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What is the Role of a Bee Broker?

Bee Broker

Honeybees serve a key role in agriculture for humans. The nectar collected by honeybees is used for making honey, and it is the only food made by an insect which humans consume. The worker bees play the role of converting nectar into honey using their enzymes. Moreover, honeybees also provide pollination services, and this is where bee brokers come in. A bee broker may be described as the individual who is in the honeybee business for commercial purposes. They engage in a number of activities which we shall discuss in this article.

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Do You Need a Brood Booster for your Beehives?

Brood Booster

The brood is the lifeline and the future of the bee colony. Therefore, the beekeeper that is able to raise a healthy brood is guaranteed of success from the beginning. The process of feeding your brood with brood booster can be simple but the catch lies in determining whether it is necessary to feed the bees with it or not, getting the right measurement and deciding when to do so.

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Genetic Diversity in Honeybees – Avoiding Inbreeding

Genetic Diversity in Honeybees - Queen bee in bee hive laying eggs

Genetic diversity and avoiding inbreeding is important in honeybees as in other organisms too. This article focuses on informing you about how honeybees avoid inbreeding and ensure genetic diversity. It aims to equip you with knowledge for your better appreciation of honeybees and also to make you a better beekeeper. By understanding the importance of some honeybee activities, you will be able to facilitate them better so that they take place in optimum conditions for best outcomes. Genetic diversity has many advantages in all species due to ensuring suppression of most of the bad genes. Good genetic diversity in honeybee colonies gives the members of the colony hybrid vigor.

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Protecting Beehives from Termites

Protecting Beehives from Termites

Beekeeping faces threats from many pests, diseases, and predators. Beehives made of wood face threats from termites. Protecting beehives from termites reduces the operating cost of beekeeping, leading to higher earnings. Beekeeping is a popular commercial activity in the United States and many other places worldwide. Termites are one of the major pests identified as affecting beekeeping. Beekeepers need not worry however, as there are various simple methods to prevent termites from attacking wooden beehives.

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Medieval Beekeeping – The History of Beekeeping

Medieval Beekeeping - Medieval skep beehives and modern Langstroth beehives.

Honey hunting or the opportunistic stealing of honey from wild bee colonies was the defining characteristic of medieval beekeeping. The beginning of true beekeeping was the development of artificial chambers for honeybees to construct comb where the queen could lay eggs, and the workers could gather honey. The Egyptians had mastered apiculture by 2450 BCE, and two thousand years later, beekeeping with horizontal hives had spread all over the Mediterranean region.  From the 13th century onward, the art of beekeeping became a significant part of medieval life. Honey was the main product. However, another product from bees gained more importance as the candle -made from beeswax, became a mainstay of medieval culture. Beeswax was the primary material for making candles used in religious ceremonies. It is no wonder that monasteries became ardent beekeepers simply because they needed beeswax for candle making. In reality, many monastic orders saw the maintenance of bees and the collecting of their honey as a way to generate cash in addition to the production of food and candle wax. Monasteries are credited with pioneering modern beekeeping practices in England, France, Germany, and most of Europe.

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Introduction to the Rose Beehive

As a beekeeper there are a number of beekeeping kits, equipment and tools, without which raising bees become impossible. The beehive is on the top of the list and should be chosen wisely. Various hive designs are out there in the market and you have to consider their features before settling for one. The Rose beehive is not a popular concept, but it is one that has been gaining more attention in the recent past. The design is attributed to Tim Rowe, the brain behind it. The hive is described as simple and great for raising honeybees. In this article we shall find out more about the Rose beehive and it will be up to you to decide whether it is something worth trying.

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Trucking Bees – How to Move a Beehive

Trucking Bees - How to Move a Beehive

The location of a beehive is not fixed, and sometimes it becomes necessary to transport beehives, especially over long distances. The work is hard but the entire process is not complicated at all. When you need to truck bees, you should take their needs and behavior into consideration. Proper preparations and provision for feed are needed by the beekeeper moving their bees for various purposes. In pollination season, beehives are moved long distances. This guide takes you through moving beehives and making sure that the honeybee colonies inside are well taken care of. It provides you with detailed information about trucking bees and how to move a beehive.

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How to Use a Queen Rearing Calendar

Queen Rearing Calendar

Rearing queen bees in beekeeping operations requires the accurate timing of events and activities. This article guides you on how to use a queen rearing calendar for success in your queen rearing efforts. It also explains the queen rearing calendar while exploring major concepts in the queen rearing process. Beekeeping operations require healthy queen bees in their honeybee colonies for optimum productivity. With a queen rearing calendar, you are able to produce new queen bees on schedule to meet your need to replace queen bees. Newly reared queen bees require mating before they are useful in the honeybee colony, so be sure to get them fertilized using the method available to you.

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How Honeybees Maintain Temperature and Humidity in a Beehive

Beehive Temperature and Humidity

Beehives are microclimates with conditions that require careful control to remain at optimum levels at all times. Changes in beehive conditions affect honeybees living there. They can turn harmful if left unchecked for long periods of time. Honeybees are always regulating the temperature and humidity of beehives. They employ various techniques to achieve nearly uniform temperatures in the hive. Of major consideration to honeybees, is the brood of the colony. Other parts of the beehive come second in priority when it comes to warming or cooling the beehive, as well as in humidity control. Read on to learn how honeybees maintain temperature and humidity in a beehive, and what you can do to help them.

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