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Small Scale Beekeeping by Curtis Gentry Table of contents adapted for the web by Conrad Bérubé Island Crop Management email: uc779(at)freenet.victoria.bc.ca |
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Small Scale Beekeeping by Curtis Gentry Table of contents adapted for the web by Conrad Bérubé Island Crop Management email: uc779(at)freenet.victoria.bc.ca |
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web version copyright © 2002 Conrad Bérubé, site design, concept and scripting
Printed material from Small Scale Beekeeping (by Curtis Gentry. 1982. Peace Corps office of Information Collection and Exchange, Washington, DC. Illustrated by Stacey Leslie) may be freely reproduced, without changes, for non-commercial purposes (education and development). The html version is copyrighted and may not be reproduced in electronic form without the consent of the copyright holder (but as long as you're not selling it permission to duplicate will be granted upon request-- contact me at the email address in the banner above)
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Chapter 5
THE BEE SPACE AND BEEHIVES
Bees usually build their nests in a cavity, attaching the combs to the upper part. The nest sites or hives of feral colonies are often inaccessible to the person wanting to gather honey. Even if a colony is accessible, it is usually necessary to destroy both the cavity and the combs to gather the hive products.
Beekeeping implies management of the honey bee colony. Management of the hive itself is based on manipulating the combs to inspect the condition or to adjust the space needs of the colony. Therefore, a practical system which allows for easy removal and replacement of combs without destroying them is a prerequisite for beekeeping.
An understanding of the "bee space" permits the building of hives which allow for the removal and replacement of combs. This also allows for the construction of hives which separate the brood nest from the honey stores, permitting separate access to each area.
The Bee Space: the basis for beekeeping
The bee space is simply the crawl space needed by a bee to pass easily between two structures (7.5 mm +/- 1.5 mm for the western hive bee, less for the eastern hive bee). If the space between any two surfaces in the hive is too small for a bee to pass through easily, the bees willseal it with propolis. If the space is larger than a bee needs to pass through easily, the bees will construct comb in the area.
When the space between two surfaces in the hive is the right size, the bees will leave it free as a crawl space. if the bee space is considered and respected in the construction of a hive, a hive that allows for easy comb removal and replacement will result.
The Rev. Lorenzo Langstroth of Philadelphia was the first person to make use of the bee space in hive construction. He constructed the first modern hive in 1851, using moveable frames to contain the comb within the hive. The modern frame hive currently used for "high-tech" beekeeping is still sometimes referred to as the Langstroth hive.
Types of Hives
Fixed-comb hives are no more than man-made cavities. These can be hollowed-out logs, bark cylinders, clay pots, wooden boxes, baskets of straw, bamboo, or wicker, mud-plastered wicker containers, or discarded metal cans or drums. In some areas, cavities for bees are carved in the mud walls of houses or in nearby earthen embankments.
In fixed-comb hives, the bees attach the combs directly to the upper surfaces of the hive and usually to the sides. The bees naturally leave the bee space between the combs as they construct them.
Combs can be removed from such hives only by cutting them out, and it is not practical to replace them. Thus beekeeping is impossible with fixed-comb hives. These hives allow only for bee-killing or beehaving.
Advantages of fixed-comb hives:
• Materials for their construction are usually readily available and they are cheap (free).
• Beeswax production is relatively high. (There is a ready local market for beeswax in some areas.)
• They are traditional, and methods are established for working with them.
Disadvantages of fixed-comb hives:
• It is impossible to remove combs and replace themthus examination of the colony condition and hive manipulations are impossible.
• Swarming is often common because of limited space.
• Brood is often lost in harvesting honey.
• Honey production is hindered.
• Honey quality is usually low because it comes from old comb or is mixed with pollen, brood, or ashes.
Moveable-comb hives have a series of bars across the top which allow for attachment of the comb. These bars are spaced to give the bees sufficient room to build a comb centered on each bar and to leave a bee space between combs.
Such hives can be constructed of many materials, including straw, bamboo, mud-plastered baskets, metal, or wood. Wood is the best material for the top bars.
The width of the top bars is the only critical dimension in this type of hive.
Ideally, the sides of a moveable-comb hive should slope about 120 degrees. This slope basically follows the curve of naturally built comb; therefore it minimizes comb attachment to the sides of the hive. This makes it easier to remove the combs without breakage.
If the sides are not sloped (and sometimes even with sloped sides), the bees will attach newly constructed comb to the sides of the hive. If the attachment is cut several times as the comb becomes older and propolized, the bees will cease attaching it. The remnants must be scraped off the sides of the hive each time a comb is cut out. This requires diligence and care from the beekeeper, especially when the colony is building up.
Moveable-comb hives offer a logical intermediate step between fixed-comb hives and moveable-frame (Langstroth) hives. Moveable-comb hives are often called transitional hives or intermediate technology hives. They offer a beekeeping technology that is within the technological and economic reach of most bee-killers and bee-havers who are currently using fixed-comb hives.
Advantages of moveable-comb hives:
• The combs are removeable and can be replaced without destroying them. Thus, beekeeping is possible. Swarming can be controlled, and colonies can be easily increased with simple queen-rearing methods.
• They are easier to construct because they have fewer areas where critical dimensions are important.
• They can be easily made of materials which are readily available to the small farmer. Thus, they are more economical than Langstroth-type hives.
• They offer a cheap and intermediate alternative to beekeeping for bee-killers and bee-havers who are using fixed-comb hives.
• They do not require foundation to guide the construction of comb within the frame to achieve their optimum returns.
• Beeswax production is relatively high.
• Honey can be harvested from new comb. Thus higher quality honey can be produced.
• The top bars can be constructed so that they meet, leaving no openings along the top of the hive. This makes it easier to work with more defensive strains of bees.
Disadvantages of moveable-comb hives:
• The combs are attached only to the top bars, Thus, it is difficult to move the colonies without breaking the combs. Also, care must be used when removing combs and inspecting them.
• Since the combs are attached to the top part of the hive, the colony can only expand in a horizontal plane. This somewhat limits the expansion of the brood nest, as the natural tendency of bees is to increase the brood nest in an upward direction (vertically). (This is a negligible disadvantage in a beginning small-scale project since intensive management is rare.)
Moveable-frame or Langstroth hives are the hives used in modern "high-tech" beekeeping. In these hives, the bees construct comb in frames which contain an embossed sheet of beeswax foundation. The foundation serves as a "pattern" to ensure straight, centered combs in the frames.
These hives are constructed so that there is a bee space between the frames themselves and between the frames and the box holding them. such intricate construction demands relatively good quality wood and expertise in carpentry.
Since there is a bee space between the tops of the frames which allows the bees to pass, several boxes of frames are used to form one hive. Usually two boxes or "hive bodies" are used to make up the brood chamber. Boxes stacked on top of these are called supers, and are used for honey storage. The construction of these boxes is identical. The different names come from their relative position on the hive and thus their function.
These hives permitthe ultimate in manipulation and interchanging of comb. Not only can frames be interchanged, but so can boxes. Such a system permits a high level of management or"hig-tech" beekeeping.
Advantages of moveable-frame hives:
Disadvantages of moveable-frame hives:
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