1. Keeping Bees A Simple Guide to the Basics by Ed Budden

2. Winter Prep Work Decideon a bee dealer Findout when you need to order bees Have a rough idea when deliveries take place Determinewhat you need for equipment Willyou build or buy? Are you going to start with one or multiple hives? Decide Getwhat honeybee race you wantone or more books on bees and read 3. Bee Races Russian- The best adapted to Alaska. Mite resistant. Shut down brood production in the fall. Nearly all Alaskan beekeepers use this race.Italian- A few years ago this was the race everyone used. Very slightly more aggressive than Russians. Most negative trait is they continue to produce large amounts of brood going into the fall.Carnolian- Fairly popular in lower 48. I am not sure if any dealer brings this race in.Buckfast- Some interesting material on the web concerning this race. Not sure if anyone has tried them in Alaska 4. Alaska Bee Dealers Toklat Apiaries (recommended) Steve Petersen Fairbanks (907) 457-2440 akbeeman2000@yahoo.comAlaska Honey Bee Keith Malone P.O. Box 671092 Chugiak, 99567 907-242-0588 907-688-0588 klm@gci.netThere are others, but I have bought from these two 5. Building Hive Boxes Plans found at: http://www.beesource.com/build-it-yourself/10-frame-langstroth-barry-birkey Willneed: Tablesaw Miter saw Router Jig to make finger joints (can be made-see right) 6. Hive/Equipment Purchasing Options Check Mannwith Steve PetersonLake at: http://www.mannlakeltd.com/ Dadant Manyat: http://www.dadant.com/other suppliers (use Google) Checkout beginners packages Caution- buying used equipment- it may have been exposed to honeybee diseases 7. What do I need for Hive Boxes? For each hive I would recommend: Two deep boxes One honey super An insulated inner cover An outer cover A bottom boardThis is all I have needed even in an exceptional year but if you are located in a very good area keep in mind that you may need additional supers 8. Inner Covers Topis commercial inner cover of framed thin plywood w/ hole Ihave used Works OK Bottomis insulated inner cover I bought from Steve Betterinsulation Could be made easily 9. Outer Covers Top is Commercial Full Cover Overhangs on four sides Covered with galvanized metal More weatherproofBottom is Migratory Cover Overhangs on two sides Plywood only (homemade by me) Hives can be strapped and transported Hives can be placed side by side for two queen colony (advanced beekeeping) A metal or waterproof cover could also be applied on these 10. Top or Bottom Entrances? All commercial hives are built with a bottom entranceNearly all bee books talk of bottom entrancesBees vastly prefer a top entranceUsing a chisel you can cut a top opening in your insulated coverLeave the bottom entrance for the bees to clean out hiveIf you have a top and bottom entrance the bees will ALWAYS use the top entrance 11. What Equipment do I need for Hive Tending? ASmoker, with fuelAhive toolABee BrushABee SuitAHive Stand or an old pallet to set hive(s) on Someinsulating material to put around hives in springAframe feeder for each hive 12. Winter Timeline Nov-Mar Build hive boxes (or purchase) Acquire all equipment needed Decide on spring hive sites (see book info)Jan-Feb Purchase bees from dealerMarch For second and successive years this is a good time to scrape down frames and boxes of propolis, honey spills, excess comb, mold etc.End of March Shovel off hive site (if necessary) 13. Feeding Bees Bees need to be fed a syrup until the dandelions bloom in your area.The syrup should always be made from white sugar. Brown sugar is harder for bees to digest and commercial honey may have disease spores.Mix a 1 to 1 ratio syrup. Two 4 lb packages of sugar to a gallon of water should work. Hot tap water will mix it fine. If you hear of a different mix recipe use it. The bottom line is that the bees will eat what you give them.The first batch of syrup should have Fumadil B mixed in to help prevent a bee disease called Nosema (this is a small bag of white powder you can get from Steve P).To feed bees just open the hive and dump syrup in feeder. Lots of bees will drown in the feeder- dont worry about it. You can put a piece of floating wood in the feeder it will help them some.Start by feeding them every 5 days and then adjust schedule based on how much they have eaten.After hiving add a pollen patty to the top of the frames (get from Steve). 14. Hiving Bees Keephive boxes in warm location until just before hiving bees Mixup some warm syrup with medicine Setup two deep boxes with frames Removethree frames from the center of hive (frames 4, 5, and 6) Placeframe feeder in the slot for frame 9 and fill with syrup Removequeen cage and put in your pocket to keep warm 15. Hive Configuration for Dumping Bees RemoveFrames 4,5, and 6 Framefeeder in the #9 position Picturetaken in the fall - in the spring the frames will all be scraped down and clean 16. Prepping for Queen Installation Toppicture is the plastic queen cage Thebrown stuff is propolis that the bees put on everything Bottom Cutpicturea saw kerf in a small piece of wood 17. Hiving Bees Continued Carefullypull out the can of feed from the Bee Package using hive tool Usingas much bumping, shaking and whacking as necessary dump the bees into the frame gap in hive Usebee brush as necessary to move bees Getas many bees out of box as you can then set the box on the ground by the hive 18. Hiving Bees Cont. Replace the frames at the center of hive (note: due to initial space limitations you may only have 8 frames and a feeder)Remove the plastic cap on the tube end and carefully suspend Queen Cage between two frames near center of hive using a thin strip of wood with a saw cut or a piece of wireThe queen will start eating the white candy plug from her end and the workers will eat the candy from the other endIn a few days the queen will be free. The few days will allow the workers to accept the new queen (and not kill her!)After three or four days check that the queen got out. If not make sure she is alive and let them continue. Check again in a couple daysIf you have problems see Steve Peterson for a replacement queenWhen queen is out pull the cage and make sure you have 9 frames and a feeder in hive 19. Queen Installation Continued Slide the hanger portion of the queen cage into the saw kerfSet the stick across the bars with the cage hanging down between the framesYou will end up with 8 frames and a feeder 20. The Bee Package 21. Two Hives Ready for Bees 22. Can of Syrup removed, Queen Cage Removed 23. Dumping Bees In 24. Spring Timeline April Insulatehives Pick up and hive bees April,May Feedbees Check that queen is laying eggs Endof May Pullfeeders replace with frames Remove insulation 25. Provide Water Bees Fillneed a source of watera shallow container with small rocks and keep it filled daily (this is not absolutely necessary but it will help the bees from traveling long distances for water) 26. Summer Timeline MidJune Reversedeep boxes Putthe bottom deep box on the top. Bees tend to build the colony upward. This will ensure efficient use of boxes. Addsuper Thisis extra honey storage area. It does not hurt to put it on early. Checkhealth of hive Makesure queen is still laying and population is increasing. Look for any possible signs of disease (use bee books) Contact Steve P. if you suspect disease. Look Iffor/remove queen cellsyou find queen cells pinch them off 27. Summer Timeline Cont. July,August Mostlyleave them alone. Occasionallymay check to see they have plenty of room. If they are crowded add another super. Ifyou notice a lack of activity in good weather, investigate, they may be diseased. This is rare but does happen. 28. Removing Bees from Hive Aboutthe second week in September pick a good weather day where you can spare 4 - 6 hours Putvac2 to 3 inches of soapy water in your shop Placesome old boards, plywood, or 2 x 4s near hive and run your electric cords Puton all of your gear Smokethe bees some to calm them 29. Removing bees from Hive Cont. Carefully vacuum up beesAs you work use the boards you set out so that the sticky box edges wont pick up lots of leavesAfter vacuuming bees off there will still be some left. You can either just deal with them or use further measures such as a leaf blower to remove more beesMove boxes inside wherever you will be extracting honeyIf you need to leave boxes outside block entrances to keep mice out 30. What Equipment do I need for Honey Extracting? You will need to borrow, rent, buy, or build a honey extractor (plans on the web)A bottling bucket (not absolutely necessary but very nice)One or two uncapping knives (can be large kitchen knives)A strainerSomething to heat waterContainers for honeyA large deep sided pan or bucketOne or two sturdy tables (may be folding) 31. Extracting Honey Sometime the day before you plan to extract slowly bring the temp of your extracting area up to about 85 degrees (the honey will flow MUCH better)Set up all of your equipment the way you like itScrew your extractor to some scrap plywood or something to keep it from walking. An old tabletop or piece of counter material is perfectHeat some water in an old kitchen appliance for heating water or soup and put your uncapping knives in pointed downUse hot knives to cut off cappings off combPlace frames in thoroughly cleaned extractorCaution: excessive extractor speed will break up combWhen bottom of extractor fills with honey, open gateHoney from extractor should flow thru strainer into honey bucketIf adequately strained of debris, honey in honey bucket can be put directly in containers 32. Uncapping Table Notewater boiler at top of picture with knives Greypan is full of wax cappings 33. Extracting Honeyflowing out of honey gate at bottom of three frame extractor Honeyis flowing thru a two stage sieve into a bottling bucket 34. Rewards 12Gallons of amber gold in various containers 35. Wax Processing Bestdone outdoors Safer Lessmess in house Dedicateusean old pot for this Difficultto clean wax off anything Addcappings and excess comb to pot and add a bunch of water 36. Wax processing Carefully bring to BoilPut a paint strainer over a 5 gallon bucketDump water/wax mixture thru paint strainerThis will get most of the pollen, propylis, dead bees and dirt outPour remaining liquid back in the pot and reheatPour thru a second finer strainer into bucket Let cool and you should have a big cake of beeswax 37. Wax Processing Breakup cake (may have to scrape off cake to get impurities out) Placein a double boiler system and melt carefully 38. Processing Beeswax Pourinto molds of your choosing UsePam spray as a mold release Beeswaxcan be made into lip balm and hand cream use all food grade materials when processing 39. Weird Bee Activities Swarming Ifbees are crowded they will produce an additional queen and that queen will leave with half of the bees Theywill mass on a branch near the hive until scouts can find a new home Ifthe bees have massed on a low branch and you can come up with a minimum of a deep box and top and bottom boards within a few hours then you may be able to salvage bees and start a new hive 40. Weird Bee Activities Bearding Sometimesduring hot weather bees will cover the front of the hive Youcan crack the top cover to vent but not more than a pencil width 41. Weird Bee Activities Drones kicked out Dronesare useless individuals. The queen was mated back in California so they sit around the hive drinking tiny PBRs and watching the Giants on cable all summer long Whenthe weather turns cool and there is less food coming in the worker bees get smart and give some of the drones the old heave ho Theycan sometimes bee seen clustered outside the hive in the fall starving to death