BeeKeepClub’s Beekeeping Blog

Beekeeping can be quite a puzzle for beginners. Even professionals are also bound to forget a thing or two every once in a while. A beekeeping book comes in handy for both of these groups. While websites such as BeeKeepClub are a good source of information, books go far more in depth. With many authors and publishers in the beekeeping industry, you may not be sure which book you should buy. That's why we decided to compile a list of our opinion of the best beekeeping books. Let's check them out.

Bees do more to save the world than we could ever do, as they are an integral part of our ecosystem and work to keep the planet healthy. It might also surprise you that there are over 20,000 species of bees that we know about in the UK. From bumblebees, honeybees and solitary bees, each species contributes a lot to the UK's environmental balance and the planet's wellbeing. Let’s take a look at why bees are important.

The survival of honey bee colonies in winter is important in beekeeping. It ensures the beekeeper has a colony to start the new production year with. Wintering honey bee colonies emerge stronger in spring when they have high number of bees. Insulating beehives helps prevent heat loss. Bees in an insulated beehive use less energy to warm the hive. Fewer bees die in such a honey bee colony. This article guides you through how to insulate a beehive for winter.

Keeping honeybee colonies for any purpose requires that you check on them and ensure they are doing well. This is called beehive maintenance in beekeeping. It is necessary in all beekeeping operations including in conservation beekeeping. Proper beehive maintenance enables the best health of honeybee colonies. It also promotes better production rates of the beekeeping operation. Maintenance practices vary widely from hygiene practices to those about the structural integrity of beehives. Both beginner and experienced beekeepers can perform proper beehive maintenance. In this beehive maintenance guide for beginners and experts, we outline the various activities you should carry out and their benefits too.

Brace comb is one of the many types of comb (see bridge comb, cross comb) that is built in places beekeepers do not expect or want honeycomb to be built by honey bees. As its name suggests, brace comb is drawn by honey bees in beehives to support regular honeycomb from falling. It usually attaches to the sides of the beehive. Brace comb can be built in any type of beehive but is usually more common in top bar and Warré hives. This is because Langstroth beehives have beehive frames whose sides present a barrier between honeycombs and brace comb that bees might draw. In Warré and top bar hives, there are no frames used, and so bees find it easy to draw comb onto the sides of the beehive. Comb in unwanted places in a beehive is not entirely unusual in beekeeping. It is more of a norm than the exception. Every beekeeper encounters such honeycomb in beekeeping. Vigilance against unwanted comb is the best respite, you want to see it early and take care of it before it gets out of hand. In this article, we'll discuss how you can deal with brace comb.

Applying pesticides to control various organisms and diseases that affect human interests in agricultural and urban environments, has effects on honeybees and other pollinators in general. From reading this article, you will understand why pesticide use is bad for bees and other pollinators. The article also looks into the various factors that impact the degree of effects of pesticides on bees. In addition to understanding the problem, read on to know the various methods you can use to alleviate the bad effects of pesticides on bees. You also learn about many available alternatives to pesticides. Using the information in this article, you can thus easily change your practices to provide better environments for honeybees and be able to control pests, diseases and weeds.

When you really think about it, a honeybee colony in itself is mind-boggling. It is a self-sufficient unit with tens of thousands of buzzing bees grouped into various categories, with each given its unique role within the colony. Honeybees carry out all manner of tasks that are essential for the survival of their colony. One such task is the building of honeycombs. While honeybees will do so naturally on their own, there are things that beekeepers can do to encourage bees to build comb more quickly. In this article, we will be discussing how we can encourage bees to build comb.

Honey is the only product that can be best described as one that transcended our human existence. It is believed that humans have kept bees for more than 9000 years with artifacts dating back to the Stone Age evidencing this. Some of the benefits associated with honey include its medicinal value. It helps solve indigestion problems, heals wounds, is rich with beneficial sugars, boasts antifungal and antibacterial properties, and is one of the best source of antioxidants. It is widely used across so many industries and it thus markets itself. If you have been thinking of buying and selling honey, then you just landed in the right place. You may also be a beekeeper producing honey and need some insights on how to market your product. This article will address all the concerns of anyone desiring to buy and sell honey.

Honeycombs are the lifeline of any honeybee colony. They are of special importance since this is where the brood is raised and food reserved. Nonetheless, you might come across some white stuff in honeycombs and just wonder what this could be. In most cases, the first reaction would be the assumption that this could be a disease or pest infestation. These substances could be white and wet or simply a chunk of crystals. We shall discuss what is and what it means in this article.