What kind of beekeeping equipment is needed for a novice beekeeper
Breeding bees requires not only a spirit of mind, beekeeping equipment is bought earlier than a bee colony. The minimum set includes equipment for keeping insects, for caring for them, and processing honey. Protective clothing is required to avoid walking around with bite marks.
We equip the hive
Arrangement hives will require stocking up with frames in which the bees will store honey. Each type of hive has its own size and number of frames. Usually 12 frames are placed in the hive. For young families and novice hobbyists use small houses with 8 frames. In a specialty store that sells beekeeping goods, you can buy hives and frames for them. Frames can be wooden or plastic. Wooden frames are easy to make on your own, but wood dries up in summer, gets wet and swells in winter, and easily lends itself to rodent teeth.
The advantages of plastic frames:
- durable, the foundation does not break during transportation;
- used in honey extractors of any type;
- does not absorb honey, does not become moldy;
- lightweight.
However, bees are not very fond of working with foundation on plastic, the frames are very fragile and cannot be restored. What kind of beekeeping equipment to choose is up to the beekeeper.
Within the selected framework, the foundation is attached by means of a wire frame. On a paper-thin plate of wax, bees will begin to build honeycombs.
Each hive will require laps to separate the honeycomb from the lid. The canvas is a cloth woven from natural textiles. It remains to buy a drinker and a feeder for bees in a store that sells everything for an apiary and beekeeping and the hive is ready to move in. The upper frame of the house should be painted with bright oil paint. This is both protection of boards from moisture and a guide for bees flying away to honey collection.
Beekeeper protection
Bees furiously protect the hive from penetration, even at the cost of their own lives. The stinging bee will certainly die, leaving the proboscis in the skin of the enemy. Therefore, protective clothing is essential when working with bees. It should be light. The kit includes:
- a hat with a brim and an attached tulle net, with a drawstring for a snug fit at the bottom;
- overalls or simple clothing that covers the body;
- gloves, you can use ordinary, household, knitted;
- closed shoes.
Bee stings are painful, but there is a way to treat rheumatism with stings, since the bee venom acts as a medicine.
The best defense against bees is the behavior of the beekeeper. Clean, sweat-free clothes, lack of perfume, and tobacco aroma will set the insects into a peaceful mood.Movements should be smooth, speech calm.
Equipment for work in a bee hive
A smoker is needed to pacify the bees defending their nest. The smoker is a device, inside of which there is a chamber with a lattice bottom, with embers and branches. With the help of bellows, air is forced into the grate, a directed stream of smoke comes out of the spout. Smoke for bees is a fire signal and they, having collected honey in their goiter, fly away. At this time, the beekeeper serves the open hive.
During work, you will need a special apiary chisel, with which the beekeeper pushes the frames, cleans the gaps, collects propolis. You need a white brush made of natural horsehair to sweep the bees from the frame into the pallet.
For a novice beekeeper, you need to make or buy a box for carrying frames, all this is considered a must-have equipment for beekeeping.
Devices for pumping out honey
Of course, bees store honey to meet the needs of the family. But they store it 2 times more than they can eat. In the summer, the entire bee colony works on honey collection. To pick up the filled honeycombs is the goal of the beekeeper. Therefore, 2-3 times during the summer honeycombs are taken from the hives for honey pumping. For this, a honey extractor machine is used. The device represents a tank with a rotating frame structure installed inside. Designs are chordial and radial. If the 4 frames represent a parallelepiped within the cavity, these are chordial extractors. If the honeycomb is installed from the central shaft to the periphery, the tool is radial.
Additionally, a sieve is required to filter the honey during pumping. A special knife is needed to cut the bead. The table on which the honeycombs are printed is a special device with separate boxes for storing inventory. Honey is poured into a container with a selection tap located at the bottom. All of these gadgets can be purchased at a store that sells products beekeeping.
What you can do with your own hands in an apiary
First of all, you need to organize drinker for bees not far from the hive. Insects drink water heated in the sun. They can be numb from the ice well. Therefore, the best drinker would be an old wooden board with notches, which is located obliquely and water drops on top of it. Thin trickle, attracts insects. Those who want to drink are constantly circling over the drinking bowl. Intrahive drinking is organized only in winter.
Omshanik in each locality is built taking into account many nuances. It is better to use the advice of experienced beekeepers.
It is necessary to master the techniques of fixing the foundation on a frame with a stretched wire or fishing line. Learn to build up the framework during the honey collection period. But the most crucial period is wintering, for which you need to make, equip with your own hands Omshanik.