BEEKEEPING EQUIPMENT

Transcription

1 B BEEKEEPING STARTER KIT BEEKEEPING EQUIPMENT SINGLE SPARK STARTER KITS FOR ENTREPRENEURS

2 EQUIPMENT FOR 10 HIVES bee colony 10x wax foundation 10x 30pcs solid bee food 10x 3pcs sugar + top feeder 50kg + 10x langstroth hive + stand 10x beekeeper suit + inspection sheet gloves smoker + fuel hive tool honey storage tanks 50L 3x bee brush inspection sheet honey extractor sieve transformer uncapping tool wire frames varroa strips 20x varroa atomiser + varroa acid 0,75L

3 CHAPTER ONE THE HIVE, FRAMES, STAND The Langstroth hive is a house for the bees. The bees raise in the lower box, called deep, their brood. They also store honey and pollen for their own food in the deep. In the top box, called super, the bees store their surplus of honey. This is the honey you will take from them. It is smart to buy at least two supers for each hive in case your bees are making a lot of honey. You should put the hive on a hive stand which is about 30cm high to keep the hive from the ground. outer cover inner cover super frame (2 X 10) super (2X) queen devider deep frame (10x) deep screened bottom board varroa screen entrance reducer bottom board hive stand

4 CHAPTER TWO WAX, FOOD & BEES WAX FOUNDATION SOLID FOOD wax foundation 10x 30pcs solid bee food 10x 3pcs The foundation is the base on which the bees will build their wax comb. The foundation helps the bees to start faster with making honey. You can buy foundation made from wax and plastic. Plastic is stronger, but on wax bees build their comb faster. Honey is food for the bees. You take away this honey so you have to replace it. You only have to feed the bees at the start, with problems and in winter. You can buy solid food, the advantage is that is has added vitamins. SYRUP FOOD + FEEDER BEE COLONY sugar + feeder box 50kg + 10x bee colony 10x You can also make the food yourself by making sugar syrup (see manual). This is cheaper than the solid food. Each hive has one colony of bees. You can buy bees in a shop, you can catch bees in nature or you can split bee colonies to double them.

5 CHAPTER THREE TOOLS BEEKEEPERS SUIT GLOVES SMOKER gloves smoker + fuel beekeeper suit + Bees will sting, so it is important to protect yourself with a bee suit. Be cautious with your pants legs, put them in your boots or socks, make sure there are no openings. Most of the experienced beekeepers work without gloves, because bare handed you can work more precise. But for beginners gloves give extra security. Make sure you buy gloves have elastics at the end of the cuffs. The smoker is an essential tool. Smoke will calm the bees down and relaxed bees will not sting. HIVE TOOL BEE BRUSH hive tool The hive tool is a multi purpose tool. The main use is to pry the frames loose. With the bee brush you can softly remove bees.

6 INSPECTION SHEET TRANSFORMER WIRE wire inspection sheet transformer Each hive has an inspections sheet. Each time you visit the hive you write down how your hive is doing. See chapter 5 for a real inspection sheet The transformer you use to heat the wire of the frames. The wire has to be hot to melt the wax foundation on the wire The wire in frames hold the wax foundation. You have to lace the wire through the small holes of the frames v ATOMISER VARROA ACID VARROA STRIPS varroa smoker 1X varroa acid 0,75L varroa strips 20x The varroa atomiser is used to spray the varroa acid. Acid to keep your hives free of varroa. You only have to use this once in the spring Strips to keep your hives free of varroa. You only have to do this once after the last harvest of the year. You hang the strips in between the centre frames

7 CHAPTER FOUR HARVESTING EQUIPMENT UNCAPPING FORK SIEVE HONEY STORAGE TANKS 50L uncapping tool sieve honey storage tanks 50L 3x With the uncapping fork you can remove the wax cap from each honey comb cell to extract the honey. The sieve you use to clean the honey from wax and dirt. Tanks to store the honey. Honey can stay in good condition for many years. It will only crystallize. HONEY EXTRACTOR honey extractor With the honey extractor you can spin the honey out of the frames (Optional)

8 CHAPTER FIVE INSPECTION SHEET This is a sheet which you can use to write down the condition of the hive. Each time you visit the hive you can write down the things you notice. It gives you a good overview and you can look back what you have done.

9 Beetight is a web application for beekeepers. It is a very easy way to manage your hives and track them online or on your phone. It costs only 12 a year. Screen shot Beetight.com website Phone/ tablet application Beetight

10 NOTES

11

12 2014 by Single Spark. All rights reserved. No part of this document may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without prior written permission of Single Spark. Single Spark The Netherlands +31(0) SINGLE SPARK STARTER KITS FOR ENTREPRENEURS