What is the role of Bee Keepers?

Beekeepers are the guardians of our bee population. Keeping bees on their own properties or housing them on the land of a farmer whose crops require pollination through bees. By doing this the bees are kept away from danger, and have access to food and water. The benefit is twofold, if the farmer owns the bees on his land he will have his crops pollinated and he will be able to harvest the honey which the bees make and supplement his main crop.

The hives which are used are made of wood and are easily transportable, for the farmer if he has rotational crops and also for the beekeeper who has become part of the lucrative business of hiring out his bees to the farmer for a season.

The design of the hive is of such a nature that the crate style of the hive allows the bee keeper easy acces to check on the wellbeing of the colony and also to remove full honeycombs for processing and returning them for the bees to continue using.

The hives have an entrance which enables the bees to perform their allocated tasks without restriction. There is usually only one entrance so that the bees can perform their own security duties and prevent intruders such as 'robber bees'.

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What happens at honey harvesting time?

When harvest time arrives there are a few things that are required to help the harvesting process along:

• Protective harvesting gear
• Smoke (smoke sedates the bees)
• Sharp chef/honeycomb knife
• Straining buckets
• Honey Jars

The protective gear is probably the most important item to have when harvesting. The bees may become aggressive and try to protect their hive from the intruder. The protective gear will stop you from getting stung. Now is not the best time to discover you are allergic to bee stings.

The harvesting process takes time and requires patience. You would be well served to pay a visit to an experienced bee keeper or to watch the video below.

Click here to watch the harvesting video

How can Bee-keeping provide upliftment opportunities?

Bee-keeping is not just something done by farmers or people who have taken it on as a hobby, neither is it only done in highly developed countries. Bee-keeping is a form of industry which has helped many an impoverished group of people, from a single family to whole tribes and clans. Bee farming has in recent years been a leader in upliftment and independence strategies.

Organisations and individuals have taken it upon themselves to teach the art of bee keeping and the gathering of honey and producing bee related products. These skills have helped to ease the poverty in places like Africa and India.

The benefits are more than just the relief of poverty but also mean that crops can be fertilised because of the bees, the care put into keeping the swarm healthy and alive will slow down the disappearance of bees and to some extent help increase the dwindling numbers.

In India honey has been held in high esteem for hundreds of years, regarded as magical. Rock paintings have shown that early indian man hunted bee-hives as the sweet reward was a gift from the gods.
Whils there is industry and agriculture throughout India there is also poverty, and the opportunity for people to contribute to the wellbeing of their families is a blessing.

A bee-hive should prosper as there are over 500 flowering plants in India not to mention crops that need fertilising, thus affording the bee-keeper with a source of income, enabling him to take care of his needs and gradually increase the number of hives he owns.

The same principles have been applied in Africa. Residents of Bushbuck ridge, a largely impoverished settlement in Mpumalanga have been empowered to care for their own hives and harvest the honey using African Honey Bee's business model which includes compliance with organic and environmental standards.

Bee keepers make a life-long commitment to the bees when they choose to start keeping bees. Although bees are not pets, they rely on the bee keeper to ensure that there is sufficient food and water.

A bee keeper is someone who understands the overall importance of bee and their role in nature and the production of food. A bee keeper will usually be able to tell you about all the benefits of keeping bees and harvesting honey. But honey is not the only thing that bees generate, on a less prolific level, bees will provide royal jelly and propolis, all with medical benefits.

A day in the life of a bee keeper

A day in the life of a bee keeper can often be a long one. Hives don't need constant tending but there needs to be regular checks for various things including, honey production, bee numbers, hive maintenance, bee health and checking for the presence of pests. The greater the number of hives the bee keeper has, the more time is needed to tend to them.

A bee keeper who has just started the journey will probably only have one or two hives but the duties remain the same. Honey production can be check with a cursory glance over the hive frames, it will be easy to notice an increase between visits. It is imperative that the hive's honey is left to accumulate first before any harvesting can be done, over eager bee keepers often make the mistake of removing too much honey too soon, forcing the bees to leave for the proverbial greener pasture.

The number of bees in an average hive can vary from 20 to 30 thousand bees, in some cases it can go up to 60 000. Monitoring the size of the swarm is necessary, if it grows, it means the bees are happy and productive but should the bee keeper notice a sudden drop in numbers he needs to investigate the cause immediately. One of the main problems facing bees and bee keepers is the sudden drop-off in numbers, this could indicate predators, parasites, poison or hive abandonment.

Bee health goes hand in hand with bee-numbers. Parasites often infest hives and go unnoticed until bees start dying. Part of the bee keeper's daily duty is to peruse the signs of the hive for any kind of infestation.

Because of the exposure to elements, the bee keeper will need to maintain his hives to prevent physical collapse of the structure and ensure that the occupants are dry during the rain and that predators will not be able to enter the hive.