Bee Husbandry

The Basics: As the bee lifecycle is so very different from that of a mammal, there is a lot to learn. The bee lifecycle is described elsewhere on this site so it here taken as a given that information is available to the reader . The bee-hive is constructed to take advantage of – and to facilitate - that lifecycle. By making life healthy, easy and efficient for the bees, the beekeeper optimises their honey producing capability. Poorly or debilitated bees do not make good honey. Neither do bees that have to spend an inordinate amount of time and energy gathering, processing and regulating their environment. Their accommodation is therefore of prime importance to their well-being and optimum production of honey.

The writer once bought some honey extraction equipment from a beekeeper with one hive. He proudly stated that he had not “interfered” with his bees for 15 years. By that he meant that he had not opened the hive to inspect for parasites (described elsewhere on this site), medicated them or taken any active part in their well-being. The hive was rough, dirty and empty. His colony had died over winter. That was why he was selling his extraction equipment. He seemed quite proud of his lack of attention. In all probability his hive had been a source of parasites and infection to all the hives within a 3 mile flight radius for many years. Worker bees are dedicated to their own hive, but drones are welcome in any hive. They can therefore be the vector to spread infection or parasite far and wide.

A colony starts with a queen bee with a sufficient workers to support the number of eggs that she can lay per day (circa 1500 rising to 2000 for a vigorous queen). Acquiring a colony form a commercial breeder would typically involve buying a “nuc”. (Nuclear hive consisting of a box containing 5 frames of bees on a wax comb foundation with a laying queen. At the time of writing (August 2019) This may cost between £200 and £300. A laying Buckfast queen can cost between £35 and £300. (The £300 queen is for a top-class breeding queen with proven capability, first-class genetics and artificially inseminated with drone semen carrying unrelated but first-class genes.

In the middle of each frame is a wax sheet called a “foundation”. This is usually imprinted with hexagonal shapes. The worker bees will generate flakes of wax from glands between the scales of their abdomens. These are collected by other bees, chewed into shape and deposited on the foundation to form the familiar tubes in the honey-comb in which all the action takes place. The process of building the comb out from the foundation is known as “drawing it out”. The wax is energy intesive to make and represents a significant investment by the bees. The cells in the comb each provide a development location for one bee. However - they are reuseable. When an egg is laid, it develops into a lartva, then pupa. When a larva pupates the cell is waxed over by the nurse bees, but the “cap” is gas premeable so the pupae do no suuffocate. The wax cap is mid-brown in colour and can be readily differentiated from cells containing honey. These cells have thicker impermeable caps and are white.

Bees also make aproduct called “bee bread” to feed their young. More info on this will follow shortly.

Bee stings are a great issue and talking point. When an unknown person tried ot steal one of Lizzy’s hives in the dead of night it did not go well for him/her. Tehhive came apart (as it is supposed ot do) and the bees would have come smoking out looking for a fight.

The nurse bees that have never been outside do not know what should be there and what should not. BUT at night the foragers are all at home at night and are well-versed with what should be outside the hive. They know full-well that there should not be a person there trying to move the hive. They - and the guard bees - would take a very dim view of this and are highly likely to attack the malefactor. We have no follow-up story and therefore cannot say for sure what happened to the would-be thief, but it is more than likely that he/she ended up in hospital badly stung. We would not wish this on anyone but it does have a distinct flavour of poetic justice.

Bee venom is quite toxic. It contains a number of chemicals that you really do not want in your system. They include a chemical that loosens the bonds between the cells and makes the venom easier to spread. There is a chemical that provokes inflammation, one that destroys tissue and one that attacks the nervous system. Therefore, getting badly stung can affect the nervous system to the extent that the person stung is rendered unconscious. Of course the amount of venom that a bee can deliver is small, (still quite painful) but given an attack by a number of bees the amount can add up to a significant level.

For persons allergic to bee venom there is always a risk of anaphylactic shock. This is a life-threatening condition and persons with this allergy should not countenance bee-keeping as a hobby or business. Beekeepers often become semi-immune to the venom as their immune-system adapts to a regular small delivery of venom on a semi-regular basis. (This is not a business/hobby for those with a low pain threshold). Both John and Lizzy are less affected than they once were. It is still unpleasant and Lizzy has been badly stung twice. On one occasion a single sting on her ankle required hospital treatment. On another occasion she had eleven stings on one hand that rendered it useless for days.

There is a wonderful story about a Hollywood actor who fell for the rather silly meme that bee-stings relieve arthritis. He was prescribed bee-venom at the rate of one sting per day for 23 days. Being very busy (and intellectually challenged) he decide that he would have all 23 doses at one go. He was hospitalised as a result.

The take-away message from this is: Bees are ok if you treat them with respect – but they are well-capable of hurting you. Use proper protection, move smoothly, stay quiet, don’t use perfume and above all treat them with the respect that they deserve and they can be manageable and even docile. Do not interfere with a hive at night or in thundery weather. Be especially careful with a hive that has lost its queen. A stressed hive is never a docile hive.