Blowing Smoke ?How To Work With Your Bees Safely

Knowing what beekeeping supplies you need and how to use them is extremely important before you startup your first bee hive. Beekeeping is a dangerous hobby, and you will get stung. There is not getting out of it, but you can help minimize your risk by getting the right beekeeping supplies and learning how to use them.

Method #1 for preventing a bee sting: wear protective clothing. This means that you need to purchase a proper beekeeping suit, which usually consists of gloves, a veil, a hat and of course the full body suit. You need to worry most about your neck and your face since this is the most sensitive place to get a bee sting, which is where the veil and hat come in. No matter what kind of regular clothing you wear, it can抰 protect you as well as the beekeepers body suit. It is specially designed to be as smooth as possible to minimize the footholds a bee can get, which minimizes stinging. When you are first starting out you will need to have gloves for your hands. As you get more experience you will find it easier to perform the more delicate tasks without your gloves, but don抰 attempt this until you have a good idea when it is safe to do so.

Method #2 for preventing a bee sting: using a smoker. This is nearly as important a tool as the beekeeping suit itself. A smoker is used to create a steady stream of smoke that calms the bees and gets them to leave the hive while you work. The bees leave because of a natural instinct they have that says: When you smell smoke get out of the hive before it burns. The smoke also masks the attack pheromones that are produced by the guard bees when they signal the presence of an intruder. The materials the smoker uses can vary from commercial oils and aerosols to simple dried pine needles or other leaves.

Method #3 for preventing a bee sting: don抰 work with hungry bees. Keeping your bees fed is not something that most people think about. The bees will find food on their own, but you will probably have to supply them with extra food during the winter months. Sugar syrup, the kind that comes in hummingbird feeders is a good choice ?just make sure you research the proper mixture for your bees or you may end up doing more harm than good. You can also purchase feeders from your local beekeeping supplier, these include hive top feeders, division boards, candy boards, and pale type feeders. If for some reason you need to provide extra food for your bees in the summer you can also purchase an entrance feeder that serves the same purpose.

Method #4 for preventing a bee sting: Keep your bees safe. Like any other creature bees are more likely to attack when they feel threatened or vulnerable. Giving them a proper bee hive is essential to keeping them healthy. Purchase an artificial hive since the natural ones are more difficult to work with. An added benefit to the artificial hives is that they are built to encourage the highest amount of honey production by giving the bees a starting point to build their own natural honey combs.