Beekeeping Basics

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[4] Whenever possible, visit the bees on a warm, sunny, windless day when plenty of nectar-bearing flowers are in bloom (or, as beekeepers say, when there's a honeyflow ). On such occasions many of the insects will be out working in the fields . . . and the stay-at-homes will be so busy with their own labors that they'll hardly notice your presence.

[5] Don't block the hive entrance with your body. Tend the bee house from the side or back.

[6] Try to make all your movements calm, evenly paced, and efficiently purposeful. Don't alarm the insects by moving jerkily or hastily . . . or try their patience by taking more time than you should. (Of course, such poise may not come naturally at first. Keep trying, and your skills and demeanor will soon improve. And, if at all possible, get some experience working with other beekeepers . . . a lot of their self-assurance will rub off on you .)

THE HIVE: PARTS AND MEMBERS

Before you can begin beekeeping, you need to know a bit about the equipment and community you'll be working with. The modern beehive was devised—in 1851—by the Reverend L.L. Langstroth. His design incorporated two vital features that are standard today: movable, interchangeable frames and uniform "bee space".

The fact that all the interior parts can be easily taken out and moved about is—in Langstroth's invention—what makes precise and nondestructive manipulation of the hive possible. And since all the internal pieces of equipment are separated by 5/16" spaces (the size of passageway that bees naturally prefer), the insects usually won't be tempted to close off their "halls" by sticking the hive parts together with extra comb or bee glue (propolis).

The basic parts of the bees' home are a hive stand, a bottom board , inner and outer top covers , and—most important of all—open boxes, or supers, that make up the body of the hive. Inside every one of the bee-housing boxes are eight to ten frames (or racks ), and each of these removable rectangles contains a thin sheet of beeswax imprinted with hexagons the size of a worker bee cell. Such sheets of foundation give the bees ordered starting points for drawing out either egg or honey cells.

The main hive body, or brood chamber (sometimes called a deep super ) is 9-5/8" high and used to house the queen and her eggs ( brood ). Many beekeepers like to keep two brood chambers on each hive.

The shorter boxes, or shallow supers (most frequently referred to simply as supers ), are only 5-3/4" tall. They are stacked on top of the brood chamber(s) and used primarily for storing honey.

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