Do-It-Yourself (DIY) Beekeeping Guides

Langstroth beehives make use of boxes stacked on top of each other. This feature gives the Langstroth beehive superior expandability by making use of available vertical space. There are two sizes of Langstroth beehives: 10-frame and 8-frame. Beekeepers can choose to purchase or make their own Langstroth beehive boxes. The boxes come in handy when you need to add space for your bees to use as brood chambers or for honey storage. This article details how to build a Langstroth beehive box. It covers shallow, medium and deep boxes for both 8-frame and 10-frame sizes of Langstroth beehives.

The honey extractor is perhaps one of the beekeeping equipment that comes last in any beekeeper’s plan when getting started in beekeeping. Nonetheless, you can never do without it once the bees begin to generate the fruits of your hard labor - the honey. There are ways to make your own homemade honey extractor using locally available resources. This not only saves money but it takes the least effort and will work just like a commercial honey extractor.

The amount of moisture in the beehive can cause problems to bees, if it is enough to condense on beehive surfaces. To prevent moisture in the air from condensing in the beehive, the air is scrubbed of the moisture. This is done by wicking the moisture from air using absorbent materials. A beehive moisture board is made using such materials. You can purchase this beekeeping equipment or make one. This guide takes you through the importance of a beehive moisture board and how to make a DIY beehive moisture board. It also highlights important moisture and temperature control needs for the beehive in beekeeping operations.

Top bar beehives are among the more common types of hives used in beekeeping. You can buy one for your beekeeping operation, or build one if you have the skills and equipment. This article guides you on how to build a top bar beehive, but we'll first take a look at the top bar beehive and its features. The advantages it comes with have made the top bar hive usable in urban beekeeping too. Beekeepers using top bar hives tend to be very passionate, as the beehive sits at waist level, making hive management very easy for the beekeeper. Beginner beekeepers have an easy time learning about beekeeping when they start their apiary with a top bar hive.

A queen excluder is an optional beekeeping equipment and can be purchased from a wide variety of manufacturers. When you do not want to buy a queen excluder, you can make one by yourself. This article details how to make a queen excluder and highlights its main features. It also looks at the importance of this beehive component as well as the reasons beekeepers choose to use or avoid a queen excluder in their beekeeping operation. While queen excluders are used in both Langstroth and top-bar beehives, the one discussed in this article is mainly that which is used in a Langstroth beehive.

Langstroth beehives are a great choice for both beginner and experienced beekeepers. The Langstroth beehive uses a bottom board to seal the bottom of the beehive from the elements. There are 2 types of bottom boards: screened and solid. A screened bottom boards helps with hive ventilation in warm climates. You can buy or make a Langstroth beehive and its parts. In this article, we'll discuss how to build a beehive bottom board for your Langstroth beehive.

Beehive moving screens are needed when transporting honey bee colonies. You can purchase one from beekeeping equipment sellers or make one yourself. Buying an already made beehive moving screen or making one is a decision that is up to the individual beekeeper to make. Of course, if you are good at woodworking, then building your own beekeeping equipment when you can, gives you the best assurance of quality and durability. You can also customize the beehive moving screen to suit your unique needs better. Customizing any pre-made beekeeping equipment that you buy, requires making modifications that could result in voiding warranties and affecting the life of the equipment. Here is a guide on how to build a beehive moving screen and how to use it.

The practice of smoking bees has been about for centuries. It helps distract and lull the bees so as to keep them from stinging. You have various types of smoker fuel to choose from including the commercial bee smoker fuel. But did you know that you can make natural bee smoker fuel using locally available resources? Well, that is right. You can actually do it yourself and get a reliable smoker fuel within the comfort of your home. You need not utilize the common smoker materials such as wood shavings, burlap, or pellets. While these are effective bee smoker fuels, they tend to have a terrible smell. Furthermore, they do not help to get rid some pests such as the varroa mites.

Electric fences are a sure way to ensure beehives in an apiary are not attacked by bears. Beekeepers avoid losses in beekeeping equipment and honeybee colonies by installing an electric fence around the apiary. Both beginner and experienced beekeepers can set up an electric fence to protect their beehives. You can build your own electric fence or buy one and assemble it. Putting one together with parts from different manufacturers allows you to customize the electric fence to your preferences. This article delves into how to build an electric fence for bears around an apiary. You can use it to protect one beehive or many.

Bee hive feeders are used for supplying the bees with sugar syrup when sources of nectar are minimal of non-existent. They are also used for providing medicine to the bees. These are medications that can be dissolved in sugar syrup and offered to the bees.