Beekeeping Supplies

Hello! It is essential that the right supplies are used for beekeeping. Keeping bees is a hobby that could potentially be dangerous. However, beekeepers can minimize their chances of being injured simply by using the right supplies. Plenty of supplies are needed in the extraction of the honey but, there's also supplies that beekeepers need in order to properly manage and maintain their colonies of bees.

An important aspect to keeping bees is to ensure the safety of the beekeeper while they are tending to the bees. This can be achieved in various ways. One way that beekeepers protect themselves is by wearing protective clothing. Protective clothing consist of a hat and veil, gloves and a beekeeping suit. The face is in fact the most vulnerable part of the body that can be stung. It is important for even experienced beekeepers to protect their faces with a hat and veil. The beekeeping suit consists of a light weight, white full length suit. It is not basically penetrable by the bee's stinger defending the beekeeper from the bee's venom. Although some beekeepers find wearing gloves cumbersome while performing delicate beekeeping tasks, gloves serve as an important part of defending beekeeper's hands while working with the colony.

Most beekeepers also use a "smoker" as a way to calm the bees in order to work with them. A smoker is a device that is designed to emit smoke by using various fuels. Plenty of different natural types of fuel can be used in a smoker. Some beekeepers use fuels like hessian, twine, burlap, pine needles, corrugated cardboard, or rotten wood. Beekeepers can also use fuels like pulped paper and compressed cotton, or even aerosol cans of smoke. The smoke initiates a feeding response within the bees in preparation to possibly having to evacuate the hive due to a fire. The smoke also masks the alarm pheromones that are released by the colony's guard bees when they sense an intruder. As the colony is confused, the beekeeper has a chance to open the hive and work without triggering a defensive reaction.

Although bees are more then able to find food on their own, some beekeepers supplement their bee's diet with sugar syrup. This prevents starvation in the work of bad times of the year and it also stimulates the laying of eggs. In order for beekeepers to feed their bees they use a feeder. Different kinds of feeders are available to beekeepers. Hive top, bucket or division boards can be used inside feeders during winter. In the work of the summer when the bees are most active outside of the hive, an entrance feeder can be used.

The largest part of keeping bees has to do with what you house them in. Beekeepers use artificial hives to house their bee colonies. They use a wax foundation to encourage bees to build comb in a way that is convenient for the beekeeper to harvest. Foundation is a narrow sheet of wax with a hexagonal cell base pattern embossed on both sides of it. It also assists the bees so that they don't must make use of as much work in the construction of the combs.

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