Beekeeping Basics

By Paul Dietmann Sauk Co. UW­Extension Agricultural Agent

Why Keep Bees?

n Honey – Another product to market n Pollination

n Value to US Agriculture ­ $40 billion/yr n Worth 50­60 times the value of honey & wax

Loss of Honey Bees as Pollinators

n More than 50% of managed colonies have been lost in 50 years; 25% in just five years

n Populations of native pollinators also in steep decline – 70­90% of wild bees lost in many states

n More than 90% of flowering plants depend on pollinators to produce seed

Source: Smithsonian Institute’s ZooGoer, Jan/Feb., 1999

40% Watermelons 80% Sunflowers 60% Carrots 90% Cabbage 90% Asparagus 30% Strawberries 50% Pears 60% Cherries 80% Apples

Crop Loss Without Honey Bee Pollination

Crop

Dependence of Selected Crops on Honey Bee Pollination

Source: World Resources Institute, 2000

You don‛t have to produce honey to reap huge benefits

from keeping bees!

Basic Equipment: Mesh helmet; folding veil; smoker with fuel and lighter; electric uncapping knife; hive tool; bee brush; sting­ resistant gloves.

What’s It Going to Cost?

$3 Bee brush

$76 TOTAL (not necessary to start) Electric knife

$5 Hive tool $7 Gloves $34 Smoker $14 Veil $13 Mesh helmet

A typical brood set­up: Bottom board, two deep supers, 20 frames, an inner cover (not visible in this photo), and a telescoping outer cover.

Open hive showing inner cover.

What’s It Going to Cost?

$3 Nails, paint

$159 $76 Plus basic equipment $83 TOTAL $14 Outer cover

$7 Inner cover $30 20 Deep frames & foundation $20 2 Deep supers $9 Bottom board

Two “packages” of bees

A two­pound package of bees with syrup can.

What’s It Going to Cost?

$197 TOTAL

$159 Plus equipment

$38 Two­pound pkg. of bees

Queen cage

The presenter’s beeyard. Hives face southeast with a windbreak to the north.

Installation of a package of bees.

Queen cage

Feeding bees after installation.

Feeding Bees

n Feed from installation to dandelion bloom n Feed a 1:1 or 2:1 (sugar:water) syrup n Pail feeders work well n Pollen substitute??

What’s It Going to Cost?

$2 Sugar

$203 TOTAL

$197 Plus previous amount

$4 Pail feeder

Brood nest with eggs visible in cells.

Capped larval cells.

Worker bee covered with pollen and carrying full pollen sacks.

Honey Flow Management

n Add honey super as frames in brood nest fill n When 5­6 frames of honey are capped, add another

n Use medium­depth (6­5/8”) supers n Queen excluder??

Burr comb filled with honey covering the top of a shallow super. Indicates that the bees need another honey super.

What’s It Going to Cost?

$274 $203 Plus previous amount $71 TOTAL $8 Queen excluder $42 30 frames & foundation $21 3 Medium­depth supers

Typical colony with two deep supers, queen excluder, and shallow honey supers above the excluder.

Gregg Coenen’s beeyard near Prairie du Sac, WI

How did I manage to get myself into this??!!

Honey Harvest

n Mid to late August in Wisconsin n Getting bees out of the supers

n Brush n Bee escape n Fume board

n Take only capped honey n Protect it from robbers

What’s It Going to Cost?

$291 $274 Plus previous amount $17 TOTAL $15 Fume board & “Bee Go” $2 Bee escape 0 Bee brush

Extracting Honey n Keep supers warm and dry n Borrow an extractor n Get free 5­gallon buckets from bakeries or delis

n Borrow an electric knife or use a warm filet knife for “uncapping”

n Extracting is messy…do it in the garage

Automatic uncapper at Dan Licht’s (Honey Boy Honey Co.)

Manual uncapper at Paul Dietmann’s.

Electric extractor with cappings tank to the left.

Hand­crank Extractor

Cranky extractor

Double sieve below the honey gate catches wax and other impurities before honey is stored. Honey is run through cheese cloth as it is being bottled

What’s It Going to Cost?

$5 Cheese cloth

$296 $291 Plus previous amount

$0 Free 5­gallon buckets $0 Borrowed electric knife $0 Borrowed extractor

Bottling and Selling n Wide variety of bottles available. I use canning jars and squeeze bears

n Honey is exempt from food processing regs n Current (2004) retail prices:

n Pints ­ $5.50 n Quarts ­ $9.00 n Ross Rounds ­ $5.33

Source: Bee Culture magazine, p. 11, Feb. 2004

Bottling bucket with honey gate. Food­grade buckets are available from bakeries. Note hose clamps joined together around rim of bucket to secure cheese cloth.

What’s It Going to Cost?

$27 40 pint jars, lids, labels

$323 $296 Plus previous amount

$3 Hose clamps $10 Honey gate $0 Bucket

What could you make?

$72 Expenses – bees, jars, etc. $148 Net income (loss)

$220 Income ­ 40 pints Second Year

($103) First year net income (loss) $323 ­­cost of eqpt., bees, supplies $220 40 pints (60 lb. Crop) @$5.50

Labor requirements? n Spring – High. Installation, feeding, manipulation to avoid swarming.

n Summer – Low. Check occasionally, add supers as needed.

n Late Summer – High. Remove honey and extract.

n Fall – Medium. Bottling, labeling, marketing. Feeding and wrapping hives for winter.

A hive ready for a Wisconsin winter. Wrapped with 15# felt tar paper, entrance reducer installed, top hole cut out to allow for ventilation.

Entrance reducer

Same hive on February 6, 2004. Melted snow around lower entrance indicates that colony is still alive.

Other things you need to know n Disease and mite control n Winter preparation n Swarm control n Swarm capture n Everything else!

What about Organic Honey??

n US Organic Honey Standards not yet in place

n No pesticides with 2 miles of hive n Everything natural or organic, including bees, foundation, paint, etc.

n No repellents or other synthetic chemicals n No heating of honey

Where to get more info n Other local beekeepers n Magazines, particularly Bee Culture and American Bee Journal

n State and Local beekeeping organizations n Beekeeping workshops, particularly University of Minnesota Beekeeping Short Course

Questions?

Thank you! Paul Dietmann

Sauk Co. UW­Extension

505 Broadway, Baraboo, WI 53913

paul.dietmann@ces.uwex.edu