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What is the Honeybee Queen Mating Flight?

In a honeybee colony, the queen bee has a very important function that is made possible by her mating flight. Read on to understand what is the honeybee queen mating flight and its benefits to a honeybee colony. Without a mating flight, the queen bee fails in her most important duty which is to lay fertilized eggs in the beehive. Unfertilized eggs result in male drone bees that do not do any work in the beehive. Female bees are called worker bees and they do all the work in the beehive including producing honey and making honeycomb using beeswax. The honeybee queen mating flight is, therefore, very important for the queen to be able to lay fertilized eggs.

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Keeping Honey Bees Safe While Transporting and Relocating Hives

Although large numbers of honey bees are routinely transported for the purposes of pollination all over Northern America, a move can still be stressful for them. When you are relocating hives, it's important to have everything planned in advance to minimize disruption to the bees. Whether you're moving house, bringing home a new colony, or simply want to reposition your bees in cold weather, being well prepared will help the move go smoothly.

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How to Use a Beehive Windbreak

Beehive Windbreak

The work of a beekeeper is quite exciting and varied. Individual beekeepers use different methods to tackle some of the challenges they face. Beehive management in cold regions has its unique challenges. One of them is how to keep the beehive at a temperature conducive for honey bee colonies. Bees can warm the hive themselves, but is costs them more energy and food resources to do so. One of the more popular methods is the use of beehive windbreaks. They can be used all round or on selected sides of the beehive. Windbreaks reduce the speed of air flowing around the beehive, thereby reducing heat loss. In this article we'll discuss how to go about using up a beehive windbreak in your beekeeping operation.

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How to Properly Prepare Beehives for Winter

Prepare Beehives for Winter

Winter can be a harsh season for many species. But those who are already of a delicate constitution can be at risk for survival. Bees are among those that need a lot of preparation before and caretaking during the winter season. Honey bees remain active throughout the year while other bees and wasps hibernate. Honey bees have the natural ability to ride out the freezing temperatures of winter by creating their own heat source. Even with these favorable abilities, honey bee colonies suffer many losses due to various other factors. Sometimes, they require human intervention to give them a better chance at survival.

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Adding a Mesh Around the Beehive to Keep Out Predators

Beehive Mesh

Beekeepers often ensure security for their honeybees by adding a mesh around the beehive to keep out predators. This is usually in addition to other preventive and active measures they take. Proper beehive security depends on the proper setup, management and maintenance of all the security measures you use in your beekeeping operation. Honeybees have a number of predators of different types. When you leave honeybee colonies in your apiary vulnerable, they are attacked by birds, small animals, and large animals. This article explores the safety of beehives with a detailed investigation of the use of meshes around beehives to keep out predators.

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How to Combine Honeybee Colonies

Combine Honeybee Colonies

Raising honeybees is a practice that has been around for centuries. It is believed that humans have kept bees for more than 9,000 years. This is such a long time and thanks to all the efforts put into it, modern beekeepers can now focus on best practices of raising honeybees. Weak colonies have proven to have the least chance of making through the colder months such as winter, hence the need to sometimes combine honeybee colonies. This strategy makes it possible for the beekeeper to go into winter with a stronger colony. Combining two weak colonies is the sure way of creating a robust colony. Nonetheless, we describe this as an art since it takes skill and experience to do it. In essence, you do not just wake up one morning and decide to dump bees from a hive to another. Doing this proves to be harmful rather than helpful to the honeybees. In this article, we exhaustively explore the art of combining honeybee colonies. Join us in this exciting journey.

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The Ultimate Guide for Using Essential Oils with Honeybees

Using Essential Oils with Honeybees

Essential oils are concentrated hydrophobic liquids. They have different aromatic compounds and are extracted from plants. Using essential oils in beekeeping helps beekeepers avoid applying chemicals and contaminants in their beehives. Using essential oils with honeybees is safe. The oils easily evaporate at normal temperatures, leaving no traces behind in beehive products. Make sure to get your essential oils from reliable sources. You should also have the proper equipment for use with essential oils for honeybee colonies. The equipment must be kept clean at all times.

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