Beesource.com - Beekeeping resources for beekeepers since 1997! Bee Culture. References: 1. Bray, G.A., et. al., Consumption of High-Fructose Corn Syrup in Beverages May Play A Role In The Epidemic Of Obesity, American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, April 2004, Vol. 79, No. 4, 537-543 2. Forshee, R.A., A Critical Examination of the Evidence Relating High Fructose Corn Syrup and Weight Gain, Critical Reviews in Food Science and Nutrition, 2007, 47:561-582 3. Hollenbeck, Claire B., Dietary Fructose Effects on Lipoprotein Metabolism and Risk for Coronary Artery Disease, American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 58 (suppl), 1993, 800S-807S 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. Chapter 2. Honey bees have been kept by man in a wide variety of hives.
In the early days of the United States the most common hive was a section cut from a hollow tree, called a gum or log gum, with a slab of wood to cover the top of it. In Europe the straw skep hive was common and one model used in Greece had movable combs. In most other early hives it was not possible to remove or exchange combs easily because the bees glued everything firmly together and their combs were not surrounded by wooden frames. In 1851, L. L. Langstroth designed an improved hive that utilized a principle discovered earlier and now called the bee space. He made a hive in which the frames hung within a box so that they were surrounded on all sides by a space of 1/4 to A inch.
Bee hives have often been designed and built without regard for the needs and habits of the honey bee colony. Many beekeeping enthusiasts are attracted by unnecessarily elaborate equipment or feel a need to modify the basic Langstroth design. Bee Culture. With all these warm ruminations about cold snow, it shouldn’t be surprising that the lower entrance to the hive will readily close shut with drifted snow. As this occurs, the beehive keeper can be of assistance to the wintering cluster. Providing the hive with a second, higher entrance allows the bees to get out on those occasional warm Winter days. The snow will have closed off the normal lower entrance. The upper entrance also serves to allow moisture-laden air to escape in much the same way that our human homes have ventilated eves and gables.
On cold Winter days, when all my family hops into the car, the windows quickly frost over. Ventilation is required to remove the window frost. When that small bit of warmed air rises from the warm cluster inside the hive, it quickly cools to the same temperature as that of the surrounding air. Bee Culture. Bee Culture. Part One When I’m asked why I am so passionate about keeping bees without using chemicals, I have to reply that while I have long been wary of the impacts that chemicals can have on bees, I think chemical contaminants may be playing a larger role in the increase in honey bee die offs seen in recent years than has been acknowledged up until now. As a result it is my opinion that while we may see a decline in CCD reports (primarily from efforts to increase the overall health of our honey bee populations), we are not likely to see CCD totally go away anytime soon.
I used to believe, like many today, in the current thinking regarding CCD: that it has multiple causes from disease and mite pressures, to chemicals, environmental and dietary stress. However there has been one small detail about this theory that has been bothering me. Our sea of toxic chemicals When chemicals are evaluated for toxicity, they are studied in isolation. Is meaningful chemical regulation actually possible? Bee Culture. The Honey Bee’s Diet – What’s on the menu for your bees this Spring? The honey bee diet has become a hot issue since the emergence of CCD. Bees, like all living organisms, need high-quality nourishment to reach their maximum potential and avoid becoming susceptible to diseases and parasites. Honey made from the nectar of flowering plants containing small amounts of vitamins and minerals, and pollen collected from blossoms are foods that nature has designed to provide honey bees with optimal health.
Difficulties in obtaining a natural balanced diet Unfortunately our industrialized agricultural system renown for its mono-cultured fields of a single crop often creates dietary stress for bees by limiting their diet to a single plant source. Bees need a varied diet that consists of pollen from a variety of plants in order to be healthy as no single pollen source contains the wide range of vitamins, minerals, proteins and fats necessary for proper bee nutrition and robust health.
Return. American Beekeeping Federation. Beekeeping. Bee Culture. Honey bees were first introduced into this country in the early 1600s by settlers from Europe. The race of bees that traveled by boat to the Americas was Apis mellifera mellifera, commonly known as the Dark, German, or Black bee. The German bee was predominant for decades but later lost ground to the imported Italian honey bee because of certain, undesirable characteristics.
Beekeepers were annoyed with the temperament of the German bee. It was defensive, nervous on the comb and would boil out of the colony when disturbed. The Italian honey bee, Apis mellifera ligustica, is still the dominant player in the bee industry today. Carniolans, Apis mellifera carnica, are a dark, grey bee that originated in Slovenia. Sue Cobey’s breeding program developed the 'New World Carniolan.' Another western honey bee, the Caucasian, Apis mellifera caucasica, originates from the high valleys of the Central Caucasus. While thumbing through the bee journals you will notice numerous ads selling queens.