drained tree on our farm or from nearby farms and mill around them on - site with a portable band saw mill . When that is n’t potential , we work with a modest , family - prevail James Mill that select - logs tree from their own land holdings .
Their practice exit behind a thriving second - growth timberland with an ever - greater value , both ecologically and economically .
The growth design of the two aforementioned woods build closed jail cell filled with atmosphere , result in the highest R - time value of any known wood .
equate to clear - cell Wood like pine , closed in - cell woods not only offer greater insulating material , but they are also light and less humid when slopped because they do not pronto occupy atmospheric moisture .
This makes cypress tree woods ideal for hive construction . peculiarly in cold part with high ambient humidity , cypress hive will stay ironic , pissed , and light , ensuring that most of the weight of the beehive is “ functional weight”—bees , wax , and honey .
This will ultimately reduce the burden on the beekeeper ’s back and a vehicle ’s suspension system when the beehive take to be moved .
Figure 3.4 . The Sunday be sick previous - afternoon shadows of Queen Anne ’s lace onto a hive , which aid to launch the bees back home . Each wad of woodenware becomes a alone gathering of patterns , lines , and colors , create line and variety for the bees . This , combined with each hive ’s distinct proportional placement upon the hive viewpoint , keeps drift to a lower limit .
Sealing the Hive From Inside
A dry beehive is a warm beehive . With bees helping to varnish the hive from the interior , our hive can stay impeccably dry and defy the weather for a farseeing time . We use boards that are 7/8 - in ( 22 mm ) thick .
We have constructed beehive with boards as thick as 1 in ( 2.5 cm ) , and while they are quality hive , any thicker than this is unnecessary and can feel like a waste of cloth .
Using material thicker than 1 inch may also ensue in roentgen - value high enough to create artificially elevated temperatures inside the beehive .
When using wood with low R - values , a slightly greater heaviness is perhaps warranted . That said , the density of such woods should be assessed to consider thermic mass .
woods with lowly R - economic value and gamy thermic mountain will lay in and transmit increase amounts of cold to the interior and take longer to warm during the day , push the colony to spend more energy to keep lovesome .
Final Touches: Adding Character to Your Bee Hive
Many beekeepers use latex paint to uphold the wood and also to avail the bee easily identify the hive body as home . There are many beautifully decorated and painted beehive , and we palpate some nostalgia thought process of beehives of old .
However , latex paint is an unnecessary and unnatural increase to the hive outside and is a significant source of pollution in both beehive products and the apiary as it flakes off onto the ground .
It is inconsistent with organic direction recitation , and for good reason .
We ascertain that the bees easily identify their own hives by the singular knot , cereal patterns , and color variation on lifelike Ellen Price Wood , as well as the shadows of blossom throw away by the afternoon sunlight .
We had a hard metre giving up our kids ’ hand - painted hive and all the hives we named and adorned with symbols of planet , gods , and goddess , but we cognise that our bees are level-headed for the sack off from paint .
A Simple Recipe for Coating A Bee Hive
figure of speech 3.5 . We coat our beehive with a flaxseed oil , pine rosin , and beeswax stopping point . We utilise a double boiler to reheat the already prepared sealer .
We coat the outside of our beehive components with a mixture of linseed oil , pine rosin ( as a hardener ) , and beeswax to extend their life story in the sun and to deter water system immersion . Here is our simple recipe :
Ingredients
Procedure
First , we churn the flaxseed oil . It is significant to utilize raw linseed crude , as “ boiled ” flaxseed contains toxic petroleum products used as diluent .
Once the oil is churn , add the pine resin , which takes a few minutes to dissolve equally in the vegetable oil . Add the beeswax and stir over low rut until liquid and uniform . Bring to a simmer .
Simmer for half an time of day , then tally the wax .
The sealer is best applied while it is hot . We use shallow , heated pans to simmer lowly fortune of the mixture , then insert the wooden- ware directly into those pans to briefly soak , immersing only the exterior surface .
instead , you’re able to sweep it on in small quantities from a pot that is kept at a simmer . This method is efficacious , but it ’s more hard to achieve optimal incursion without soak .
The Finished Product: A Beautiful Bee Hive
Initially the finish is a bit oily , but after a few days of curing in the Sunday , the cultivation has further penetrated the Sir Henry Joseph Wood and dry to a gruelling sheen , at which item the equipment is quick to employ . We normally seek to design for about a week of gay weather to assure a good curing of the cultivation .
We have been constructing hives out of these materials for more than 8 yr now . The sure-enough boxes in our operation have not put down significantly and show no sign that the end of their useful life is in plenty .
Because we habituate woodwind of vary quality ( out of respect for the carbon copy step of our action ) , we now and again construct a hive with a board turn back some soft spot or rot .
Due to these imperfections , the hive boxes occasionally give way to a chip or rot edge . In spite of this , these boxes still provide quite well for the bee .
The bees usually make up for little imperfection in the wood with additions of propolis . orotund imperfections result in small , extra entrances that the bee lean to expend with zest .
We have never seen small born possibility contribute to our bees ’ fatality rate rates to any obtrusive degree .
Notes
1 . Fedor Lazutin , Keeping Bees with a Smile : principle and Practice of Natural Beekeep- ing , trans . Mark Pettus ( Gabriola Island , BC : New Society Publishers , 2020 ) .
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