That is, until Colony Collapse Disorder. After the bee mania subsided, we realized we’d been foolish. We bought all those pesticides, burned all those hives and called those exterminators out of some bizarre media-propagated paranoia. Now our precious honey and fruit pollination was being threatened as we learned our poor native bees were seemingly disoriented, lost and alienated from their colonies.

If you have bees in your yard, the natural human instinct is to murder every last one of them with RAID. We’re at the top of the food chain. We conquer. We vanquish. We annihilate. We don’t have to make any concessions or negotiate with any bee terrorists. This is AMER-I-CA!

Well, okay, that is one opinion. Here’s another: bees pollinate roughly one sixth of our nation’s flowering plants and 400 agricultural crops. Without them, we could kiss biodiversity goodbye. In fact, cross-pollination helps at least 30 percent of the world’s food crops and 90 percent of our wild plants survive. We’d have lower quantity and quality of food, therefore prices would go up. Our wildflower meadows would not look nearly as spectacular.

So the question remains: how do we live harmoniously with the bees? If you have a beehive in a less-than-desirable place (ie: in your bathroom, on your porch railing, right next to the kids’ swing set), you’ll need to move the hive elsewhere. “And Risk getting stung? Are you crazy?” you ask. It’s not recommended that you commit suicide, but here’s what one blogger did:

• He grabbed 10 sticks of 12-hour continuous-burning incense from the store.
• Next he burned 2-3 sticks of Sandalwood at a time directly beneath the hive.
• Then he waited for the bees to vacate.
• Within one day, they were gone and he could safely remove the honeycomb.
• He then painted over the spot where the honeycomb was affixed.
• He only used insecticide on the spot after the fact to deter their imminent return. If you don’t want to use insecticide at all, consider some natural bee repellents like Oleic Acid, Citronella, Cucumber Peels or Neem Oil.

Next you can consider backyard beekeeping to give the bees a controlled and targeted place to live that is not in your immediate camp.

Article: Jennn Fusion  Twitter: @jennnfusion

Sometimes a fence is necessary for your hives if you want to keep your equipment separated from cattle and other animals. With that in mind, Let’s look at some of the most important things required in a list of beekeeping equipment. A basic set of equipment is required to run a unit and some of these items are absolutely mandatory.

Basic Equipment

smoker

The most important equipment for any apiary is the smoker. By making correct use of the smoker, it is possible to manage the hives, since it keeps the bees docile when you keep the hive open. If you don’t use a smoker, there is a greater chance of stings for the beekeeper and others nearby. It could also stimulate your hive to become aggressive in the future.

Beekeeper Suit

A beekeeper suit also keeps you from being stung whenever you work with the hives. It keeps your honeybees from working their way under your clothes in addition to masking your body odor from your bees. It also helps you to keep cool when you work in direct sun. If your bee suit does not already include both a bee hat and a veil, purchase them as well. They are very useful for keeping bees out of your head and neck.

Hive Tools

Hive Tools and gloves are handy gadgets to have as your beekeeping equipment. The tools
come in various styles. Gloves prevent the bees from stinging your arms and keep them from crawling up inside your sleeves. A bee brush is also handy for brushing bees off things or off yourself.

Using wrist straps and ankle is completely optional, but they are helpful if your bee suit or clothing does not provide them already. With these straps you can cinch your pant legs and sleeve cuffs to keep bees from crawling in.

Probably a full body suit is most likely to provide excellent comfort, convenience and durability. If it is properly sized and worn, the full body suit provides complete sting protection when you are working your hives or must deal with other types of stinging insects like wasps and hornets.

Beekeeping supplies include hive essentials, beekeeping tools, processing equipment, honey containers and labels. Many commercial apiaries stock all the beekeeping supplies that you need for beekeeping available. There are several new products, both for pros and amateurs.

Necessary Hive Equipment

Hive Essentials are the first things that you need when you are starting off with beekeeping. The bees and the queens are the most important beekeeping supplies along with the Beginner’s and Hive Increase Kits. There are both large and small hive frames, as well as polystyrene hives.

Bee feed and feeders and honey comb supplies should be in your beekeeping supplies too. Bee medications are essential and you want to read many books to keep you informed about the bees. Hive wraps, gadgets and tools are some of the beekeeping tools as are galvanized hardware cloth and pollen traps. For the beekeeper, protective clothing is necessary, and so are smokers.

Processing the Wax and Honey

In order to process beeswax and honey you’ll need to include processing equipment with your beekeeping supplies. You can also have extracting tools and bee escapes and harvesting extractors as processing equipment. For the honey containers it is important to have bulk, glass and plastic containers for the liquid honey. Closures are vital and there should be labels for the various types of honey.

Honey Handling Equipment is also sold in a variety of sizes in the stores which supply beekeeping supplies. Honey tanks and strainers sized for various size buckets and honey warming cabinets are available as well. A honey creaming machine and a hive clamp with strap is used for transportation.

Equipment for beeswax and foundation wax is some of the latest products of beekeeping supplies. There are many wood products, medications and treatment for bees and lots of beekeeping books and educational aids can be bought on websites.

Bee-Keeping Kits

Several kits are available as beekeeping supplies like the Bee-Ginners Kit or the Hive Starter Kit. The Bee-Ginners Kit provides the beginner with the basic beekeeping supplies. It is only sold as a unit. The Hive Starter Kit is an assembled English Garden Hive which has eight frames. It features a copper top, and two medium blocks with frames.

Buying Equipment

Many hive components are available online, by making choices from extensive catalogs and comparing prices. You can order by phone. The products can be shipped to you. Orders processed can take anywhere from two to three days if you are local to the supplier, or seven to ten days outside the country.

Article Source: www.upublish.info

About the Author:
Kristyne McDaniel
Kristyne McDaniel is a consulting software developer with an interest in sustainable energy and green living. She first became interested in beekeeping as a child when she noticed the groups of hives that popped up near crops in the Minnesota where she grew up. When you visit her BeeKeepingIdeas.com web site you’ll see ideas about How to Deal with Wood Bees and many more popular beekeeping topics.