Bees for Development Journal
The
4
PRACTICAL BEEKEEPING
value of HIVES
top-bar
The second of Pam's articles exploring the value of top-bar hives and stressing the importance of standardisation of hive dimensions.
Human's first exploitation of bees was through honey hunting for the sweet, delicious treat of honey. The medicinal value of honey was probably also known to people. Cave paintings bear testimony to the way honey was collected and similar honey hunting methods are still used today. People found they could improve their chances of collecting honey by attracting swarms of bees into specially made receptacles (hives). This first step towards managing bees made finding them more certain and, more importantly, clearly established personal ownership of the resource. Early hives were simple in design and constructed of local materials grasses woven into baskets, hollow logs, bark or clay containers - and these styles of hives are still used widely today. This is a proven technology that has stood the test of time and should not be abandoned unless the alternatives are clearly understood.
coon
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Bees appear not to mind where they live as long as it is safe and dry. The type of hive used is more about the beekeeper's convenience than the bees’ preference and so the beekeeper should think hard about what benefits he/she will gain from changing to another hive type before making a move. However, there are some disadvantages to local hives. The biggest is that possibilities for beneficial management of the bees are limited. Styles of movable-comb hives do offer some advantages. One of the most widely mentioned is that harvesting honey is quicker and easier.
Top
widt bar
3.2 cm
management processes possible with topbar hives. In addition, the beekeeper can collect and hive passing swarms of bees rather than waiting for them to make their own choice. Splitting an established colony becomes a possibility so that there is less dependence on swarms to fill hives. More astute beekeepers control their own swarms and collect other swarms as they pass! Finally, the genetic development of the colony can be enhanced by selecting and breeding queens for more desirable traits - such as better temper, less absconding or more productive stocks.
Dimensions for a single top-bar made from sawn wood '
Length of top-bar 48 cm cut to rest on top of the hive sides
.\ 44cm Cut to locate neatly within hive width of 44.5 cm
Shaped niche stops top-bar from sliding sideways
Top-bar WIDTH to make the BEES happy Top-bar LENGTH to make the BEEKEEPER happy
A skep (basket) hive containing a colony
Photographs
:
Pam Gregory
of bees
Furthermore, the quality of the honey can be checked before removal to see if it is ready. Harvesting ripe honey is the biggest factor in ensuring honey is of high quality and is saleable for a good price or for export. Honey with water content greater than 21% is not acceptable generally and 18% is around the optimum for best quality honey. High water content means honey will ferment and become useless for table consumption, although this is not an important consideration if the honey is to be used for making beer or mead.
Honey yield The hive, unless it is far too small, is rarely the determinant of honey yield. Nectar yield is generally dependant on physical factors such as the weather or the availability of nectar yielding flowers. However, the size of the colony, and the amount of swarming or absconding are critical factors in honey production and can, to some extent, be controlled by the
The key to good beekeeping management is standardisation of the top-bar size. In BfDJ 66 explained about the width of the top-bar being correctly sized to accommodate the bee space. This time we are looking at the length of the top-bar. Confusingly, because the top-bars fit from edge to edge across the hive, this relates to the width of a hive and is often quoted as 44 cm internal measurement for African top-bar hives. |
To carry out management techniques the beekeeper needs to be able to move combs from one colony to another, so it is important that all hive widths are the same. It is most frustrating to try and move combs between hives when they just do not quite fit. Careful attention to
the length of the top-bars (and consequently the width of the hive) is essential if they are to be useful for good
management. continued...
