Beekeepers Insurance
Beekeepers need to consider insurance for personal injury, property damage, and circumstantial liability. In an article in the American Bee Journal, the author comments Insurance The very word sends shivers down the reader's spine. Or if not shivers, at least annoyance at putting out so much money over so many years, and getting so little in return. But what does insurance have to do with beekeeping, you ask Only this as a seller of honey, you are liable for injuries sustained by your...
Damage to colonies and stored honey
Small hive beetle larvae affect combs of stored honey and pollen and will also infest brood combs. During the feeding action by larvae an associated repellent sticky substance is laid down on the combs and this can result in bees abandoning the hive. When honeycombs are removed from colonies, bees then no longer protect the combs allowing larvae to feed uninhibited. The management practice of removing honey and then storing it in warehouses prior to extraction will need to be changed with the...
Enclosures
Erickson, E. H., L. H. Hines, and A. H. Atmowidjojjo. c.2000. Downloaded July 2002. Producing varroa-tolerant honey bees from locally adapted stock A recipe. Carl Hayden Bee Research Center. tolerant2.html gt . Frazier, Maryann, George Greaser, Timothy Kelsey, and Jayson Harper. 1998. Beekeeping. Agricultural Alternatives, Penn State Cooperative Extension. 6 p. lt http bees.pdf gt . Le Pablic, Jean-Pierre. 2002. Happykeeper. Anti-Varroa bottom board. Virtual Beekeeping Gallery. 5 p. lt http...
Beginning Beekeeping Basics
It is usually wise to start small, learn efficient management techniques, and expand the beekeeping operation as time, experience, and finances permit. Initial outlay can reach 200 per hive, and other equipment, such as a smoker, veil, gloves, feeding equipment, honey extractor, etc., will add to the expense. Anyone interested in becoming a beekeeper needs to study published information see Further Resources Books, Websites, Periodicals , but many beekeeping skills are best learned by working...
Honey Bee Diseases
The two most common bee diseases are American foulbrood AFB and European foul-brood EFB . American and European foulbroods kill bees during the pupal stage. The dead pupa rots and begins to smell, hence the name of the disease. Foulbrood is worse in high humidity. In an on-line forum, Thomas Deeby stated Terramycin oxytetracycline HCL is the only drug approved for use as a preventive treatment against American foulbrood. This antibiotic does not kill Bacillus spores, but prevents or delays...
Educational and Training Opportunities
Educational and training opportunities are available from some state universities. Some of these universities sponsor beekeeping workshops or specialized training for both beginning and master beekeepers. Check with your local Extension office or your state Apiarist. Pennsylvania State University's Department of Distance Education offers a correspondence course entitled AG 5126 Introductory Beekeeping. It provides basic information needed to manage a small number of honey bee colonies. It has...
Beekeeping Income Sources
Depending on the part of the country and other environmental factors, a typical colony of bees can produce 80 to 120 pounds of surplus harvestable honey and 10 to 18 pounds of pollen in an average year Deeby, 2002d . Besides selling honey and other bee products such as beeswax, pollen, royal jelly, propolis, bee venom, or queens beekeepers can also provide pollination services hive rentals to farmers and orchard-ists ERS NASS, no date . In 1999, commercial beekeepers in the Pacific Northwest...
Budgets
The Pennsylvania State University Cooperative Extension Agriculture Alternatives publication Beekeeping enclosed contains an annual beekeeping budget that summarizes the receipts, costs, and net returns for 10 mature bee colonies. The publication notes that successful side-line operations typically maintain 50 to 500 colonies. It also states that There will be no receipts from an operation until the second year Frazier et al., 1998 . The sample Excel budget is available at bees index.htm gt ....
Nature of the problem
The small hive beetle is considered a secondary pest in South Africa, attacking small or weak hives but rarely affecting strong hives. The honey bees in South Africa are primarily Apis mellifera scutelata, an aggressive bee that has excellent housecleaning and defensive traits. In contrast, the bees kept in North America are predominately A. m. ligustica or A. m. carnica and differ in behavior from African bees. The difference between races of bees coupled with different climatic and colony...
Organic Apiculture Standards
Beekeepers wanting to market organic honey or other organic bee products will need certification by a USDA-accredited organic certification agency. Please refer to ATTRA's Organic Farm Certification and the National Organic Program for general certification information. The National Organic Standards Board NOSB Apiculture Task Force Report was released September 15, 2001. The Draft Organic Apiculture Standard recommendations, while serving as guidelines, are not regulations standards until...
Africanized Hybrid Bees
Since 1990, Africanized honey bees the so-called killer bees have been a threat to beekeepers in the United States. These hybrids have invaded Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, Nevada, and California, as well as Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands Information Staff, 2002 . It is not known how far north the Africanized honey bees can live in the U.S., but they can live in the Andes of South America. The limiting factor to their spread seems to be that they don't store as much food as most other honey...
Honey Bee Pests
During the past 15 years, tracheal mites and varroa mites have become major bee pests that seriously threaten the industry in the United States. Mites have killed more than 90 of wild honey bees and 60 of commercial bees in the U.S. Quarles, 1997 . A new pest to U.S. beekeepers first identified in Florida in 1998 is the small hive beetle Frazier and Steinhauer, 1999 . The following discussion focuses on least-toxic methods of controlling these pests. Microscopic tracheal mites Acarapis woodi...