JNKVV College Of Agriculture, Rewa Subject – Apiculture

Guided by:- Prepared by:-DR.M.A.ALAM KHEMKARAN TEMBHRE Dept. Of Entomology

Title-BEE–BOX CONSTRUCTION

Introduction To Honey Bee

Kingdom : AnimaliaPhylum : ArthropodaClass : InsectaOrder : HymenopteraFamily : ApidaeGenus : ApisSpecies :cerena,mellifera,dorsata

Objective To be able to construct a bee hive or

bee boxes for bee keeping.

To minimize the cost of bee boxes.

Used in rearing of honey bees to obtain honey, wax and other by products of economic importance.

Introduction

A honey bee box is made up of a hive stand, bottom board, hive bodies(brooder), smaller boxes called honey supers and a cover.

The lower hive body is separated from the super above by an excluder.

The hive box is specially useful for extraction of honey by protecting the lives of honey bees, in all stages i.e. egg, larva, pupa and adult.

Traditional hive:-

The Grass hive.

The Gourd hive.

The Log hive. a) The barrel

hive. b)The clay pot

hive.

The modern langstroth hive consists of the following parts:

Hive stand: the upper hive components rest on this, providing a landing board for the bees and helping to protect the bottom board from rot and cold transfer.

Bottom board: this has an entrance for the bees to get into the hive.

Brood box: the lowest box of the hive and where the queen bee lays her eggs.

Honey super: usually shorter than the brood box, but is the uppermost box(s), where honey is stored.

Frames & foundation: wooden or plastic frames with wax or plastic sheets with honeycomb impression where bees build wax honey combs.

Inner cover: provides separation from an overly hot or cold outer cover and can be used as a shelf for feeding or other purposes.

Outer cover: provides weather protection for the hive.

NEED OF BEE-HIVE Colonies in the open are exposed to predators and therefore have to

employ numerous workers as guards to fight intruders.

They have to consume large quantities of honey, which they use as fuel, to enable them to cluster to stop the wind which cools down their combs and to generate enough heat to maintain the proper temperature for brood development.

During severely hot days, more bees have to use honey as fuel to enable them to fan and cool melting combs to avoid disaster.

The exposed colony therefore has to keep larger numbers of house bees, and will thus have fewer foraging bees available to bring in the needed nectar and other essentials from the field.

Materials required:- Wood glue, paint, newspaper, pencil, plastic, lid,

hive stand, wooden ware frames, plywood.

Timber used for making beehives Bee hives are constructed mainly with seasonal

timber such as teak, kail or toon. The timber should be free from insect holes, damage and cracks. The wood must be termite-proof, resistant to the rotting effect of the sun and rain, warp-proof, and non-bee repellent. The thickness of the wooden wall should be 20 mm.

Tools required:- A hive tool may be necessary to pry up and remove the

frames from the beehive. A knife  The knife is useful for cutting a portion of the

comb attached to the hive body. A knife can perform almost all the functions of the hive tool, but the hive tool cannot be used to cut bee combs as neatly as is required.

The brush or quill: Bees must sometimes be brushed gently into a container or a hive. A brush with soft hairs is useful for this.

The feeder can be a jam jar or a special container turned upside down and so arranged that water trickles slowly from it for the bees to drink.

Others are circular saw, nail, hammer, driller.

Protective clothing:- The bee suit is sewn to cover all parts of the body except

the head, hands and feet. The veil is the most important. It is a straw hat (or any type

of hat with a brim). Netting is sewn firmly around the hat and attached at the back by a piece of cloth. The veil protects the head, face and neck from attack.

Bee gloves must be sewn with good, flexible white leather to protect the hand and fingers from stings and help the beekeeper to scoop up bees with his hands if the need arises.

A pair of long boots is also important to protect the feet from stings. When they are not available, a pair of light shoes and thick white socks can be worn. Dark or black socks should only be worn at night when the bees, vision is poor.

Method of construction of bee box:-

Measure two rectangular pieces of 1" board to 9.75" high and 20" long for the sides of bee box, and mark the dimensions with a pencil.

  Measure two rectangular pieces of 1" board to 9.75" high

and 15" long for the ends of bee box, and mark the dimensions with a pencil.

  Use a circular saw to cut out the four sides of the honey bee

box, and to cut a ridge that is 3/8" wide and ¾" deep on the top and bottom edges of the box ends to rest the frames of your bee hive.

  Nail the two sides to the two ends, placing one nail at each

corner of the box.

Measure and cut two strips of 1" board 17" long and 2" wide, and nail the strips along the outside top edge of the ends of the box to secure the sides of the honey bee box in place.

Measure and cut two pieces of plywood 16.5" wide and 21.5" long for the top and bottom of the bee box.

  Measure and cut two pieces of 2" x 4" board 16.5" long, and

nail them to the short edges of the bottom plank, one along each edge, to raise the honey bee box up off the ground.

  Measure and cut four strips of 1" wood to add as riser boards

to the bottom edge of the box before installing the plywood---two 20" strips, one 15" strip and one 7" all 1" wide.

Turn the box over and nail the strips of wood to the bottom, nailing the 7" strip to one of the ends, leaving a hole for the bees to enter the bee hive.

  Nail the plywood bottom to the bee box.

Measure and cut two strips of 1" wood 16 1/2" long and 1" wide, and nail to each side of the short ends of the lid to serve as handles for picking up the lid.

  Set the lid on top of the box with the flat side of the plywood down,

flush with the top of the box.  Sand the entire box and lid, and paint the outside surfaces of the bee

box white.  Order and assemble frames to fill the box and get started on honey

bee hive.

•Turn the box over and nail the strips of wood to the bottom, nailing the 7" strip to one of the ends, leaving a hole for the bees to enter the bee hive.•Nail the plywood bottom to the bee box.

Points:-

Build the baseboard that creates the correct size bee entry. It needs to be 0.75 inches (1.91 cm) for summer entrance and 0.38 inches (0.95 cm) for winter entrance.

Entrances that are larger may encourage an infestation of rodents.

Precautions:-

While making a bee hive , ensure that the measurements are accurate.

Use white paint on the exposed areas of the baseboard. Do not paint the inside of the box.

Ventilation to bee hive , proper food to bees are available.

Thank you