Honey Bee Nucs vs Packages

     Whether to buy a bee nuc or package depends like a lot of things on your location and needs.  

Nucs

     A nuc (nucleus of a colony) consists of 4-5 frames of bees in a half sized Langstroth deep box which should include a laying queen, 2 frames of brood, 2 frames of honey and/or pollen and possibly a fifth frame of drawn comb.  Local nucs for us are usually available starting in mid May.  The reason for this is the queen requires temperatures 15-20 C. (60-70 F.) to mate and the formation of drone congregation zones.  In some locations there is a supply of overwintered nucs which are made in August.  The benefits of using a nucleus over a package are that you have a fully functioning colony with a laying queen and brood pattern you can see.  You also have bees in all stages of development from egg to forager.  

 

Good brood pattern

     Unless it is an overwintered nuc produced in the late summer the queen should be a new queen (born this spring). The queen is established (brood pattern visible) and the worker bees in a nucleus colony know their roles so there are nurse bees and foragers and the foundation is set (drawn comb) which will put them at least a few weeks ahead of an imported package.  Because there are foragers and at least 2 frames of honey and pollen the nucleus will not require as much feeding.  Also, with local nucs there is no climatic and forage stress. A negative aspect of nucs is they are available for us l.5-2 months later than packages and may come on old, dark colored frames and nuc boxes that may contain diseases.   

Honey frame

Packages

     A typical package consists of 2-3 pounds of bees, a can of syrup and a queen. A 3 lb package is optimum for most as a 2 lb will be underpopulated and a 4 lb may experience some die off with less accessibility to the syrup can. Normally the package bees are from production hives where they shake out bees into the package box til the required weight is reached. A mated queen is then placed in the package, protected in a queen cage.  There is usually a container of syrup in the package to feed the bees for the few days of travel before they are transferred to a hive. The bees generally fair well for up to a week in a package. A package is usually put together a few days before sold and in the case of cold weather beekeepers in spring comes from a warmer location to the south. In our case because of government restrictions (No U.S. Bees to Canada) this means thousands of miles south from New Zealand, Australia or Chile. Many backyard beekeepers will not have drawn frames to install their packages on to so a lot of energy and feeding will be required to produce the wax to draw out the frames. With a package close attention needs to spent on the survival and performance of the new queen.

A lot of energy and feeding is required to draw out the comb

The video below shows the process of creating a package of bees.

      The main advantage of the package is that in cold weather areas they are available a few months before local nucs which allows beekeepers to take advantage of spring fruit blossoms and to lengthen the beekeeping season. 

      Packages are a necessity in some areas because of the lack of nucs available.  They are usually cheaper, have less pests and diseases (no comb) and can be installed into any type of hive.  Unlike the nuc you don't have bees in all stages of development and if queen acceptance and performance goes well it will take 3 weeks for new brood to be born and several weeks for the population to reach that of a 5 frame nuc.  Despite the added challenges most beekeepers have success with packages. 

     In most areas the packages come from a warmer climate so winter survival may be less likely as proven in a good, small scale study carried out in New England by master beekeeper Erin MacGregor-Forbes (Comparison of colony strength and survivability between nucs and packages).  This single study is certainly not conclusive evidence but suggests a problem with imported warm weather packages and a need for more projects like this.  Erin found a significant difference in winter survival between the southern package and nucleus (the nucs had twice the survival rate) but also found that a southern package with a replaced local queen performed as well as the nucleus. 

      In our situation bee packages may come from a similar climate but the opposite hemisphere so they leave the southern hemisphere in late summer and arrive in Canada a few days later in early Spring where it can be freezing temperatures and snowing (I have experienced this).  This obviously can be hard on the bees.  Erin also found in her study that the packages outperformed the nucs in terms of honey production which she attributed to a high rate of swarming by the nucleus colonies. I don't know if she took measures to prevent swarming but this has not been my experience .  I've not had exceptional problems with nucs swarming but have used swarm prevention methods like checkerboarding  (Check out the "Swarms" section in our Beekeepers' Library).



     The Prince William Regional Beekeepers Association in Virginia carried out a study which compared hives started from packages to those started from nucs which found a higher survival rate in nuc started hives, particularly evident in the second year (Promoting Sustainable Beekeeping Practices Through Local Production of Nucs and Local Honeybee Queens).  One aspect of their study was the importation of Africanized bee genetics and small hive beetles.  Importation of diseases and pests is perhaps the biggest challenge for beekeepers presently.  
     A survey by the Beekeepers Association of North Virginia to determine if the source of queens effected colony winter survival found significant differences between southern imported queens (23%) and local queens (87%).  While this is an extreme example I thinks it supports the theory of the benefits of the use of bees (queens or nucs) from a similar climate.

      Biologist and author Mark Winston (Bee Time: Lessons from the Hive) suggests we need to wean ourselves off of this dependence on imported bees.   In l985 he wrote "it is estimated that, at present colony densities, BC has the potential to produce 75,520 spring packages each year, and increased colony density and a higher level of commercial beekeeping could elevate this figure. Continued and increased package and nucleus production, coupled with increased wintering and queen production, could result in a high degree of Canadian self-sufficiency within the next few years (l989 Study on package and nuc production in B.C.)."  That self-sufficiency was never realized.  Large scale package and nuc production was never developed and with current 25-30% winter colony losses our dependence on imported packages will continue. The solution may be in the lowering of the winter loss rate through the development of a strong local, survivor stock with hygienic behavior and supporting the development of a large scale, local bee colony production industry.  Government initiative, leadership and support may be essential for this to be realized.

  

     In the video below Michael Palmer describes some of the difficulties associated with starting a bee hive from scratch using package bees including the lack of nurse bees for the new brood.

       Here are some questions you may want to ask your nuc supplier and some questions for queen purchasers as suggested by the BC Honey Producers Association.    For more information on nucs and packages check out "Splits, Nucs and Packages" in the Basic Beekeeping section of the Beekeepers' Library above.  Also check out the articles on overwintering nucs by Kirk Webster, Mel Disselkoen and others in the "Winter Management" section of our library.  Other comparitive studies include one from Beekeeping University which has produced a series "Nuc vs Package Bee Comparison"; Kamon Reynold's "Package vs Nuc Challenge"; and Doug the Bee Guy's "Nucs vs Package Bees".  In Vancouver BC Beekeeping and Urban Bee usually sell packages from the southern hemisphere in March-April and nucs late May-June (Vancouver Bees for Sale).  Good luck.

      

Basic Beekeeping
-  Beekeeping Books   

-  Classic Beekeeping Books

-  Children's Books
-  Beekeeping Video Series
-  Online Education
-  Regional 
-  Bee Biology 
-  Basic Beekeeping Information
-  Hive Inspection
-  Splits, Nucs and Packages
-  Swarms
-  Feeding
-  Winter Management
-  Beehive Construction 

Beekeeping Books

Getting Started

Beekeeping in Northern Climates
This beekeeping manual accompanies an online course from the University of Minnesota Bee Lab.  "Interested in becoming a beekeeper? Dr. Marla Spivak, Dr. Katie Lee and Gary Reuter from the University of Minnesota Bee Lab will help you get started in beekeeping. If you have no prior experience keeping bees in our cold climate, Beekeeping in Northern Climates will teach you everything you need to know. The course modules cover honey bee biology, management, successful wintering of colonies, managing diseases and pests and so much more. If your goal is to keep your bees alive and healthy year after year, this engaging course is for you.  This online class is over 12 hours of recorded instruction divided into modules. You will be able to work through the course material in modules entirely at your own pace and schedule. There are optional live Q&A sessions with the Bee Squad that you can choose to attend on the first Tuesday of each month at 6pm CT. There is also ample opportunity to ask questions in the discussion forums. You will have access to the materials for two years to allow you to review any module over two beekeeping seasons. Two manuals accompany the class: Beekeeping in Northern Climates and Honey Bee Diseases and Pests. The manuals can be downloaded for free either in the course itself or from our manual page. If you wish to donate see our Giving page."  A worthy cause to support.   To register for the course.  The Beekeeping in Northern Climates video series is also very useful.  

Backyard Beekeeping (James E. Tew)  This book by Dr. James Tew is a good overview of the basic steps to acquiring and management of a bee colony for the beginner beekeeper.  Some of the things that are covered are the cost, races of honey bees, bee life cycle, hive design, equipment, swarms, hive site, seasonal management, pesticides, diseases and harvesting of honey and wax.  "Nearly anyone can keep a hive or two of honey bees. The majority of beekeepers are hobbyists, who keep bees just for pleasure. Men, women, teens, or young children, to some extent, can all be beekeepers.  Gardeners, retirees, professionals, teachers, physicians, construction workers, airline pilots, and lawyers are among the types of diversified occupations enjoying beekeeping. A sideline beekeeping hobby can earn extra income if colonies are managed efficiently. Even if you do not have a place to put a few colonies, most people can find a friendly farmer or landowner on whose land to place colonies. If you enjoy biology, outdoor activities, woodworking, gardening,

animal care, or if you are just looking for a sideline income, beekeeping will probably interest you."

Beekeeping Basics  This Penn State University publication provides a fairly comprehensive and detailed book for the backyard beekeeper.  "This manual is all about beekeeping—understanding honey bee biology, getting started, managing bee colonies for fun and/or profit and is designed to help you become a successful beekeeper. Welcome to the world of beekeeping."  It covers topics like bee castes, beekeeping equipment, clothing, packages and nucs, apiary location, seasonal management, diseases and pests, honey production and processing, rendering bees wax and pollen trapping ... A very good resource for the beginning beekeeper.  "This manual is all about beekeeping—understanding honey bee biology, getting started, managing bee colonies for fun and/or profit—and is designed to help you become a successful beekeeper.  Welcome to the world of beekeeping."

Handbook on Beekeeping: (Europe) A good, complete guide to sustainable beekeeping from the European Union Bees project.  "BEES is a Transfer of Innovation project aiming at further developing a module from the Leonardo da Vinci ENSA project on organic and biodynamic agriculture education. The main objective of the project is to create completely updated teaching materials on bee behaviours and relevant importance as indicators of agriculture sustainability. Biodiversity is directly linked to this approach. The main targets of the handbook are farmers' associations, environmental associations, agriculture professional schools, agriculture and veterinary medicine universities, bee keepers associations, policy makers, institutions at European, national and local level, elementary and secondary schools."

Australian Beekeeping Guide  A great beginner's guide to beekeeping from the Australian government.  It covers everything from bee castes and life-cycle to seasonal management, diseases and pests.  "This book provides basic information to assist beginner and sideline beekeepers. It draws on the knowledge and experience of apiculture scientists, various state and territory apiary inspectors and apiary officers, and most importantly, the many beekeepers who enjoy keeping bees."  It covers most everything except treatment of varroa mites which are not present in Australia.

BEST MANAGEMENT PRACTICES FOR BEE HEALTH 

A Guide for Beekeepers by the Honey Bee Health Coalition

Every beekeeper should seek to have hives that are healthy and productive. Today, the many threats to honey bee health — including parasites, pests, disease, pesticides, and inadequate nutrition — make achieving this goal a major challenge. Successful beekeeping means closely monitoring bee health and taking proactive steps to protect them.

     Over the years, a wide range of public and private organizations have developed Best Management Practices (BMPs) for the honey bee industry. Important work has been done by state governments, crop and grower organizations, universities (particularly extension services), state beekeeping organizations and other stakeholders. This guide collects BMPs from many sources into one document to make it easy for beekeepers to find practical information that they can use. Experts from within and outside the Honey Bee Health Coalition, including entomologists, small-scale and commercial beekeepers, apiary inspectors and commercial bee suppliers, have reviewed the BMPs in this guide to make sure that they are accurate and consistent with the latest research findings.

Whether you are just starting out as a beekeeper or have years of experience, you’ll find that this guide offers valuable BMPs on many topics, including:

Safety

Apiary and hive set up and maintenance

Pesticide exposure

Treatment of parasites and bee diseases

Queen health, bee breeding and stock selection

Bee nutrition

Managing Alternative Pollinators

Written by Eric Mader, Pollinator Outreach Coordinator,

The Xerces Society Pollinator Conservation Program.

Marla Spivak, Professor of Entomology, University of Minnesota and Elaine Evans, Author of Befriending Bumble Bees.

"This book cound not have come at a better time.  We

stand at a crossroads, where honey bee losses and

rental rates for pollination are on the rise, research is

expanding our knowledge of native bees’ role in crop

pollination, and growers are looking for pollination

alternatives to improve crop security. Herein lies the

heart of this book: It is a technical resource that brings

together the latest advances in native and introduced

bee management with a big-picture perspective on

how to manage a farm for these pollinators’ greatest

success. In the coming years, honey bees will continue to

be critically important for production agriculture. To

improve the sustainability and security of farming in

the United States, however, it is important for grow-

ers to diversify the pollinators upon which they rely. It

also might be time for beekeepers to diversify their own operations and expand their management to native bees. This book provides the necessary tools for growers, beekeepers, and other agricultural professionals to do just that. Perhaps the silver lining of Colony Collapse Disorder is its wake-up call to invest time, research, and energy into new managed pollinators and new ways of looking at farm management for the betterment of all pollinators. We are being asked to picture a future in agriculture where even the most intensively managed almond orchards, cranberry bogs, and squash fields make room for flowering plants that complement blooming crops and have strategically placed hives of honey bees, tubes of leafcutters, boxes of bumble bees, and natural habitat that provides a home for wild native bees."

Starting Beekeeping in Ireland by Thomas Carroll

"This book is as much a guide to sources of additional information as it is a how to beekeeping guide. There is a lot of bee related information available and I have compiled an impressive list of

sources of additional information from an Irish centric perspective.  Why did I write this eBook? The need for this book came to me when I searched for as simple and straightforward text on how to start beekeeping in Ireland.  I was restarting my beekeeping here in 2015.  I wanted a plain and straight to the point book which was up to date and appropriate in the Irish context. I wanted a book at a sensible price which was available in electronic format (an eBook) which I could easily and quickly download and start reading.  I could not find or easily access a suitable publication to assist me and therefore decided to write the book my self to assist others who may be trying to start beekeeping...  I have spent over two years researching and writing this eBook. I hope that you find it useful and helpful.  I would be delighted to hear from you and to get your feedback."  Tom Carroll PHD, Killenure Nursery, Ballybrittas, Co Laois. Website -  Apiconsult

Beekeeping in California   "This publication describes the fundamentals of keeping bees in California (1987) and discusses the differences between commercial and non commercial approaches.  Persons considering keeping bees can learn through self education and experience. Classes and short courses in beekeeping are also helpful, and many good books and other literature are available (see References). However, no amount of reading can substitute for actual experience with colonies. Local beekeeping clubs often willingly share information, and many will show beginners how to manage a colony and what to expect through the year."












Canadian Best Management Practices for Honey Bee Health (Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada) - "Best Management Practices (BMPs) for the honey bee industry are developed by different levels and divisions of government, various organizations, institutions and stakeholders. Content ranging from regulations for pest and disease treatment thresholds to management of colonies during pollination services are included. While in many cases these recommendations are readily available, their authors are varied and the publications are provided by diverse sources. Some recommendations will apply to the Canadian nation as a whole, while others will only relate to specific areas of the country. The BMPs discussed in this document refer to those that pertain to honey bee health. Traceability aspects like food safety, beekeeper safety and environmental safety are not included within this BMP document."

4 H Beekeeping Manuals  The 4-H  Beekeeping  Project  from Purdue University is  divided  into  three  divisions.  Division  I,  Understanding  the  Honey  Bee, covers information on the basic facts of beekeeping: the types of bees, the honey and wax they produce, the plants that attract bees, and the equipment a beekeeper needs. In the first year, youth are not required to have any bees, but prepare to take care of a honey bee colony of their own. In Division II, Working with Honey Bees, youth acquire a colony of bees and learn how to care for their beehive throughout the year. This will include basic beekeeping operations that result in the production of extracted, chunk, or cut comb honey. When the youth are experienced and knowledgeable in the basic care of a beehive, they should move on to Division III, Advanced Beekeeping Methods. The advanced topics include: increasing the number of your honey bee colonies, increasing honey production, producing special kinds of honey, learning more about the bee societies, and how to manage honey bee diseases and parasites.  This is a good resource for beginning beekeepers of all ages.  In addition here is a 4H Basic Beekeeping Manual from Malcolm Sanford (University of Florida) and from the Virginia Cooperative Extension 4H Honey Bee Youth Project Book 1 and 2 .

4 H Beekeeping Manual  A good beginner beekeeper manual written by Brian Rowe of the 4 H organization that covers everything from hive components, types of bees, first year and seasonal management, honey, wax and diseases and pests.  "Welcome to beekeeping.  I hope you enjoy it as much as I have.  The bees have been good to me, and I hope they will do the same for you." Brian Rowe.

The Basics of Beekeeping  (Scotland) This is a good introductory Beekeeping guide written by M.M. Peterson on behalf of the Dunblane and Stirling Districts Beekeepers' Association in Scotland.  The topics discussed include bee biology, beekeeping equipment, handling bees, swarm control, diseases and pests and harvesting.   

At the Hive Entrance  This useful German handbook written by Prof. Storch in 1985 (pre varroa) explains the value of being able to calculate a hive health by observing the outside of the hive.  "All year round it is through this little opening that the life of a colony pulses. Here it breathes and rejects all that it will not tolerate in its domain. Here it transmits its meaningful message for the person who can understand it. Here the colony's behaviour informs the beekeeper of its problems and state of health, and lets him know whether it needs his help. A keeper who can tell the condition of his bees by observing the hive entrance does not need to open his hives and disturb the bees' sanctuary, the brood nest. This never produces good results.  A healthy colony must have peace if it is to perform its productive role. On principle a visit should only be made once the keeper has determined at the hive entrance that something is not in order. It is not always easy to know what is happening inside the hive by observing the hive entrance and this is only learnt after many years, especially when the keeper is alone and there is no-one to give advice.  

Beekeeping in the United States  This beekeeping handbook from the U.S. Department of Agriculture provides readers with a better understanding of beekeeping in the United States from a l980 perspective (pre Varroa). Some topics discussed are the life history of the honey bee; bee behavior; breeding and genetics of honey bees; queens, packaged bees, and nuclei; managing colonies for high honey yield and crop pollination; dis- eases and pests of honey bees; and effects of pesticides on honey bee mortality. The handbook also lists beekeeping organizations and some statistics on bees and honey. Martin, E. C, E. Oertel, N. P. Nye, and others. 1980. Beekeeping in the United States. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agriculture Handbook. 

Beekeeping for All by Abbe Warre L'Abbé Eloi François Émile Warré was born on 9 March 1867 at Grébault-Mesnil in the Somme département. He was ordained a priest on 19 September 1891 -- Amiens diocese -- and became the parish priest of Mérélessart (Somme) in 1897 then of Martainneville (Somme) in 1904. He disappeared from the records in 1916 subsequently to reappear at Saint-Symphorien (Indre-et-Loire) to devote himself exclusively to beekeeping. He died at Tours on 20 April 1951. Abbé Warré developed The People's Hive based on his studies of 350 hives of different systems that existed at his time as well as of the natural habits of the bee. To publish his findings, he wrote several books: La santé ou les Meilleurs traitements de toutes les maladies (Health or better treatments for all illnesses), Le Miel, ses propriétés et ses usages (Honey its properties and applications), La Santé, manuel-guide des malades et des bien-portants (Health, a manual for the ill and the well) --1912 -- and by far the most important L'Apiculture pour Tous (Beekeeping for All) whose twelfth and last edition is dated 1948.

                                                                                                                

Basic Beekeeping Manual  (Africa) This is a 2 volume publication written by Pam Gregory with assistance of Gay Marris of the U.K. National Bee Unit (FERA) that concentrates on top bar hive beekeeping, but many of the techniques and ideas can also be used by traditional and frame hive beekeepers.  "This field manual is designed for use by field-based trainers in sub Saharan Africa. It is based on colour pictures with few words. The manual covers basic techniques needed to start a beekeeping business. It also offers some new ideas to help beekeepers to become independent by making their own equipment from local materials. I hope that this will help people to start beekeeping at an affordable cost, and maybe to experiment with new materials. The pictures show some of the many different ways that people keep bees. This is intended to promote discussion and shared experiences to help people to solve problems locally. The manual concentrates on top bar hive beekeeping but many of the techniques and ideas can also be used by traditional and frame hive beekeepers."   The Advanced Beekeeping Manual covers more advanced management techniques and problem solving and offers some ideas about how to tackle them.  The Swahili language version of this manual.

A Beginner's Guide to Beekeeping in Kenya by Thomas Carroll, Msc. (Agr.)

"This book was written to assist beekeepers in Kenya and other African countries improve their beekeeping.  It is written in simple language and is intended to be as practical as possible." Thomas Carroll.  Reader's feedback on the guide. “It is a wonderful and easily understandable introduction to beekeeping with all the important tips and advice……….it is by far the most informative book (about Kenyan beekeeping)”.  From  the Organic Farmer Magazine, Nairobi, “Congratulations for your Beekeeping Guide that is very interesting, complete and useful not only for the Scutellata beekeepers but for the Adansonii ones in Central and West Africa where the problems are similar”.

Tropical and Sub-tropical Apiculture  The book brings out the enormous untapped potential for the development of a dynamic apiculture industry in the developing countries. Most countries in these regions are blessed with abundant sunshine, and a rich flora which blooms all the year round. An integrated consideration of the problems and potential of the apiculture industry in the tropics and sub- tropics will therefore help in identifying the constraints responsible for the gap between potential and actual honey production. At the same time, it will help to monitor and regulate the movement ofbees and associated pathogens from temperate into tropical areas, where beekeeping is especially vulnerable to setbacks caused by new diseases. We urgently need a mechanism for disease monitoring, and for organizing an early warning system with reference to the spread of new pests and pathogens. Information on marketing opportunities will also be necessary for countries that are substantially increasing their apicultural production.  Much of this book has been written by scientists who are authorities in their respective fields. The book, therefore, serves as an encyclopedia of information relating to the various aspects of apiculture.

The National Beekeeping Training Extension Manual  (Uganda) This beekeeping training guide produced by the Ugandan Ministry of Agriculture is a manual that others in tropical and subtropical areas may find useful.  "Over the years, several stakeholders including Government Ministries, Departments and Agencies have been carrying out training of farmers in their own ways without standard guide and uniformity.  Some of the guides/manuals used by the stakeholders are substandard. This practice has for long undermined efforts to increase production and enforce compliance to standards.  This manual has therefore been developed to provide the basic standards for training beekeepers all over Uganda."

Beekeeping in Africa 

This practical guide to Beekeeping in Africa is one volume in the programme of publications on apiculture in the Third World initiated early in 1986 by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Previous volumes include Tropical and sub-tropical apiculture; Honeybee mites and their control: A selected annotated bibliography; Honey and beeswax control; Beekeeping in Asia, Honeybee diseases and enemies In Asia: A practical guide; and Beekeeping in Latin America. It is hoped that other topical works will follow.  The present practical guide was written by Mr. Stephen O. Adjare, Research Fellow in charge of the Apiculture Promotion Unit of the Technology Consultancy Centre, University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, Ghana. While it draws on a wealth of information based on the experience of beekeepers around the world, and especially in the United States, it focuses on those problems, opportunities and resources which are peculiar to Africa. It stresses the potential that beekeeping offers to agriculture, rural development, nutrition and income generation in the continent, and the ways in which individual, small-scale and commercial beekeepers can improve the productivity of their hives. The use of local technology and materials, as well as the particular characteristics of the African honeybee, are treated in detail.

    

Apiculture in Sub-Saharan Africa (A manual for trainers)  This manual focuses on modern beekeeping in Sub-Saharan Africa. It attempts to upgrade and refine the knowledge of trainers/field workers within government departments or organizations/NGOs on the correct use of modern beekeeping techniques. The final aim is that competent services will be provided to farmers/beekeepers and appropriate transfer of know-how will be accomplished to the same. It is hoped that this will contribute to the creation of a new generation of beekeepers in the Region.

Small Scale Beekeeping (The Peace Corps) As part of the United States “whole of government” effrt to address food security in the developing world, the Peace Corps has edited and revised several existing technical manuals designed for use by Volunteers. Most of these materials were created in the late 1970s and early 1980s and were written by a number of diffrent subject-matter experts employed or contracted by the Peace Corps. They have been revised with funding provided to the Peace Corps by the U.S. Agency for International Development’s (USAID) Bureau of Food Security under a food security agreement, known as “Feed the Future.”  The Small-Scale Beekeeping manual is written as a guide for Volunteers who are getting started with small-scale beekeeping projects. The intention is to provide an overview of beekeeping and its possibilities as a tool for development. The manual focuses on “intermediate levels” of beekeeping that can be self-sustaining, using only local resources.

A Manual for Trainers of Small-Scale Beekeeping Development Workers (The Peace Corps)   A Manual for Trainers of Small-scale Beekeeping Development Workers [T0029] is useful for Volunteers and staff for training purposes. The content is adaptable to pre-service and inservice training events. It is also valuable to Volunteers interested in training community members. The training is designed to help participants develop the skills they will need to work and live as beekeeping extensionists.  The emphasis of this training is on equipping future Volunteers, counterparts, and community members with the skills necessary to promote appropriate beekeeping development. This is a creative process that requires individuals to take an active role in identifying their own needs and finding appropriate and sustainable ways to meet them. The sessions outlined in this manual cover a range of skills needed to establish beekeeping projects. The approach to training used in this manual is based on the principles of non formal education and is designed to strike a balance between structured learning and independent discovery. By using the sessions, resources, and methods outlined here, participants will develop a working knowledge of beekeeping, as well as skills for applying that knowledge in a meaningful way.

Beekeeping Training for Farmers in the Hymalayas  This manual produced by the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development covers the full range of basic topics related to beekeeping development, including the importance of beekeeping in modern agriculture and the use of bees for crop pollination; production of honey, wax and other hive products; honey quality standards; and using value chain and market management to increase the benefits accruing to beekeepers. The focus is on participatory hands-on training, with issues explained in simple language with many illustrations. The manual was prepared to meet formal training needs in Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, and Nepal, but it is suitable for use in ICIMOD's other member countries as well - Afghanistan, China, Myanmar, and Pakistan.

Beekeeping in Asia by Pongthep Akratanakul (Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations) - "In a continent as vast as Asia, differences in climate, levels of agricultural development, and bee races are so variable that no one book can cover all beekeeping situations. The author of this study draws heavily on his experiences with European honeybees introduced into northern Thailand, but he also discusses the principal features of beekeeping activities in the other zonal and socio-cultural contexts in Asia at different stages of development.  Both the experienced beekeeper and the novice will find a mine of useful information, guidance and suggestions in the publication and it is for this reason that FAO hopes that it will be a useful contribution to the economic development of the most populous continent in the world."






Bees and their Role in Forest Livelihoods by Nicola Bradbear (Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations) - "The role of bees in sustaining forests and forest dependent livelihoods remains poorly known and appreciated. Bees are a fantastic world resource: they are essential for sustaining our environment because they pollinate flowering plants. Bees sustain our agriculture by pollinating crops and thereby increasing yields of seeds and fruits.  Today, apiculture plays a valuable part in rural livelihoods worldwide, and this book aims to provide an insight into the many ways in which bees and beekeeping contribute to these livelihoods, and how to strengthen this contribution. While the rationale for the sustainable use of tree resources is widely appreciated, by contrast the sustainable use of bee resources is poorly promoted and appreciated. Rural people in every developing country are keeping bees or harvesting from them in one way or another.  This book aims to help ensure that these people gain the most from these activities."

A Beekeeping Guide  - A good beginners guide written by Harlan Attfield of VITA for beekeeping in the tropics and subtropics.  "This guide provides an overview of beekeeping in the tropics and subtropics.  It explains hive management techniques and offers insight into the life of the common honey bee, Apis Mellifera and the Asian Honey Bee, Apis Cerana.  There are many races of these two honey bees and they often require very specific techniques and equipment to hive them successfully."

Beekeeping in the Tropics   - A beginners beekeeping guide written by P. Segeren and published by Agrodok.  "You can keep bees as an interesting hobby, or as a main or an extra source of income. This booklet  mainly provides information on how to work with honey-bees that nest in cavities. In most of the world regions this will be the European bee Apis mellifera, but in large parts of (sub)tropical Asia the quite similar species A.cerana is mainly used. Although the composition of a honey-bee colony is basically the same all over the world, the management of bees must be adapted to the species and race, the climate and the vegetation." 

Beekeeping in India    Beekeeping has been practiced in Indian since time immemorial.  The earliest mention of it is in the Vedas and the Ramayana.  Success in beekeeping is largely a question of the proper understanding of the biology and behaviour of the honey bees and their proper management including knowledge of their diseases and enemies and the latest equipment for handling them.  This book is intended to serve as a handy reference and guide for students of agriculture, extension workers and all those who are interested in beekeeping either as a hobby or profession. 

Honeybees and Their Management in India by R.C. Mishra (Indian Council of Agricultural Research) - "The beekeeping practices for domesticated Indian honeybee, Apis cerana indica F. were adopted from the west with suitable modifications suiting to Indian honeybee. There is need to undertake intensive research for therefinement of management practices for improved honey yield and efficient pollination of crops. Production of other valuable hive products like royal jelly, beeswax and bee venom needs commercialization. There is a great diversity in regional agroclimatic conditions and flora. Therefore, for taking up beekeeping, there is a need to carry out some careful studies to explore the potential of each area.  This is an attempt to present a world-wide picture of beekeeping, suitable for practical and class-room reference. The book is mainly focussed on Indian literature, though the contents also draw from the knowledge accumulated in more advanced countries. It is a comprehensive account on different aspects of beekeeping, and students, teachers and scientists will profit by studying it. I am sure, the book will generate awareness and catalyse action towards a more effective exploitation of honeybees for honey and other bee products as also for crop production through bee pollination."

Beekeeping in in Uttara Kannada, Central Western Ghats, India (Indian Government)

This is a beginners beekeeping guide to beekeeping in the Central Western Ghats part of India which includes the keeping of  Apis Cerana, Apis Florea, Apis Dorsata and the stingless Trigona.  "Beekeeping is a forest and agro-based industry, which is beyond the ordinary realms of industry,in the sense that the humans derive benefits from interaction between two living things like plants and bees without affecting adversely both. On the contrary plants, including many crops,prosper with the abundance of bees (as pollinating agents) and the bees, sheltered both by nature and humans provide mainly honey and other by-products like beeswax, bee-pollen, propolis and royal jelly. Bee-keeping, systematically adopted as a supplement to farming, can bring prosperity to the villages of Uttara Kannada, a district endowed with species rich forests and cultivation of a high diversity crops. Unlike intensive farming or fishing that can corrode the natural resource base, abundance of honey bees in a natural environment benefits both crops and wild plants."

Beekeeping Manual for Farmers in Sikkim, India by Dr. Peter Gross

"Beekeeping has been a traditional household activity in Sikkim for centuries. Rural communities

throughout the state have adopted this activity as substantial part of their sustainable livelihoods. In

addition to providing income and honey, beekeeping supports other products and services such as wax, pollen, medicine and, of particular importance, pollination. The entire state of Sikkim represents an ideal situation to develop beekeeping as an important component of integrated development and sustainable livelihoods. The various bio physical conditions, such as varied natural heritage of rural communities make it an ideal activity for enterprise development.  This beekeeping handbook has been compiled from various sources to provides a tool to farmers, governments, NGOs, universities, vocational training institutes, private sector organizations and individual beekeepers in the North Eastern Region to initiate and manage beekeeping activities, as well as facilitate the training of other farmers. It includes a wealth of information on a full range of topics related to beekeeping development. I am confident that the handbook will be one of the important resource materials for beekeeping development in Sikkim." Dr. Peter Gross

Rafter Beekeeping  Sustainable management with Apis Dorsata training manual.  The following document is intended to serve as a training manual and has been developed on the basis of related literature and the personal observations of the author. It aims to provide the essential requirements for the implementation of rafter beekeeping and presents guidelines for rafter construction and management as a means of sustainable harvesting. Nevertheless, it should not be considered as a substitute for practical training by an experienced rafter beekeeper, at least in the first stages of implementation. As is the case for any beekeeping activity, experience is a key factor for success. Eric Guerin, Beekeeping consultant Eric.guerin68@gmail.com

Beekeeping in the Phillipines (University of the Phillipines)

The Ancestral Domain and Natural Resource Management in Sagada, Mountain Province, Northern Philippines is an action research program of the Cordillera Studies Center, University of the Philippines College Baguio.  In line with the Program’s objective “to test sustainable and equitable community-based natural resource management systems,” beekeeping was introduced to the
community. Today, there is a cooperative of beekeepers in Sagada that seeks to encourage individuals to take up beekeeping.  This Kit covers the following aspects of beekeeping, including discussions
particular to Cordillera conditions, in four sections, as follows:
Section 1: An Introduction to Beekeeping
Section 2: The Bee Farm
Section 3: Operation and Maintenance of the Bee Farm
Section 4: Pests and Diseases of Honeybees

Beekeeper's Manual (Belize) - Management and Caring of Africanized Bees for the Production of Honey In the Vaca Forest Reserve in Belize.  The primary aim of this Beekeeper’s Manual is to provide information to beekeepers on the integrated management of Africanized Bees. The manual describes the basic management of beekeeping from the formation of a new nucleus to the extraction and marketing of honey.  Beekeepers in Belize should not only think that the only product in beekeeping ishoney. Pollen, propolis, wax, royal jelly and venom, the queen, the beehives and the apicultural materials are other products that capture a good market price.  This manual takes into consideration climatic changes experienced over the past 5 years and the response of bees to this factor.

Books

Classic Beekeeping Books

The Hive and the Honey-Bee (Langstroth) - This Treatise on the Hive and the Honey-Bee

is respectfully submitted by the Author, to the candid consideration of those who are interested in the culture of the most useful as well as wonderful Insect,in all the range of Animated Nature. The information which it contains will be found to be greatly in advance of anything which has yet been presented to the English Reader; and, as far as facilities for practical management are concerned, it is believed to be a very material advance over anything which has hitherto been communicated to the Apiarian Public.  Debarred, by the state of his health, from the more appropriate duties of his Office, and compelled to seek an employment which would call him, as much as possible, into the open air, the Author indulges the hope that the result of his studies and observations, in an important branch of Natural History, will be found of service to the Community as well as to himself. The satisfaction which he has taken in his researches has been such that he has felt exceedingly desirous of interesting others, in a pursuit which, (without any reference to its pecuniary profits,) is capable of exciting the delight and enthusiasm of all intelligent observers.

The ABC XYZ of Bee Culture (1910)

The Mysteries of Beekeeping Explained - M. Quinby (1853)

First Lessons in Beekeeping - C.P. Dadant (1919)

Dadant System of Beekeeping - C.P. Dadant (1920)

Constructive Beekeeping - Ed H. Clark (1918)

Practical Queen Rearing (Frank Pellett l918)

Honey Farming (R.O.B Manley) 

Beekeeping for All (Abbe Warre)

The Bee People (M. Morley 1903)

American Honey Plants (1920 Frank Pellett)

Guide to Beekeeping in British Columbia (1911)

Dr. C. C. Miller's Fifty Years Among the Bees  

Bee Hunting (1936 Book - How to line bees) 

1881 Household Cyclopedia (Includes Horticulture) Book

The Bee-Keeper's Handy Book by Henry Allen (1883)

Plants and Beekeeping - F.N. Howes (1945)
Practical Beekeeping - Ralph Benton (1907)
Some of the essentials of Beekeeping - Burton Gates (1912)
American Honey Plants (1920 Book)
The Bee-Keepers Guide (A.J. Cook 1883)

Apis Mellifera or the poison of the Honey Bee (Wolfe 1858)

The American Apiculturist (1883)

The Hive Bee - A manual for beekeeping in Hawaii (E.C. Smith) 1919

The Practical Bee Guide - Rev. Digges (1901)

Every step in Beekeeping - Charles Douglass (1922)

Elements of Beekeeping - H.R. Niswonger (1919)

Beekeeping in the Kootenays (B.C.) - W.J. Sheppard (1918)

Beekeeping in the Interior of British Columbia (1922)

Beekeeping - E.F. Philips (1915)

A thousand answers to Beekeeping - Miller and Dadant (1917)

A Book about Bees - Rev. Jenyns (1886)
The Fungi of the Bee Hive (1912)

Manual of Beekeeping (John Hunter)

Honey Flora of Victoria, Australia (1922) Book

Cyclopedia of American Horticulture (L.H Bailey 1900)

* A few great sources of classical books are Cornell University's "The Hive the Honey Bee Collection",  Michael Bush's classic bee book collection and  The Biodiversity Heritage Library.

Children's Books

The Travelling Beehive - Children's  - "The Travelling Beehive" is an amazing book for children of all ages.  I highly recommend it for every beekeeper, their children and grandchildren.  This book is wonderfully written by Elena Garcia and Manuel Angel Rosado and beautifully illustrated by Juan Hernaz (Picture books by Juan Hernaz).  It is published by Apolo which is an organization dedicated to the preservation of pollinators and their habitat.  You can follow Polli the honey bee and her friend Dipter the hover fly as they face the challenges of a disappearing green space. They are joined in their struggle by Bazumba the wild bee, Missus Bombus the bumblebee, Lepi the butterfly, her majesty the queen, Dorian the farmer and Ramon the beekeeper. Sit back and enjoy the The Travelling Beehive .

Bobby Bumble's afraid to Fly

Beatrice the Bee 

Busy Bee's Flower Friends 

Swarm Story 

Nuova or The New Bee (a children's story) - Vernon Kellogg

The Bee-man of Orn and other fanciful tales (Frank Stockton 1887)

The Adventures of Maya the Bee (Children's story) - Waldemar Bonsels
Why the Bee Buzzes (Young children) - Ryan Struhl

Winnie-The-Pooh and the Missing Bees

For more children's bee activities and learning go to the Education section of this Library.

Beekeeping Video Series

A Web-Based Introductory Beekeeping Training Program  This online beekeeping program from the Ohio State Beekeepers' Association consists of 34 videos and 3 powerpoints and is made to accompany the book "Backyard Beekeeping" (above).  Some of the video segments include assembling your hive and frames, branding, lighting a smoker, seasonal management, cross combing, evaluating a queen, package bees, swarms, laying workers, diseases and pests, moving hives, feeders and overwintering your colonies.  This combination of information is a great starting point for the beginning beekeeper.

Honey Bees and Beekeeping: A Year in the Life of an Apiary  This is a very useful 7 part, 25 video beekeeper series presented by Dr. Keith Delaplane of the University of Georgia and covers a wide range of topics like assembly and placement of hives, installing bees, bee biology, diseases and pests, seasonal management, harvesting and overwintering.  It was created in l993 so does not include treatment for newer issues like Small Hive Beetle or Africanized bees.

1.1  Introduction: History, Langstroth equipment, hive placement (8:18 mins)

1.2  Hive and frame assembly and painting (9:29 mins)

1.3  Placement of hive, feeding and medications (9:29 mins)

2.1  Bee biology and equipment (7:38 mins)

2.2  Receiving and installing package bees (7:14 mins)

2.3  Releasing queens (6:43 mins)

2.4  Releasing queens and stings (7:05 mins)

3.1  Maturing hives and migrating hives (7:10 mins)

3.2  The brood nest (5 mins)

3.3  Our growing hives (5:49 mins)

3.4  Migrating our hives (9:18 mins)

4.1  Requeening (8 mins)

4.2  Queen Rearing (9:44 mins)

4.3  Package production beekeeping associations (9:27 mins)

5.1  Diseases and Pests (8:52 mins)

5.2  Chalkbrood, sacbrood, moths, tracheal mites (9:28 mins)

5.3  Varroa mites and queenlessness (8:35 mins)

6.1  Harvesting, processing, packaging and selling (6:45 mins)

6.2  Extracting honey (7:36 mins)

6.3  Packaging and selling honey (6:11 mins)

6.4  Commercial honey processing (6:32 mins)

7.1  Overwintering hives (6:06 mins)

7.2 Overwintering and one story hives (8:20 mins)

7.3 Second season spring management (5:30 mins)

7.4 Fall Management (4 mins)

Bee Health First Lessons in Beekeeping

The University of Guelph Honey Bee Research Centre's  online beekeeping series is a great collection of 50 videos that cover beginner topics like hive location and setup, hive equipment, protective clothing, smoke use, stinging, comb building, inspections, colony management, pests and diseases to more advanced topics like making nucs, queen rearing and indoor overwintering.  The University of Guelph is in the city of Guelph, Ontario, Canada so although much of the information is universal it is written from a northern perspective.  You can access all of the videos from this University of Guelph Honey Bee Research Centre's video list. 

Beekeeping in Northern Climate Video Series from the University of Minnesota.  This is a very useful collection of videos particularly for the northern, cold weather beekeeper.  "The following videos were produced by the University of Minnesota’s Department of Entomology Bee Lab and UMN Extension. Starring lead UMN Bee Lab apiculture technician, Gary Reuter, they are intended to be instructive and entertaining vignettes on a variety of beekeeping topics. Each video covers a single topic, and you do not have to watch them in any special order. In their entirety, they are a lesson on how to keep bees in cold climates such as Minnesota. Videos produced by Deacon Warner: dwarner@myfilmnorth.org"

Stewart Spinks of the Norfolk Honey Company in the UK has produced and is continuing to produce an exhaustive series of over 200 videos that cover pretty much every topic you may encounter from your initial setup (hive construction, painting, installing bees, inspecting, diseases and parasites.....) to catching swarms, shook swarms, queen rearing, overwintering, poly hives etc...  "Here you will find resources to help you get started in beekeeping, learn the basic essentials for a successful first year. Gain help and advice to take you through into your second year and beyond."  You can access all of the videos from the Norfolk Honey Company youtube channel. 

Hiveworld out of Edmonton, Alberta, Canada offers a large library of instructive videos based on season.  "We've arranged our video gallery by seasons because we think that's the most logical way to do it! But note that our most recent Meet the Beekeeper sessions get their own section because they're so popular.  Pretty well all of the YouTube videos we've produced can be viewed here.  Tip: Once you've started running a video you can make it go full-screen by either clicking the four square corners icon in the bottom right corner of the video box, or pressing 'F' on your keyboard. Use the same controls to shrink it back down when done.  We always get asked by new beekeepers, "Why do I need to split my hive?" Here Barry talks about why you need to do a split and few other options for those who don't want to make a split..." 

Beekeeping Video Resources

B.C. Honey Producers Education Day Videos and Slides  This is a large library of videos and slides covering every subject from overwintering 4 frame nucs to evaluating honey flavour.

Brushy Mt Bee Farm has a very large collection of educational videos on pretty much every topic of beekeeping. 

North Carolina State Apiculture has produced an informative selction of videos. 

Honey Bee Honey has a good selection of videos on a wide variety of topics like spring management, hive inspection and fall preparation for winter. 

The folks at GardenFork have produced a series entitled Beekeeping 101 which covers a wide variety of subjects any new beekeepers should know. 

A good collection of videos from David Burns at Long Lane Honey Bee Farms.

A selection of videos from the legendary Don the Fat Bee Man.

Informative videos frm Devan Rawn.

 

Online Education

Free Online Beekeeping Course  "Honey Bees and Colony Strength Evaluation" (You can log in as a guest)  Recommended for beekeepers, inspectors and farmers hiring bee pollinators.  This online course from the University of California is useful for all beekeepers from the beginner to the professional.  "The objective in developing this course was to provide easily accessible information to improve the understanding of basic honey bee biology, recommended colony strength evaluation practices, and recognition of important diseases, pests, and parasites that impact honey bees. The course consists of individual modules that provide background information on honey bees as well as clear, consistent recommendations for apiary inspection. Individuals can take advantage of the training at their convenience. The modular approach requires short blocks of time for each section and the viewer can proceed at their own pace viewing modules in any order they wish. Modules covering basic information may not be necessary for more experienced beekeepers or apiary inspectors. However, for those less familiar with the process, training modules can be re-visited as necessary. The existing information will be updated when appropriate and additional topics may be added in the future. Within each module, there are short quizzes to test for understanding. A series of skills practice sets is also included in this online training to improve your understanding of brood, frame, and cluster count evaluation. Nothing can replace actual hands-on experience, so this course should be considered as an overview of the colony strength evaluation process with the aim to improve consistency of inspections."  This course comes with a workbook that you can view or download, Honey Bee Colony Assessment Workbook .

     1. Course Introduction

     2. Basic Bee Biology and Lifecycle

     3. The Hive and Hive Organization

     4. Colony Strength Evaluation

     5. Inspection Recommendations

     6. Bee Suit Basics

     7. Random vs Systemic Selection

     8. Generating Random Numbers

     9. Other Things You Might See In A Hive Or Apiary

     10. Bee Frames

     11. Brood Area Estimates

First Year Beekeeping is presented by biologist, Randy Oliver on his website Scientific Beekeeping which is one of the best sources of beekeeping information available.  "I’ve attempted to distill 50 year’s of beekeeping experience into a short set of instructions for starting out with bees in the Sierra Foothills.  This page provides some quick step-by-step notes for your first year of beekeeping, written specifically for those starting with a nucleus hive or package bees purchased from me, but generally applicable.  Since the vast majority of colony failures are due to lack of varroa management, I’ve covered this subject more extensively.  For a summary of treatment options, scroll to the end (Randy Johnson)."  As mentioned this website contains a wealth of regularly updated information on most beekeeping subjects.

     

Ohio State University has created a free honey bee biology and beekeeping course based on Dr. Reed Johnson's for-credit OSU Beekeeping Course.  The free course consists of video lectures, handouts and readings presented on iTunes which is a free download.  Unfortunately it's only available to those with apple devices which means most people can not access it. The course is in the testing phase, is extensive and consists of 138 segments covering every aspect of bees and beekeeping including: Packages and Nucs; Package Installation; Pheremones; Mites; Swarming; Vitellogenin; Queen rearing and development; Foraging; Planting; Pesticides; Phenology; Nest Architecture; Honey Extraction; IPM; Honey Flow; Honey Laundering; Commercial Pollination; Drone Congregation; Dance Language; Feeding and Wintering; Honey Crystalization; Apiary Sites; Nutrition; Pests and Diseases; Broodmapper; Bee Races; and Bee Biology.  O.S.U. is asking for volunteer beekeepers to review the course and offer suggestions.  The only suggestions I would give of this great course are that a few of the videos are repeated and that they be presented in order of learning.  To access this course and assist in it's development go to "Beekeeping and Honey Bee Biology on iTunes. 

Beekeeping in San Diego County

The University of California Cooperative Extension-San Diego County has developed this self-paced online training course for beginning beekeepers and as a refresher annual training for experienced beekeepers with hives located in unincorporated areas of San Diego County.  The course consists of three modules and a 10-question quiz survey, which may be taken separately. The entire course is approximately 30 minutes long.  To begin the course, click the button below and wait a moment for the course to load in your Internet browser. If you are using Internet Explorer®, use the 'Direct Links,' below. Once started, you will be able to move through the training using the forward or back arrows located at the bottom left and right of your screen. You may also move back and forth through the course using the slide navigation panel on the left. Note, module 2 includes videos. Depending on your Internet connection, you may need to wait a few moments for each video to load on-screen.

At the end of the training, you will be provided a link to the quiz survey. You may also access the quiz, directly, by clicking the button or direct link below. To begin the survey, you will be required to enter your first and last names and email address. Your information and quiz results will be recorded.1 A summary of your quiz results will be provided at the end. To keep a copy of your quiz results for your own records, you may print using your computer's print-screen function.

The BeeMD is a diagnostic tool to help beekeepers identify honey bee health issues. The BeeMD will be used in multiple modalities including computers and handheld devices such as tablets and smart phones. The information on The BeeMD will be continually evolving and updated as science and technology add new information to the ability to diagnose and understand hive health.  The BeeMD originated as a project of the North American Pollinator Protection Campaign (NAPPC) with funding from the USDA APHIS, the Rust Foundation, the Pollinator Partnership and the University of Delaware. The founding team included the University of Maryland, Jamie Ellis from The University of Florida, the American Beekeeping Federation, and the Pollinator Partnership.  The BeeMD welcomes comments and photographs to expand the effectiveness of this free service.


Begin at the Beeginning: 

This is an introductory beekeeping course from  master beekeeper Janet Wilson which includes everything from hive components and acquiring bees to seasonal management, diseases and pests. It is written from a northwest perspective (West coast Vancouver, Coastal Washington State). It's a fairly complete beginners course with links to expert resources (i.e. Randy Oliver).  "Week by week we will explore together the canon of knowledge which is Beginning Beekeeping. We will both cover the usual course outline for beginning beeks, and chat about what we are finding in our hives, and in the beeyard, at this time of year (we are beginning in mid July in the Pacific Northwest, in an unprecedentedly dry and sunny summer).  The main focus of our learnings will be giving you tools to prevent colony loss.  Upwards of 80% of new beekeepers quit beekeeping in under three years, likely out of frustration when their bees keep dying. Bees are precious, and expensive. So we will emphasize what it takes to keep bees alive, using lots of web content and resources."

Beginner Beekeeping Course:   

This is a beginner beekeeping course from Amazing Bees in Australia which includes bee biology, rules, regulations and registration, hive inspection, honey extraction, swarming, queen replacement, winter prep and feeding.  It covers most everything a new beekeeper in Australia needs to know.

Jamie Ellis' Field Guide to Beekeeping (use the above link for all 41 issues in Jamie's DropBox) These articles originally published in the American Bee Journal. Note: These PDF files may take several seconds to download...   patience! See Jaime's Curriculum Vitae

1. Introduction 2. Why Keep Bees? 3. The Langstroth Hive 4. Personal Protective Equipment 5. The Hive Tool and Smoker 6. Miscellaneous Beekeeping Equipment 7. Informational Resources for Beekeepers 8. Know Why You are Keeping Bees 9. Choosing the Right Location for Your Apiary 10. Hive Choice and Configuration 11. Assembling Wooden Supers 12. Assembling Wooden Frames 13. Acquiring Bees and Queens 14. Stocks of Bees in the United States 15. The Basic Startup Costs Associated With Keeping Bees 16. Installing Packages and Hiving Nucs 17. Inspecting Your Newly Installed Colonies for the First Time 18. The Members of a Honey Bee Colony 19. The Components of a Honey Bee Nest 20. The External Anatomy of the Honey Bee

21. The Internal Anatomy of the Honey Bee 22. The Tasks of a Worker Honey Bee 23. Swarms 24. Mating Biology of Honey Bees 25. The Honey Bee Sting 26. Colony Level Thermoregulation and the Honey Bee Dance Language 27. Honey Bee Colonies as Superorganisms: The Hive or the Honey Bee 28. An Overview of Honey Bee Biology 29. Mitigating the Potential Threat Your Bees and Beekeeping Activities Pose to Other People 30. Beekeeping Rules and Regulations 31. Biotic Stressors of Honey Bee Colonies 32. Other Stressors of Honey Bee Colonies 33. Ways of Generating Income With Honey Bees 34. Basic Equipment Needed to Extract and Bottle Honey 35. The Time Commitment Associated with Keeping Bees 36. Reasons for Colony Losses: The Big Three (and One Ugly Cousin) 37. Honey Bee Development 38. Now That You Are a Beekeeper... 39. Conducting a Hive Inspection 40. The Indispensable Nuc 41. What To Get Your Beekeeper for Christmas

From Paul Mikkelsen's Beekeeping Resources.

The Perfect Bee is a commercial beekeeping company that sells beekeeping equipment and lessons.  They also offer a free introductory beekeeping course in the form of 40 emails.  To sign up for the course go to Perfect Bee Introductory Beekeeping Course .  Below is a sample from Paul Mikkilsen's website which is a useful source of beekeeping information.     

Perfect Bee

Browse at www.perfectbee.com Save at www.perfectbee.com/store Learn at www.perfectbee.com/course Higher learning at PerfectBee Academy

Like at www.facebook.com/perfectbee View at www.pinterest.com/perfectbee Join at www.perfectbee.com/colony-membership

1. LEARN ABOUT BEES 1.1 The Science of Bees 1.1-01. Why bees rock! 1.1-02. The Incredible Diversity of Bees 1.1-03. How Honey Bees Reproduce 1.1-04. Exploring the Process of Pollination 1.1-05. The Secrets of Honeycomb 1.1-06. Why bees can’t fly 1.1-07. The Anatomy of Bees 1.1-08. Honey Bee Genetics 1.1-09. The Honey Bee Life Cycle 1.1-10. How bees use pheromones 1.1-11. The Common Races of Honey Bees The Science of Bees Overview The Benefits of Bees The Types of Bees 1.2 The Life of Bees 1.2-01. How Bees Sense and React to Their World 1.2-02. Inside and Out of the Beehive 1.2-03. Why and How Bees Forage 1.2-04. How Do Bees Make Honey? 1.2-05. Why and How Bees Swarm 1.2-06. The Role of the Drone Bee 1.2-07. The Role of the Queen Bee 1.2-08. The Role of the Worker Bee 1.2-09. Sticking with Propolis 2.1-10. Understanding The Honey Flow 2.1-11. Fat Bees and the Winter Cluster 1.3 About Beekeeping 3.1-01. Beekeeping with Kids 3.1-02. Finding Beekeeping Clubs and Mentors 3.1-03. Top Beekeeping Books For Your Bookshelf 3.1-04. The Philosophy of Natural Beekeeping 3.1-05. The Growth of Urban Beekeeping 1.3-06. Understanding Bee Stings 1.3-07. Beekeeping and the neighbors Learn About Bees: Stage Summary A potted history of beekeeping Is Beekeeping Right For You Inside and Out of the Beehive How Bees Sense and React to Their World 2. YOUR BEEHIVE 2.1 Beehive and Accessories 2.1-01. A Practical Guide to Starting in Beekeeping 2.1-02. What Bees Need 2.1-03. What Beekeepers Need 2.1-04. The Common Types of Beehives 2.1-05. The Practicalities of Setting Up a Beehive 2.1-06. A Look at the Langstroth Beehive 2.1-07. A Detailed Look at the Warre Beehive 2.1-08. A Detailed Look at the Top Bar Beehive 2.1-09. Foundation or Foundationless Beekeeping? 2.1-10. A Detailed Look at Flow Hive Why Have More Than One Beehive? What is a slatted rack and why use one? 2.2 Equipment and Clothing 2.2-01. Beekeeping with a smoker 2.2-02. Beekeeping equipment 2.2-02. Beekeeping protective clothing overview 2.2-03. Tools for beekeepers to consider 2.2-04. Perspective on feeding bees 2.2-04. Using feeders with your beehive 2.2-05. Beekeeping and technology Parts of a Beehive Selecting The Right Beehive Components

2.3 Starting Your Beehive 2.3-01. Questions the new beekeeper should answer first 2.3-02. Preparing and installing your beehive 2.3-03. An overview of obtaining bees for a beehive 2.3-04. Practical guidance for the new beekeeper A Practical Guide to a Thriving Colony 2.3-05. An introduction to the beehive inspection 2.3-06. Beekeeping advocacy 2.3-07. Involving family and friends in beekeeping 2.3-08. Obtaining and installing a package of bees 2.3-09. Obtaining and installing a nucleus colony 2.3-10. An introduction to capturing and installing a swarm of bees 2.3-11. An introduction to feeding bees 2.3-12. Contrarian positions every new beekeeper should consider 2.3-13. An introduction to the brood nest 2.3-14. Tracking beehive progress and keeping records 2.3-15. Beekeeping myths for the new beekeeper to question Your Beehive : Stage Summary When To Start a Beehive Planning and purchasing your beehive Buying bees Where to place a beehive What Bees Need To Thrive In Your Location Purchasing and installing your bees 3. A HEALTHY BEEHIVE 3.1 Threat To Bees 3.1-01. A Healthy Beehive: A Practical Guide to a Thriving Colony 3.1-02. An Introduction to Colony Collapse Disorder 3.1-04. The Threat of Robbing 3.1-05. Small Hive Beetle and Bees 3.1-06. From Tiny Mice to Big Bears 3.1-07. The Threat of American and European Foulbrood 3.1-08. An Introduction to Nosema and Chalkbrood 3.1-09. An Introduction to Tracheal Mites 3.1-10. The Threat of Varroa Mites: Part 1 3.1-11. The Threat of Varroa Mites: Part 2 3.1-03. The Main Threats To Bees Threats To Bees Overview A Practical Guide to a Thriving Colony 3.2 Inspecting Your Beehive 3.2-01. The Big Issues to Check at Every Inspection 3.2-03. The Challenges of Cross Comb An Introduction to Cross Comb 3.2-04. Managing Hive Capacity 3.2-05. A FAQ for the Committed New Beekeeper 3.2-06. Learning From Deadout Inspections 3.2-07. Queenlessness in Your Hive 3,2-08. Why and When to Consider Requeening 3.2-09. Inspecting and Understanding the Brood Pattern 3.2-10. Splitting a Hive 3.2-11. An Introduction to Queen Rearing: Part 1 3.2-12. An Introduction to Queen Rearing: Part 2 3.2-13. An Introduction to Overwintering Honey Bees 3.2-14. Moving a Hive Recognizing and Avoiding Swarms 3.3 Reaping The Rewards 3.3-01. The Tangible Rewards of Beekeeping 3.3-02. From the End of a Course to the Start of Beekeeping 3.3-03. An Introduction to Harvesting Honey: Part 1 3.3-04. An Introduction to Harvesting Honey: Part 2 3.3-05. An Introduction to Extracting Beeswax 3.3-06. Making Money from Beekeeping

Certificate in Beekeeping: 

This is a fairly complete beginners beekeeping course from the Indira Ghandi National Open University.  The course focuses on beekeeping in India with an awareness of the preference for the more productive introduced European honey bee.  The course covers subjects like bee biology, beekeeping history, bee flora and pollination, seasonal management, pests and diseases, hive products and the economics of beekeeping.  The course is accompanied by several manuals available to view or be downloaded from the University website. 


North of 60 Beekeeping  For beekepers in the extreme north (Yukon, N.W.T. and Alaska).  This website is a good source of beekeeping information specific to northern latitudes.  They include an education section which covers all the basics from a northern perspective:  Bee Biology Basics, Getting Started, Northern Basics, Bee Yard Setup Basics, Nuc Install, Hive Inspection Basics, Disease and Pests, Northern Forage, Honey Harvest and Fall and Winter Preparation.  Their facebook group.

Beginner Beekeeping Short Course from the Virginia Cooperative Extension.

• Class 1: Honey Bee Biology - The Basis of Beekeeping (Fell)
  
• Class 2: Equipment and Hive Location (Quesenberry and Flowers)
• Class 3: Getting Started and Locating Bees (Flowers and Fell)
• Class 4: Overview of Yearly Management (Flowers)
• Class 5: Monthly Management (Flowers)
• Class 6: Bee Diseases (Fell)
• Class 7: Managing Maladies (Kreowski)
• 
  

The PlanBee Beekeeping Training Course (Europe)
Plan BEE aims at the development of an apiculture training game for adults supporting the development of beekeeping. The Plan BEE serious game will serve as single information point that guides potential beekeepers on how to start a lucrative business depending on their own needs and background by diminishing risks related to traditional beekeeping. At the same time, the project aims at increasing the bee population in the wild by promoting apiculture.



Beekeeping Tests

The legendary master beekeeper Dana Stahlman has an online course which is being worked on at present but he has a test for the beginner, advanced and master beekeeper which are useful tools.  Check it out at Gobeekeeping.

Regional

Beekeeping in West Virginia  Beekeeping in West Virginia began with individuals keeping bees in log hives often called gums. Some bees were managed in hives made out of rough sawed lumber and they were called box hives. Records show that these honeybee colonies produced from 14 to 24 pounds of honey on average each year.

West Virginia Beekeepers Guide

Beekeeping for Beginners (Missouri)

Beginning with Bees (Louisiana State University)

Best Honey Bee Management Practices (Florida)

Backyard Beekeeping in Florida by Richard Martyniak

Florida Beekeeping Calendar

East Texas Beekeepers Monthly Guide Book (E.T.B.A.)

Beekeeping in San Diego County (University of California)

Beekeeping in California (l971 $1)

Residential Beekeeping in Oregon (University of Oregon)

Integrated Hive Management for Colorado Beekeepers

Beekeeping Calendar for Northern Utah

Honey Bees and Beekeeping (U. of Georgia)

Seasons of beekeeping in South Arkansas by Jerry Freeman

Beekeeping In Tennessee (University of Tennessee) 

Kentucky Beekeeping: A Guide for beginners by Thomas Webster

Beginning Beekeeping for Kentuckians (University of Kentucky)

Kentucky Beekeeper's Calendar (Kentucky State University)

Guide to Beekeeping in West Virginia

Honey Bee IPM for Mid Atlantic States

Beekeeper's Calendar (North Carolina)

Connecticut Beekeeping

Connecticut Beekeeping (Seasonal Management Guide) 

Seasonal Beekeeping Management (Ohio State Beekeepers Association)

Beekeeping in Hawaii by Lorna Tsutsumi and Darcy Oishi

The What and How of Beekeeping in Hawaii by Lorna Tsutsumi 

Beekeeping in Alaska (University of Alaska)

Northern Cold Weather Beekeeper's Calendar

Beekeeping in the United States (USDA l980)

Beekeeping in Western Canada - Szabo (1981) 

Keeping Barkyard Honey Bees (Caribou Regional District)

British Columbia Beekeeping Calendar (B.C. Government) 

Beekeeping Spring Checklist (Ontario Beekeepers Association)

Ontario Beekeepers - Preparing for Winter by Paul Kozak (Provincial Apiarist)

Beekeeping in the Maya Region of Mexico

Keeping Africanized Bees in Belize

Beekeeping in Jamaica (Government of Jamaica)

Creative Beekeeping ideas from Eastern Europe

Beekeeping Spring Checks (National Bee Unit - Britain)

The Basics of Beekeeping by M. Peterson (Scotland) 

My Beekeeping Year by Ian Craig (Scotland, monthly guide, S.B.A.)

Seasonal beekeeping in Scotland

Beekeeping in Scotland - forage

Beekeeping in Scotland - bee biology

Ireland Beekeeping Calendar

Beekeeping in Greenland by Ole Hertz (B.F.D.)

North of 60 Beekeeping (Yukon, N.W.T., Alaska)

Beekeeping in Greece by F. Hatjina (Hellinic Institute of Apiculture)

Beekeeping at Tel Rehov (Israel)

Beekeeping in Syria

Beekeeping in Asia

Beekeeping in Vietnam 

Beekeeping in the Phillipines

Beekeeping Training for Farmers in the Hymalayas

Hymalayan Honey Bees and Beekeeping in Nepal by R. Thapa

Improving Indian Bee Hives and Beekeeping by J. Abbott (M.I.T.)

Nagaland Beekeeping and Honey Mission (Northeast India)

Beginner Beekeeping in Developing Countries

Basic Beekeeping Manual (Africa)

African Organic Beekeeping Training Manual

A Beginners Guide to Beekeeping in Kenya 

Beekeeping in S.W. Ethiopia by P. Gallmann and H. Thomas

Bee Hive Construction and Beekeeping Training for Zimbabwe Youth

Beekeeping Training Manual (Uganda)

Practical Guide for Organic Beekeepers in Africa (EPOPA)

Bees and Red Light (Night time hive inspection in Africa - B.F.D.)

People and Bees (Government of Tanzania)

Beekeeping in the Tropics 

Australian Beekeeping Guide (State Government Victoria)

Biosecurity Manual for the Honey Bee Industry (Australian Government)
Best Management Practices for Beekeeping (Australian Government)
Asian Honey Bee Manual (Australian Government)
Easy Beekeeping for Hobbyists in New Zealand by Tudor Caradoc-Davies

Bee Biology

This is the first of a 9 part video series, Understanding Bee Anatomy by Dr. Ian Stell
The multifunctional glands of the honey bees's head
The honey bees's eyes and vision
The remarkable brain of the bee
The honey bees's eyes and vision
Anatomy of the bee antennae
Bee metamorphosis: Remarkable internal changes
How do bees bite and suck?
The mandibles of the honey bee

Internal Anatomy of the Honey Bee (Texas A and M University)

1. Digestive and excretory systems.

2. Circulatory, respiratory, and nervous systems.

3. Endocrine system.

4. Reproductive organs.

A Microscope Atlas of the Honey Bee (U.S.D.A.)
Basic Bee Biology and Identification (The Xerces Society)
Basic Bee Biology for Beekeepers (MAAREC)
Honey Bee Biology by Dr. Debbie Delaney (University of Delaware)
Honey Bee Biology by Rick Fell (Virginia Tech)
Biology and Anatomy of the Honey Bee by D. Lesco and T. Lulec
Biology of Bees - Hymenoptera Apoidea (Russian Academy of Sciences)
Biology of the Honey Bee (CIHEAM)

The Biology And External Morphology of Bees (Oregon State University)

An Introduction to Bee Biology by David Stone

Biology of the Honey Bee by M. Kilani (Tunisia)

Bee Body Parts Identification (bwars.com)

Bee Body Parts Glossary (bwars.com)

Honey Bee Pheromones (Texas A and M University)

Beehive Chemistry - Pheremone Communication (Ohio State University)

How microbes work for honey bees by D. Sammataro 

The Respiratory System 

The Anatomy of the Honey Bee by R.E. Snodgrass (l910)

This video, "Biology of the Honey Bee" is presented by Dr. Jamie Ellis, Professor of Entomology from the University of Florida. 

Videos

Bee Biology with Larrry Connor from Wicas Press

The Biology of Wintering Bees by Medhat Nasr, Provincial Apiarist, Alberta, Canada

Basic Beekeeping Information

Western Honey Bee Subspecies   The European Honey bee or Western Honey Bee (Apis Mellifera) is a species of honey bee.  The genus Apis is Latin for "Bee" and mellifera comes from the Latin meli meaning "honey" and ferre meaning "to bear".  Hence the scientific name means "honey-bearing bee".  The name was coined in 1758 by Carolus Linnaeus who, realizing that bees do not bear honey, but nectar, tried later to correct it to Apis Mellifica (honey-making bee) in a subsequent publication.  However, according to the rules of synonymy in zoological nomenclature the older name has precedence.  

Hive Guide by Mike Alsop (Different hive types)

Equipment list for beginning beekeepers (Langstroth) by Tom Chester

Keeping Bees in Mediums by Landi Simone

Transitioning deep frame nucs to medium boxes (centralmarylandbees.org)

Making Plastic Foundation work for you and your bees by Grant Gillard

Screened bottom boards (Comparison to solid) by Australian Government

Working with Screened Bottom Boards by Landi Simone

Honey Bee Species by Nicola Bradbear (F.A.O of the U.N.)

European Honey Bee Races and Traits

European honey bee subspecies and their traits

Characteristics of Races of Honey Bees (ironbee.us)

The Different Types of Honey Bees (N.Carolina Cooperative Extension)

Honey Bee Breeds by Eversweet Apiaries

The Best Bee by George Imirie (Italian, Carniolan, Buckfast ...)

Races of Honey Bees in North America by Mann Lake

A Comparison of Russian and Italian Bees (NC State University)

Honey Bee: Diversity, Castes and Life Cycle (Haryana Agricultural University, India)

Hive Locations by ABC (backyardbees.ca)

Hive Placement

Keeping Bees in Populated Areas - Tips for suburban beekeepers (MAAREC)

Division of labour in Honey Bees by Brian Johnson 

Hiving a Package of Honey Bees (University of Minnesota)

Package Bees: Handling, hiving and spring management (B.C. Government) 

How to install a package of bees (N. Carolina State University)

Cold Weather Suggestions for Package Bees (Brushy Mountain Bee Farm)

Care and Installation of Package Bees by Dana Stahlman

Queen Introduction Cage (robo.bushkillfarms.com)

Queen Introduction (British Beekeepers Association) 

Queen Bee Introduction by Dana Stahlman

Survey of Queen source and Winter Survival

7 ways to find the queen

Queen Marking Colours

Successful Requeening by Randy Oakley

Bee Season Plan (Month by month) by A. Hawkins

Bees, Neighbours and Placing Hives (B.B.A.)

Monitoring and Record Keeping

The Hive Inspection Guide by Bill Evans

The first year of beekeeping by Dr. Deborah Delaney (U. of Delaware)

First Year Care for your Nuc or Package by Randy Oliver (scientifibeekeeping.com)

Spring Management by Dana Stahlman

Spring Management Guide (Canadian Maritime Provinces)

Spring reversal not good management for all areas? by Walt Wright

Beekeeping by Wikibooks

Beekeeping 101 by Nick McDonald

Hive Management 101 by Deirdre Perot Lightsey

Frame Reading by Dewey Caron

Queen cells in my hive (Welsh Government and FERA)

How to deal with a colony that is requeening itself by Wally Shaw

Equalization of bee colony strength by Khalil Hamdan 

The Phenomena of Bee Bearding by Khalil Hamdan 

The Honey Bee Dance Language (N.C. State University)

Robbing Behavior in Honey Bees (University of Florida)

Robber Bees by Khalil Hamdan 

Preventing Robbing by Dr. Eric Mussen (U.C. Davis) 

Robbing Screens (When and how to use)

Egg laying Worker Bees by Khalil Hamdan 

Requeening a drone laying colony by Joe Lewis

Imirie Requeening Method (George Imirie)

Upward Ventilation by Malcolm Sanford (U. of Florida)

Advantages of using Open Mesh floors by M.W. Shaw

Replacing Brood Comb (BeeBase)

Bailey Comb Change Method (Replacing old comb)

Replace that Old Comb by Jennifer Berry

Spring Comb Culling by Carole Booth

New vs Used Comb (honeybeeworld.com Alberta)

Fumigating Comb (National Bee Unit and FERA)

Ozone fumigation of combs by Rosalind James (U.S.D.A.)

Effects of comb age on a honey bee colony (University of Georgia)

Comb Management from Welsh Government

Cross wiring wax foundation by John Pashia

Apiary Hygiene (B.B.A.)

Apiary and Hive Hygiene (FERA) 

Hygiene in the Apiary (E.U. Bee Research Institute)

Apiary Hygiene and Quarantine (National Bee Unit)

Hive Cleaning and Sterilization (National Bee Unit)

Disinfection of Beekeeping Equipment (National Bee Unit and FERA)

Disinfection of Plastic Hives (National Bee Unit and FERA)

Using Second Hand Equipment (National Bee Unit and FERA)

Cleaning Frames by Scott Williams (beyond the torch and scrape)

Smoker Maintenance (University of Minnesota)

How to maximize honey production by Khalil Hamdan

Management for Honey Production by Walt Wright

Managing Honey Bee Populations for greater honey yield by Kathy Keatley Garvey

Profitable Honey Production (Ireland, teagasc.ie)

Removing Honey from the Hive (N.S.W. Agriculture)

Honey Collection and Extraction by D. Askquith-Ellis

Extracting your Honey (Mann Lake)

A Guide to Honey Extraction 

Different types of Honey Extraction

Extracting without an Extractor

Moving Hives

Moving Bees (MAAREC)

The many uses of a Snelgrove Board by M.W. Shaw

Queen excluder or honey excluder by G.W. Hayes (l985)

Shook Swarm Benefits (National Bee Unit)

Shook Swarm Technique

The Rose Hive Method by Tim Rowe

Washboarding in Feral Honey Bees by James Taulman

What makes a honey bee scout? (Oxford University)

City of Vancouver Beekeeping By-Law

Hobby beekeeping in the city of Vancouver
Useful Beekeeping Websites
Beekeeping Glossary
Glossary of terms use in Beekeeping
Flow Frame Instructional Manual
Keeping a hive at someone's home written agreement
Honey and Infant Botulism by John Durkacz (S.B.A.)
Honey Bee Sting Pain Study by Michael Smith (Cornell University)
Normal and allergic reactions to insect stings
Odds of death by stings


Informative Beekeeping Websites:
Dave Cushman's website
Scientific Beekeeping (Randy Oliver)
Michael Bush's website
Bee Informed
Ohio State Beekeepers
Cooperative Extension
Virginia Cooperative Extension
Beesource

Beemaster
Pollinator Partnership
Xerces Society
Project Apis m.
MAAREC
Bee Culture
American Bee Journal
The BeeMD

Paul Mikkelsen's Beekeeping Resources

NWBA Education
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations

Better Bee

Hive Inspection

It's important to have a purpose/s when inspecting a hive.  Why are you inspecting and what are you looking for?  An argument can be made that new beekeepers can only improve their skills by regular weekly inspections but the disruption to the colony is real and should be minimized.  A beekeeper can learn a great deal by observing the entrance to the hive.  The book "At the Hive Entrance"  explains the value of being able to calculate a hive health by observing the outside of the hive.  In this video Paul Kelly, research and apiary manager (University of Guelph, Canada), shows how to open a bee hive and in the following video he will describe what you are looking for.

A list of frequently asked questions on the University of Guelph Honey Bee Research Centre website.  These videos are from University of Guelph's video series which can be found in the video series section of our Library. 

The Hive Inspection - What are you looking for 

and what do you see? 

"OUTSIDE OF THE HIVE  • What is the level of activity of the colony at the entrance of the hive?  • How does the activity compare to that of other colonies in the bee yard?  • Are the bees “bearding” (festooning) and what does that behavior mean?  • Is there any indication of robbing behavior?  • Are the bees bringing in pollen? What does that mean?  FESTOONING Hanging out on the front of a hive. Just cooling off on the front porch on a hot summer day. Don’t confuse this with swarming or robbing behavior. ROBBING BEHAVIOR Bees are all over a hive and can be on all sides. Flight patterns are erratic and frenzied. Installing entrance reducers may help to mitigate robbing behavior.... " INSIDE THE HIVE  Checking for adequate stores, queenright, pests, parasites and diseases.     Prepared and presented by Bill Evans, Master Beekeeper, Rose Hill Farm, LLC, Jemison, Alabama. 

                                                      Brood cell types

Hive Inspection Guide and Checklist   "To have healthy, strong, honey producing hives, beekeepers must make inspections to know the conditions inside the hive. Hive inspection is simply a term to describe:  Taking the hive apart and making observations, then deciding what needs to be done, based upon those observations.  There are a number of things we need to look for when we inspect a bee hive. An inspection sheet helps keep things organized and allows easy comparison from one inspection to the next.  Experienced beekeepers may find this check list too detailed, but that’s really the point. It helps keep beginners and forgetful old folks like me from overlooking something important.

APPROACH the hive from behind or from the side. As much as possible, stay out the bees’ line

of flight. The rule of thumb is to smoke the bees a little and smoke them often. Give them 2 or 3

puffs of smoke in the entrance and under the lid before opening the hive. After that, giving them

1 or 2 puffs of smoke across the frames before you remove each frame will usually keep them

calm. Smoke under each box before removing it. If the bees get aggressive, put a LOT of smoke

in the air. This will mask the alarm scent and some of the bees will seek shelter inside the hive..."

 Jerry Freeman, Ashley County Beekeepers Association, Arkansas.

September Inspection, Menifee County, Kentucky. 

An inspection sheet helps keep things organized and allows easy comparison from one inspection to the next.  It helps keep new beginners from overlooking something important.  I encourage you to use one of these or one of the many available apps.  As you become more experienced you will make up your own checklist that suits your needs.  There are many apps and software programs for tracking your hives like Hive Tracks, BeeCloud and Beetight.

Bee Colony Inspection Sheet

Inspection Sheet (backyardbees.ca)

Hive Check List

Hive Inspection Checklist pdf

Hive Inspection Sheet pdf

Hive Inspection Sheet doc

Hive Inspection Sheet

Inspection Sheet

Hive Inspection Sheet

Hive Inspection Work Sheet

Hive Inspection Record

Hive Inspection Sheet

Hive Inspection Sheet

Beekeeping Records - Checklist and Guide (BBA)

Multiple Hive Inspection Sheet

Colony Inspection Sheet

Colony Record Card

Bee Colony Inspection Sheet (Hawkins Apiaries)

Spring Check List (OBA)

Inspect a Colony with Project Apis m Executive Director, Danielle Downey

The BeeMD is a useful tool to help identify issues a beekeeper may find during an inspection.  "The BeeMD is a diagnostic tool to help beekeepers identify honey bee health issues. The BeeMD will be used in multiple modalities including computers and handheld devices such as tablets and smart phones. The information on The BeeMD will be continually evolving and updated as science and technology add new information to the ability to diagnose and understand hive health."  The BeeMD originated as a project of the North American Pollinator Protection Campaign (NAPPC) with funding from the USDA APHIS, the Rust Foundation, the Pollinator Partnership and the University of Delaware. The founding team included the University of Maryland, Jamie Ellis from The University of Florida, the American Beekeeping Federation, and the Pollinator Partnership.

Queen Spotting Identification Tool (The Garden Academy)

Finding the Queen - It's important that new beekeepers know you don't have to find your queen each inspection. You can observe the state of her health and performance by the brood pattern and the presence of all ages of brood from egg to capped. 

From Bee Health Honey Bee Development

However, finding the queen is a necessary skill you will eventually have to develop.  

• The more your eyes get used to landing on the queen, the faster you will be able to find her during hive inspections.

• The queen will often be moving, but training yourself to recognize her on still pictures will still make you better at locating her.                                                                  • She is often easier to see when she is moving. She is much larger than workers and when she moves quickly she leaves a wake of workers in her path.                               • If she is laying, or not running from you, her movement is usually slow and graceful with a noticeable retinue of attendants as seen in many of these images.

• Move from slide to slide, and see how fast you can find her. Some are very easy. Others are more of a challenge.

• She is often easier to see when she is moving. She is much larger than workers and when she moves quickly she leavesa wake of workers in her path.

• If she is laying, or not running from you, her movement isusually slow and graceful with a noticeable retinue of

attendants as seen in many of these images.

• Move from slide to slide, and see how fast you can find her. Some are very easy. Others are more of a challenge.

Queenspotting Like a Pro - How to Spot the Queen Every Time from Beekeeping Made Simple

Splits, Nucs and Packages

The advantages of using Nucs (University of Florida)  Nucleus colonies, commonly called “nucs”, are smaller versions of full-size Langstroth colonies. They usu-ally have the same length and depth dimensions as full-size colonies, but nucs are not as wide. As such, nucs may hold 3-5 frames compared to the 8-10 frames typically held by a full size colony. A second type of nuc, commonly called a “baby nuc” or “queen mating nuc”, exists but is smaller than full-size colonies in every dimension and is used primarily for queen bee production. Queen mating nucs will not be discussed in this document. Rather, we will focus on five-frame nucs exclusively, although three- and four-frame nucs can be used and managed almost identically.

Splitting Hives (University of Guelph Research Centre)

Making Colony Splits - Dr. James Tew (Powerpoint) 

Introducing Queen cells and making Splits by R. Williamson and J. Jordan

Getting Started with Nucs by Buddy Marterre 

Advantages of Nucs in Beekeeping Operations by J. Ellis and C. Nalen 

Increasing Colonies (making nucs - Welsh Government)

Simple method of making Increase by Wally Shaw

Making a Nucleus or Splitting a hive 

Making Hive Increases by Dana Stahlman

Dividing Bee Colonies for making Nucs by Khalil Harndan 

Peak Performance Splitting of Honey Bee Hives by Grant Gillard (Study)

Efficient Production of Bee Colonies (Thorsen)

The Nuts and Bolts of Splits and Nucs by Jim and Pat Haskell

The Nuts and Bolts of Splits 

Mel Disselkoen's method of healthy, rapid population expansion 

Nuc Buyer's Guide (Ontario Bee Breeders Association)

Nuc vs Package Bee Comparson (A 6 video series from Beekeeping University)

Survivability Comparisons between Nucs and Packages

Buying Bees: Packages vs Nucs

Nucs vs Packages (Pros and Cons)

Nucs vs Packages 2

Packages vs Nucs

The advantages of using Nucs

Standard and Guidance Notes for Nuclei (BBA)

Cost effective Nuc Management (mdasplitter.com)

Making and wintering summer nucs (Larry Connor)

Making a Fall Split

Outbreeding Mites and Overwintering Honey Bee Nucs Part 1 (Mel Disselkoen)

Outbreeding Mites and Overwintering Honey Bee Nucs Part 2

Overwintering Double Nucs

6 frame Nuclei Wintered Indoors

Package and Nucleus Study Fraser Valley, B.C. (1989)

Package vs Nuc Challenge (A video series from Kamon Reynolds)

Swarms

Swarm Control

            Swarm Intelligence with Tom Seeley

     Swarm Control: University of Guelph Honey Bee Research Centre

Checkerboarding by Walt Wright  

The main thrust of Checkerboarding is to break up the overhead band of capped honey maintained by the colony through the swarm preparation season. (The literature refers to the band of honey or nectar as causing a “honey bound” condition.) In the undisturbed colony, it is capped honey. In the colony reversed in the early season, the band is rebuilt with nectar. Maintenance of the band is deliberate addition of empty comb above the band is often ignored, and swarm preparations continue below the band – which Walt calls the “reserve”. He says that the reserve is maintained through the swarm prep period to offset forage drop – outs or bad weather during swarm preps.

Swarm Prevention Alternatives (Walt Wright)

Group decision making in honey bee swarms by T. Seeley, K. Visscher and M. Passino

Swarm Prevention - Demaree Method 

Swarm Control for Managed Bee Hives (University of Florida)

Managing Honey Bee Swarms (Australian Government)

An Apiary Guide to Swarm Control by Wally Shaw

Swarm Prevention by Michael Bush

Swarm prevention and Splits (Michael Bush) Powerpoint 

Bee Swarms and their control

Simple Swarm Control (Artificial Swarming)

Swarming: Insights from a Master (Cleo Hogan)

Swarming Time Again by Dana Stahlman

Swarms and Swarm Management by Dr. James Tew

Swarm control for beginners (BBA)

Monitoring Swarming Sounds in Bee Hives for early detection of swarms (from ScienceDirect)

Swarming: It's Control and Prevention by L. E. Snelgrove (l935)

Swarm Catching

Swarm Traps: What you need to know to be successful (Brown's Beef and Bees)

JP the Bee Man: Catching Swarms (Videos on every type of catch you can imagine)  

Collecting Swarms (BBA)

Dealing with Swarms in Buildings (BBA)

Collecting and Hiving a Swarm by John Farrow

Catching Swarms by Larry Connor

So you want to be a Swarm Catcher by Beth Conrey 

Bait Hives for Honey Bees by Thomas Seeley 

A Swarm Trap on every Tree by Dr. L. Sharashkin 

Use of Swarm Traps (Bait Hives)

Removing Honey Bees from Walls (University of Tennessee)

Hiving a Swarm: Ohio State Beekeepers Association (Video)

Hiving 3 Swarms: Ohio State Beekeepers Association (Video)

Swarm Trapping 101: Beekeeping University (Video)

Setting Up and Baiting Swarms (Jason Chrisman Video)

Catching a Swarm (Brushy Mt Bee Farm Video)

Bushkill Swarm Trap (Bushkillfarms.com)

Swarm Box Plans (Gary Reuter, University of Minnesota)

Building a Swarm Trap (Bees on a Mission)

Swarm Trap Lite Plans (Horizontalhive.com)

Bait Hives plans and description (T. Seeley, R. Morse, R. Nowogrodski)

The Complete Guide to Building a Swarm Trap (Woodworking Accountant Video)

Winter Management

The Biology and Management of Colonies in Winter

(Beaverlodge Research Farm, Alberta, Canada) In nature bees have two general methods for maintaining colony temperatures in winter: 1) selecting a protected and well-suited cavity (Tab. 1) and 2) clustering.  Clusters have a two-part structure (Fig. 1): 1) a dense outer mantle in which bees jam together, orienting their heads towards the center of the cluster and 2) a loose inner core where bees are free to move. The mantle insulates and, at its tightest, approaches the insulation of bird feathers or mammal fur (0.1 W/kg/ºC). Clusters move slowly from empty combs to ones full of honey. This movement is typically upwards and sideways, never downwards. Before we go on, here are four critical temperatures you should know: 1) brood nest = 32-36ºC, 2) minimum thorax temperature needed for flight = 27ºC, 3) minimum temperature needed to pump flight muscles and warm up (analogous to mammal “shivering”) = 18ºCand 4) below which bees go into a “chill coma” = 6ºC.

  

The Thermology of Wintering Bee Colonies by Charles D. Owens (Agriculture Research Division, Wisconsin) 

The Thermology of Wintering Honey Bee Colonies (USDA)

Honey Bees in Winter (Cluster Dynamics by Kim Flottum) 

Overwintering Honey Bees: Biology and Management (Penn State University)

Winter Preparation for Ontario Beekeepers by Paul Kozak, Provincial Apiarist

Spring Reasons for Colony Loss Checklist (Ontario Beekeepers Association)

Wintering Honey Bees in Quebec by George Brezina

Fall Honey Bee Management Guide (Atlantic Canada - ATTA)

Fall Management for Winter Survival by Kevin Reichert

Wintering Bees in the Maritimes

Winterizing Guide for Beekeeping by Eliese Watson (Alberta - backyardbees.ca)

Honey Bees and Winterkill by Medhat Nasr (Province of Alberta)

Overwintering Beehives in the North (Eric Krouse , New York)

Winterizing your Top Bar Hive (Colorado - backyardhive.com)

Wintering Honey Bees in Alaska (Joe Carson)

Fall and Winter Preparation and Management (Hale's Honey, Kentucky)

Overwintering of Bees in San Francisco (Ruby Blume)

Preparing Apiaries for Winter Survival by Barbara Bloetscher (O.S.U.)

Getting Ready for Winter (Les Crowder)

Wintering Considerations (Kim Flottum)

Overwintering in Cold Climates (The Beekeepers Quarterly)

Wintering Bees in Cold Climates (Cornell University)

Winter check with Jorik, from Hudson Valley Bee Supply in Kingston, New York. 

Wintering Beehives (James E. Tew)

Winter Bee Losses and Remedies (Bee-commerce.com)

Overwintering Honey Bee Colonies in Northern Climates (University of Florida)

Preparing Honeybee Colonies for Winter (National Bee Unit)

Overwintering of Russian Honey Bees (USDA Honey Bee Breeding Laboratory)

Winter Hardiness of Buckfast Bee (University of Lublin)

Wrapping a bee colony for winter by G.S. Reuter and Marla Spivak (University of Minnesota)

Making Beehive Winter Wraps

Why Insulate Hives? (Pros and Cons)

Indoor Wintering Requirements (Research Station, Beaverlodge, Alberta)

Indoor Wintering Highlights (Research Station, Beaverlodge, Alberta) Remotely Controlled Bee Wintering Building (Latvia University)

Effects of Wintering Environment on Parasite-Pathogen Interactions (University of Winnipeg)

Ageing in Long-lived Winter Honeybees (University of Pretoria)

Effects of Hive Color and Feeding on Russian Honey Bee Winter Clusters (U.S.D.A.)

Study of Honey Bee Colony Winter Losses and their association with Varroa, Neonics... (Netherlands Centre for Bee Research)

Why did my bees die? (Winter - Michigan State University)

Feeding Bees in Winter

Adding Sugar Bricks to Beehives in Newfoundland (Mudsongs making no-cook sugar bricks)

Overwintered Honey Bee Nucleus Colonies (Pacific Northwest Extension)

Wintering Nucs (Dr. Joseph Latshaw)

Wintering 2 Frame Nucs in Manitoba (mbbeekeeping.com)

Cell Building and Overwintering Nucs by Kirk Webster

Outbreeding Mites and Overwintering Nucs (Mel Disselkoen)

Overwintering Nuc Workshop 

Overwintering Honey Bee Queens and it's effect on their performance (Ankara University)

Mass Storage of Honey Bee Queens during Winter (Simon Fraser University)

Wintering Bees (E.R. Root, 1913)

Wintering Bees in Canada (F. Sladen, 1920)

Wintering Bees in Canada (C. Gooderham, 1926)

Wintering Bees in Colorado (R. Richmond, l924)

Wintering Bees in Australia (Doug Somerville)

Indoor Storage of Honey Bee Colonies in the United States   It is important to consider the purpose and/or motivation for the use of indoor storage as part of the overall management strategy of each unique

operation. The following statements might have made for a good title for this publication and reflect underlying principles for the recommendations found herein. These sayings have become something of a mantra from beekeepers with experience in managing indoor storage.“You get out what you put in” “Garbage in, garbage out” “Storages are not hospitals” Indoor storage is not a cure-all and they are not suitable for all operations. All the work and preparation in the month leading up to the storage period are critical. This document is intended to be a starting block to be built up and create a central repository of knowledge on the practice of indoor honey bee storage and the management surrounding storing bees in buildings. The following sections are the initial collection of invited contributions from individuals with experience from different aspects related to indoor storage. We expect to learn more and openly invite additional collaborators to add to this work - watch for an online resource coming soon. Following this introduction is - The “Ins” and “Outs”. A section intended

to cover the preparation of colonies before they go into storage and some precautions and advise for treatment of colonies when they get out of storage. This is mainly composed of advice gathered from commercial operations who have been storing bees indoors.

USDA Cold Storage Overwintering

Manitoba Wintering Methods

Randy Oliver's Overwintering of Honey Bee Colonies

Indoor Storage conference Webinar Video 

Indoor storage of honey bee colonies for winter is not a new idea, but it is rapidly becoming a more widely-used practice, with many potential benefits to explore.

This virtual conference is presented by Project Apis m., The Almond Board of California, and Washington State University. Resources and content in this video include Researcher talks about the latest science and results, panel discussions with Researchers, Commercial Beekeepers, and an HVAC specialist, and virtual tours and informative videos.

Chapter Links Below:

0:00 - Introduction of Day 1 with Danielle Downey, Project Apis m. 

7:51 - Research Talk: Population Dynamics and Biology of Colonies Overwintered in Storage with Dr. Gloria DeGrandi-Hoffman, USDA-ARS 

0:58:33 - Mini Documentary Part 1:  Indoor Storage of Honey Bees: Tour of Buildings and HVAC Systems

1:13:18 - Mini Documentary Part 2:  Indoor Storage of Honey Bees: Preparing Bees for Indoor Storage

1:24:42 - Day 1 Panel Discussion "Indoor Storage Today" with Buzz Landon, Dr. Brandon Hopkins, Dr. Gloria DeGrandi-Hoffmann, Nick Noyes, and Bryan Ashurst

2:38:37 - Introduction of Day 2 with Dr. Josette Lewis, Almond Board of Califorina

2:42:30 - Research Talk: Research Updates from Washington State University, with Dr. Brandon Hopkins

3:54:03 - Resources for Non-Commercial Beekeepers, with Dr. Kelly Kulhanek 

3:57:33 - Mini Documentary Part 3:  Indoor Storage of Honey Bees: Putting Bees into Storage

4:07:10 - Mini Documentary Part 4:  Indoor Storage of Honey Bees: During and After Storage 

4:17:02 - Day 2 Panel Discussion "Best Practices and HVAC Considerations" with Nick Noyes, Anthony Molitor, Dr. Brandon Hopkins, and Jason Miller

For those beekeeping in the extreme north (Yukon, NWT and Alaska) a good source of information is North of 60 Beekeeping.  

Our goals are:

To develop a better understanding of Beekeeping in Extreme Northern Climates (Yukon, NWT and Alaska)

•Best Practices – How can we improve yields and winter survival of honeybees?

•Best Forage for Success – What are the best native and non-native pollen and nectar sources in the different parts of the North?

•Best Equipment to Use – What is the best equipment to use to here for our specific conditions?

To develop North of 60 beekeeping knowledge for all levels

To introduce beekeeping to more people in the North (more data and experiences to learn from and share)

•Save money by not making the same mistakes we made

•Ability to run successful beekeeping businesses

•Pooling and sharing resources, skills and tools to reduce some costs (OAV Vapourizer, Extractors, Books, etc...)

•To educate beekeepers on diseases and pest that could have a large impact on the viability of keeping bees in the North   Facebook group

Fall and Winter Preparation

The Bees and the Cold by Etienne Tardiff  

Abstract: A bee colony in a hive will undergo a wide variety of heating and cooling events related to weather and due to internal hive biological processes (e.g. brood rearing) where they will be required “control” thermoregulate their internal environment. Our job as beekeepers is to understand these requirements and provide them with the best “homes” possible for them to succeed. In this presentation I will explore the use of simple.  Temperature and Humidity data (in/out of the hive), basic geometry and basic thermodynamic principles to illustrate what goes on in the hive during very cold winters (0C to -46C). I will look to find practical implications/approaches and concepts that beekeeperscan use to improve their wintering performance and make the bees more comfortable during very cold winters.

The "Biology of Wintering Bees" by Medhat Nasr, Provincial Apiarist, Alberta, Canada.

Winter Management Webinars

Getting your hives ready for winter with Kim Flottum (BMBF)

Getting ready for winter (BMBF)

Final winter preparation (BMBF)

Winter preparation with Barbara Bloetscher (OSU)

Getting your bees ready for winter with Dr. David Tarpy (NCS)

Overwintering nucs with Larry Connor (BMBF)

Overwintering bees panel discussion with Michael Palmer, Kim Flottum and Harry Fulton (BMBF)

Hives have made it through winter...Now what? (BMBF)

Recovering from winter losses with Larry Connor (BMBF)

Beehive Construction

Hives

Beehive construction (B.C. Government) - Most beekeepers will assemble pre-cut beehive equipment at some time.  Others go farther by manufacturing their own equipment.  In either case, it is important to use standard dimensions and assembly methods to ensure that the equipment will be interchangeable, strong and durable.  This publication offers dimensions and designs of individual hive parts, and a few assembly hints. In Canada, the Langstroth movable-frame hive has been adopted as the hive standard.  This hive design provides simplicity of construction and ease of manipulation, permitting rapid inspection and interchange of frames.  Well-constructed equipment pays off in ease of management, and retains its resale value.

Beehive Construction Resource Websites

- One of the best sources of beehive construction information I have found is Steve Tilmann of the Michigan Beekeepers Association.  His instructional written and video presentations are detailed and easy to understand.  A great contribution to the beekeeping community.   Michigan Beekeepers Association  Beekeepers Workshop Videos

- Dave Cushman's drawings of National Bee Hive Component Parts. (UK)

- DIY Hive Construction Plans and Tools from UK Beekeeping Forum.

- Beesource Build it Yourself Section.   Plans     Forum

- Plans for bee hive components from FreeWoodworkingPlan.com.

 

Steve Tilmann's video on how to make hive bodies (8 frame medium) from the Beekeepers Workshop.  

Construct and Repair Bee Hives (Australian Government)

10 Frame Langstroth Construction Plans (Bottom board; Deep, medium and shallow super; Inner and outer cover) Beesource.com

Bottom Board, Entrance reducer, Deep, Medium and Shallow Super Plans (University of Minnesota)

Dimensions for Langstroth Hive Parts and Frames (U.S.D.A) 

Assembling a Beehive  

Plans for hive stand, bottom board, deep super and frame and outer cover (University of Tennessee)

Low Cost Beehive Plans (Hive made from 10' 1x12 and 1x8 and 6' 2x2 - U.S.D.A)

10 Frame W.B.C. Double Walled Hive (Beesource.com)

DIY Construction of the W.B.C. Hive (HMSO)

11 Frame British National Hive Construction details (Beesource.com) 

Dimensions and Construction of the British National Hive (HMSO)

DIY Guide to Building the Smith Hive (HMSO)

An A-Frame Modular Bee Hive by John Alexander Hogg 

Warre Hive Construction Plans by David Heaf

Detailed Instructions for Building a Warre Hive by Darren Gordon (houseofbees.com)

The Newby Hex Hive (Warre inspired hexagon shaped hive)

The Sun Hive (9 frame straw hive by Guenther Mancke) 

Sun Hive Management

9 Frame electronically powered Rotating Broodframe Beehive (Description)

Making a Perone Hive by Oscar Perone 

Dartington Horizontal Deep Hives by Robin Dartington

Double Deep Horizontal Hive Plans (Horizontalhive.com)

Horizontal Langstroth Plans

Building a Horizontal Hive with plywood (Horizontalhive.com)

Gable Roof for Horizontal Hive Plans (Horizontalhive.com)

Screened Bottom with oil pans for Horizontal Hive Plans (Horizontalhive.com)

Hexagon shaped Beatrice Hive (Detailed patent and plans)

Stewarton Hive (Inner octagon frame) by Rev. Bartrum, London, l881 

How to make a Bee Skep (colonialsense.com)

Straw Hive Construction for Apis Cerana (ICIMOD Bee Project)

How to Build a Top Bar Hive (Kenyan) by Philip Chandler (Biobees.com)

Designing your ideal Horizontal Top Bar Hive by John Vendy

Kenyan Top Bar Plans (Peace Corps)

Yemen Top Bar Hive (Abdullah and the University of Minnesota)

The Calgary Northern Climate Top Bar Hive by Metropropolis and the C.B.A.

German Top Bar Hive in German (Bavarian State Research Center)

Colorado Top Bar Hive (Modern adaption of KTB from opensourcebeehives.net)

Barcelona Warre Hive (Modern adaptation from opensourcebeehives.com) 

2 Queen Hive description and plans (U.S. Patent)

Multiple Queen Beehive plans and desrciption (U.S. Patent)

Portable Beehive for Pollination plans and description (U.S. Patent)

Bushkill Swarm Trap (Bushkillfarms.com)

Swarm Box Plans (Gary Reuter, University of Minnesota)

Building a Swarm Trap (Bees on a Mission)

Swarm Trap Lite Plans (Horizontalhive.com)

Bait Hives plans and description (T. Seeley, R. Morse, R. Nowogrodski)

Easy DIY Native Bee Condos (Resonatingbodies.wordpress.com) 

Alternative Equipment (Michael Bush) Powerpoint

AZ Slovenian Hive Guide and Construction

How to build a Beehive Bed (Horizontalhive.com)

Observation Hives

Building and Operating an Observation Bee Hive (W. Gojmerac and M. Allington)

Observation Bee Hives by M. Sanford (U. of Florida)

A plan for a very simple Observation Hive by Dr. James Tew 

A Simple Single Frame Portable Observation Hive by Ed Simon

8 Medium Frame adjustable Observation Hive by Tim Arheit

3 Frame Observation Hive (beesource.com)

2 Frame Vertical Observation Hive by Gary Reuter (U. of Minnesota)

Single Frame Observation Hive plans (N. Carolina State College and the U.S.D.A) 

Making the Bowness 6 Medium Super Observation Hive (by Metropropolis, Calgary Beekeepers Assoc.)

Setting up an Observation Hive (N. Carolina State University)

Parts

Building Langstroth Supers by Stephen Tilmann and the Michigan State Beekeepers Association (Michiganbees.org)

Hive bodies take a lot of abuse and need to be con-structed accordingly.  Not only do they have to bear a lot of weight (up to 70 pounds, or more) for a super, but the bee-keeper will use their hive tool to twist and pry apart hive bodies after the bees glue everything together with propolis. Of all the hive components, hive bodies have the most differences in size.  There are four standard heights (referred to as “depth”) for hive bodes: deep, medium, shallow and  comb honey.  In addition there are three common widths: 10-frame, 8-frame and 5-frame.  We typically recommend to beekeepers just starting out to decide on one size hive body and then stick with it.  That way, all equipment is interchangeable.  Because a 10-frame deep super can be very heavy (70+ pounds), we suggest using 10-frame mediums (which usually top out around 35 pounds when full of honey).  The plans presented in this article are for 10-frame medium hive bodies, though tables on the cut list page provide dimensions for the other sizes.

Jig for Cutting Handholds in Hive Bodies by Whimpy Hogan (Beesource.com)

Insulated Moisture Quilt

Foundation Form Board (Holds frames to aid foundation installation and frame wiring)

Inner cover and Outer Cover plans (both telescoping and migratory) by Gary Reuter (U. of Minnesota)

All Season Ventilation/Insulation Box (in place of inner cover) by Tim Arheit (Honeyrunapiaries.com)

DIY Wax Cloth for Hive Body (Natural inner cover by Beeosphere.org)

Vented Beehive Outer Cover design (U.S. patent by N. DeYoung)

Beehive movable top entrance design (U.S. patent by E. Schmitz)

Making Organic Beeswax Foundation (Volcano Island Honey Company)

How to make a Snelgrove Board (Swarm Management) by John Tait

Snelgrove Board Plan

The Many Uses of the Snelgrove Board by M.W. Shaw (Anglesey Beekeepers' Association)

Langstroth Gable Roof Plan (Bill's)

Nucs

5 Frame Nuc with Migratory Cover by Tim Arheit (Honeyrunapiaries.com) 

1. #8 Hardware cloth should be placed over the middle section of the bottom of the hive for ventilation. It is easiest to install if it is stapled on after the front, back and sides are assembled but before the bottom is attached.  2. A 9 3/4 x 9'' piece of corrugated plastic can be slid in the dados in the bottom pieces to block off the ventilation in cold weather.  3. The feet may be made of treated wood or other wood that resists rot to extend life.  4. To enable feeding the nuc a hole may be cut in the top to fit a quart jar or other suitable feeder. Screen may be placed on the inner side of the hole to prevent the bees from coming out when the feeder is replaced and a square of heavy plastic may be placed over the hole and attached by one screw or nail. This piece of plastic can be moved aside when feeding and moved over the hole when not feeding.

5. When moving the nuc you need only close off the entrance with duct tape. The bees will have plenty of ventilation from the bottom screen.

5 Deep Brood Frame Hive (U.S.D.A) 

5 Frame Mating Nuc and Feeder (Gary Reuter of U. of Minnesota)

Coates 5 Frame Nuc Plans by Drew Coates

Standard Hive body Mating Nuc with 4 Dividers (Gary Reuter of U. of Minnesota)

4 x 4 Mini Half Medium Frame Mating Nuc by Gary Reuter (U. of Minnesota)

3 Frame Mini Mating Nuc (Designed to hold half length frames) by Gary Reuter (U. of Minnesota)

Mini Mating Nuc Feeder by Gary Reuter (U. of Minnesota)

3 Frame Mini Mating Nuc with Feeder by Gary Reuter (U. of Minnesota)

Bushkill 4 Way Mating Nuc (Bushkillfarms.com)

How to Make a Styrofoam Nuc Box by Stephen Tilmann 

5 Fram Nucleus Hive Plan by Andy Robinson (British metric)

5 Frame Nuc Plans (U.S.D.A)

Plans for a 5 frame and Double 3 frame Nuc (L.S.U. Ag Center)

Double 3 Frame Brood Hive Plans (U.S.D.A) 

Frames

Beehive Frame Plans by Gary Reuter (U. of Minnesota)

Extra Deep Horizontal Hive Frame Plans (Horizontalhive.com)

Removeable Swarm Catching Frames (Beesource.com) 

10 Frame Assembly Jig (Beesource.com)

Frame Assembly Jig (Robo.Bushkillfarms.com)

Foldable Beehive Foundation Frame (U.S. patent by R. Little)

Dadant type Langstroth Frames (Deep, medium and shallow) Beesource.com

Bottom Boards and Racks

Langstroth Screened Bottom Board Plans (Beesource.com)

Langstroth Screened bottom board Plan by G. Reuter (U. of Minnesota)

The Langstroth 2 x 4 Screened Bottom Board by Michael Wilson

Design and Construction of Open Mesh Floors (SBB) by M.W. Shaw (British metric)

Research on Screened Bottom Boards (Australian Government)

Multi Use 3 Drawer Bottom Board by G. Reuter (U. of Minnesota)

Langstroth Double Screen Board (Beesource.com)

Varroa Floor Design and Use from "The Scottish Beekeeper" (Metric)

Parasite Reducing Bottom Board (U.S. patent by G. Griffith)

Solid Bottom Board by Tim Arheit (Honeyrunapiaries.com)

National Hive Mesh Floor by Graham White

Langstroth Slatted Bottom Rack (Beesource.com)

Feeders

Miller Feeder

Give entire inside of feeder two coats of polyurethane or marine varnish.  Pour molten wax onto all inside seams.  Attach hardware cloth to top of boards "A" with staples (Beesource.com).

Construct a Boardman Feeder

Entrance Jar Feeder Plan

Frame Holding Bee Feeder (U.S. patent by W. Varni and R. Aruzmendi)

Kenyan Top Bar Entrance Feeder by Metropropolis of C.B.A (Pgs. 34-38)

Warre Hive Feeder

Pollen Traps

Hosterman Pollen Trap Construction Details (Beesource.com)

Ontario Agricultural College Pollen Trap

Pollen Trap Plans and description (U.S. patent by K. Healy)

Pollen Trap Plans and description (U.S. patent by V. Shaparew)

Pollen Trapping in Minnesota by S. Duff and B. Furgala (U. of Minnesota)

Pollen Trapping and Storage (D. Somerville, Australian Government) 

Queens

Queen Cage Construction Pictures and Dimensions (Danish metric)

Hotel Queen Holder designed for Langstroth Deep by G. Reuter (U. of Minnesota)

Queen Rearing Box

Wood Queen Cage Holder by G. Reuter (U. of Minnesota)

Queen Cell Bars and Frames by G. Reuter (U. of Minnesota)

Constructing a Grafting Tool by G. Reuter (U. of Minnesota)

5 Frame Queen Incubator Plans by Tim Arheit (Honeyrunapiaries.com)

Vacuum

DIY Portable Bee Vacuum (Battery powered vacume)

Bee Vac Plans and description of assembly by Mathew Westall (Beesource.com)

Bee Sampling Vacuum Attachment by Gary Reuter and Kirk Visscher

Parts for Pests

Building a Gizmo Varroa Mite Sampler (University of Minnesota) 

Gizmo Varroa Mite Sampler Operating Instructions (University of Minnesota) 

Formic Acid Fumigator Plans and description of use (W. Virginia University)

Parasite Removal Device by agitated bee filtration screen (U.S. patent by H. Vanderpool)

Parasite removing apparatus by heating element (U.S. patent by M. Arndt)

Beehive Infestation Device using essential oils - "Thymol" (U.S. patent)

Wasp and Hornet Pop Bottle Trap and Bait (Simple design and use)

A Simple Monitoring Trap for the Asian Hornet (Nationalbeeunit.com)

Winter Protection

Insulated Moisture Quilt
Ventilation/Insulation Box

Making winter wraps

Making Beehive Winter Wraps

Transporting

German Beehive Transporter Plan in German metric (Bavarian Research Centre)

English translation: The large bicycle tires (57-406, 20 x 2, 125) give the sack barrow a particularly good ride suitability in uneven terrain. The wide wheelbase provides a good grip against slip of the Hives. The Prey truck for hives to max. 46 cm width. If your hives be wider than 46 cm, is only an adaptation of Pos. 1 and 2 (see Plan A) to the desired width make. The construction of the prey truck based on both a comfortable posture and on the great usability with secure stand against overturning. 

Beehive Clamping and Transfer Device (U.S. patent by W. Barnes and C. Emilio)

Heating and Ventilating

Beehive Heater Plan (U.S. patent by J. Van Damme and C. Rendino)

Beehive Ventilator Plans (U.S. patent by M. Jamison)

Beehive Upper Aerator (U.S. patent by H. Kettl)

Solar Powered Beehive Cooler and Ventilator (U.S. patent by G. Stearns)

Elephants

Beehive Fence Construction Manual (Step by step guide to deter elephants)

Bears

A Starter's Guide for using Electric Fencing to Deter Bears by K. Annis (M.F.W.P Bear Specialist)

A properly constructed electric fence is safe for people and pets  and has proven to be effective at deterring bears from apiaries (beehives), fruit trees, gardens, livestock pens, rabbit hutches, garbage containers, dog kennels, chicken coups, compost piles, storage sheds, along with numerous other uses. There is an abundant variety of applications and effective fencing designs for deterring bears. Design, construction and proper maintenance will determine the effectiveness of your electric fence. Safety is always a concern when using electrified equipment. Modern electric fence energizers have been shown to be safe for humans, animals and vegetation. The pulse rate of a modern energizer is so quick that they cannot generate enough heat to start vegetation on fire. While touching an electrified fence is unpleasant, modern energizers are safe to use around pets and children.

Cost-effective energized fence to protect beehives from black bears (Minnesota Department of Natural Resource)

Study on the design of effective bear fencing to protect apiaries by T. Otto (Michigan State U.)

Electric Bear Deterrent Fence Instructions (Pennsylvania Game Commission) 

Detailed Pictorial Instructions on Building an Electric Bear Fence by master beekeeper L. Simone  

How to Build a Bear-Proof Beehive Fence (Sustainablehomesteading.com) 

Bearproofing Beehives (Vermont Bearhound Association) 

Florida Bears and Beekeeping by M. Sanford and J. Ellis (U. of Florida) 

Bears and Beehives in North Carolina by Mike Carraway (N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission) 

Honey Extraction

DIY Bike Wheel Honey Extractor (Voiceofthehive.com)

The bicycle wheel extractor begins with a bike.  The frame cage is made of the bicycle rims, with the spokes serving to hold the frames in place.  Which bike you want is based on your drum and your frames.  Not all bike wheels are created equal, primarily because of the spoke design.  For the western supers I use, I discovered that the front wheels of some sixteen inch bicycles would fit nicely, while the rear wheel and some other spoke patterns wouldn’t allow western frames (but did allow true shallow frames).  The way that I discovered this involved my daughter’s bike.  “You don’t need a wrench to put on streamers,” she said.  Her bike wasn’t right anyway.  I didn’t want to buy two bikes just to sacrifice the front wheel, so tape measure in hand I descended on yard sales and thrift shops, carrying a western frame along for a “test fit”...

U.S.D.A. Model Honey Extractor (Beesource.com)

Honey Extractor Plans (U. of Tennessee and U.S.D.A)

DIY Bike Wheel Honey Extractor (Voiceofthehive.com)

DIY 9 Frame Bike Wheel Extractor for $90 or less (Edwin Simon)

The Yankee Beekeeper 20 Frame Extractor Plans and Guide (David Verville and Beesource.com)

DIY Drill Powered $50 Honey Spinner (by Chase at Kiltedcraftworks.com)

Extractor Use and Maintenance (Bobsbeekeeping.com.au)  

Solar Bees Wax Extractor Plans (L.S.U. Ag Center and Penn State U.)

Solar Wax Melter Plans by G. Reuter (U. of Minnesota)

Mini Solar Wax Melter by G. Reuter (U. of Minnesota)

Honey Heater for crytalized or high water content honey (Beesource.com)

Honeycomb Uncapping Tank (U.S.D.A.)

Building a Honey Extractor Stand by Stephen Tilmann

Hive Care

Care of Wooden Beehives (British Beekeepers Association)

Preserving Woodenware in Beekeeping Operations (U. of Florida)

Hot Wax Dipping of Beehive Components (Australian Government)

Beehive Monitoring System (U.S. patent) 

Beehive Construction Resource Websites

- A great collection of plans and videos from Steve Tilmann and the Michigan Beekeepers Association.   Michigan Beekeepers Association    Beekeepers Workshop Videos

- Dave Cushman's drawings of National Bee Hive Component Parts. (UK)

- DIY Hive Construction Plans and Tools from UK Beekeeping Forum.

- Beesource Build it Yourself Section.   Plans     Forum

- Plans for bee hive components from FreeWoodworkingPlan.com.

Feeding

Fat Bees Skinny Bees - a manual on honey bee nutrition for beekeepers by Doug Somerville (Australian Government). This publication provides information on the known essential chemical requirements of  honey bees including the components of nectar and pollen.  Pollens with a protein level  around 25% or greater have been recognised as excellent quality pollens, those less  than 20% have been described as of a poor quality. Australia has had more pollens  analysed than any other country, and for the first time all of the profiles of the analysis  are presented, representing 183 species.  There is some evidence that pollens from the  same genus, i.e., closely related plants, exhibit similar nutritional values in regards to  pollen chemical composition. Lack of nectar or stored honey presents the beekeeper with various sets of problems. These scenarios are discussed with the most appropriate course of action. Likewise, lack of pollen or poor quality pollen creates its own set of problems, often exacerbated by the stimulus of a nectar flow. How to recognise the need to provide pollen supplement and the circumstances which may lead a beekeeper to invest in this practice are discussed. Some facts about honey bee nutrition include; nectar flows stimulate hygienic behaviour; total protein intake is what should be considered, not so much the individual chemical properties of individual pollens; fats in pollen act as strong attractants to foraging bees, although increasing concentrations in pollen limit brood rearing; vitamins are very unstable and deteriorate in stored pollen; principal cause of winter losses is starvation, not cold...

Honey Bee Nutrition by Eric Mussen (UC Davis)
Honey Bee Nutrition by Zachery Huang (Michigan State U.)
Honey Bee Nutrition - Review of Research and Practices by J. Black (Australian Government)

Honey bee nutrition and supplementary feeding by D. Somerville (Australian Government)

Pollen nutrition and colony development in honey bees (Swiss Bee Research Centre)

The Effects of High and Low Fat Pollens on Honey Bee Longevity by Rob Manning (Australian Government)

Nutritional Value of Bee Collected Pollens by D. Somerville (Australian Government)

Honey (not sugar) constituents up-regulate immunity and detoxification genes in Honey Bees (University of Illinois) 
The Benefits of Pollen to Honey Bees (University of Florida)
Considerations in Selecting Sugars for feeding to Honey Bees by R. Barker (U.S.D.A)
Feeding Bees Pollen Substitute by Dr. E. Mussen (UC Davis)
Honey Substitution Chart for Feeding Bees (National Honey Board)

Development of an Artificial Pollen substitute/supplement diet for Honey Bees by R. Gupta (Haryana Ag. U.)

Development of a Pollen Substitute to meet the Nutritional Needs of Honey Bees (Australian Government)

Winter Feeding (Edinburgh and Midlothian Beekeepers' Association)

Storage Proteins in Winter Honey Bees (U. of Guelph and U. of Arizona)

Amino-B Booster (Food supplement) Honey-B-Healthy

Proteins, Honey Bee Nutrition and Amino-B Booster (Honey-B-Healthy)

Nutrition Section of Scientific Beekeeping (Randy Oliver) which includes studies on a variety of topics like light or heavy syrup?; probiotics; beebread; pollen substitutes and more. 

Recipes

Bee Feeding Recipes by Cass Cohenour
Recipe for a Pollen Substitute (Scottish Beekeepers Association)

Pollen Substitute Recipe

Pollen Substitutes and Supplements including recipes (B.C. Government)

Homemade Protein Supplement Recipe

Pollen Substitute Patties by DC Honeybees

Light Syrup Preparation and Application (Scottish Beekeepers Association)

Heavy Syrup Preparation and Application (Scottish Beekeepers Association)

Ziploc Sugar/Honey Feeder Recipe by Graham White

Fondant Recipe for Bees (Edinburgh and Midlothian Beekeepers Association)

Bee Tea Recipes (Honeybeelives.org)

Bee Candy Recipe (Scottish Beekeepers Association)

Feeding Bees (Welsh Government)

Feeding Bees in Winter (Strathcona Beekeepers)

Winter Candy Board from Beverlybees.com

Adding Sugar Bricks to Beehives from Mud Songs.

Feeders

Feeder Types from Brushy Mt Bee Farm.

Miller Feeder

Give entire inside of feeder two coats of polyurethane or marine varnish.  Pour molten wax onto all inside seams.  Attach hardware cloth to top of boards "A" with staples (Beesource.com).

Construct a Boardman Feeder

Entrance Jar Feeder Plan

Frame Holding Bee Feeder (U.S. patent by W. Varni and R. Aruzmendi)

Kenyan Top Bar Entrance Feeder by Metropropolis of C.B.A (Pgs. 34-38)

Warre Hive Feeder

Boardman Feeder DIY Plans

Bottle Feeder DIY Plans (Scottish Beekeepers Association)