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Practical beekeeping

People first benefited from bees through honey hunting. Gradually, to reduce the hardship and unpredictability of hunting wild colonies, people found ways to increase their control over bees through ownership and management. The use of bee hives was an early step in the transition from honey hunting to beekeeping, and this allowed beekeepers to own colonies and choose their location. Only the two cavity nesting species of honey bee, Apis cerana and Apis mellifera are capable of being contained in bee hives, and of these Apis mellifera is the most widespread and most intensively managed honey bee. Many of the techniques described in this section have been developed for Apis mellifera. Rafter management of Apis dorsata is an intermediate form of bee ownership and management. In some countries stingless bees are utilised.

Having a good understanding of appropriate methods is important if beekeepers are to keep bees successfully and benefit from them in a sustainable way. Different approaches are suitable in different circumstances. Some beekeepers rarely inspect or visit their hives - they adopt extensive, near-wild systems. Other beekeepers employ more intensive, closely managed systems with high levels of colony manipulation. A range of different factors determined which practical beekeeping methods are appropriate for any given situation.

The factors include:

species of bee e.g cavity nesting or not
prevailing environmental conditions e.g. tropical or temperate
access to external inputs e.g. wax foundation
financial resources of the beekeeper e.g. can the beekeeper afford high cost equipment
the optimum balance of risk minimisation versus profit maximisation e.g. extensive versus intensive system
the optimum balance of yield versus welfare of the colony e.g. feeding regime
the knowledge and skills of the beekeeper e.g. a beekeeper skilled in the use of local methods may have no need to adopt imported methods
the risk of disease e.g. where diseases are prevalent certain techniques are essential

These are just some of the many factors to consider. Broadly speaking, Bees for Development advocates the use of indigenous species wherever possible and we recognise the important role of traditional techniques. When considering introducing new ideas or techniques it is essential to have a clear understanding of the intended outcome. This analysis requires an understanding of the options available and their relative merits.

These technical beekeeping pages offer some explanation of the principles underlying beekeeping management and their practical application under different circumstances. Weighing up the advantages and disadvantages of different techniques can help avoid costly mistakes or unintended social or environmental consequences.

In addition to these information pages it is always valuable to gain information by talking to beekeepers or honey hunters already practising in the locality, especially where they are long established. People who have been exploiting bees productively for long periods in a given area will have many skills and a depth of indigenous knowledge of great value.

List of Articles available on this topic (92):

Title	Author
A beginner\'s guide to beekeeping in Kenya	Tom Carroll
A Book on the Japanese Honeybee	Okada, I.
A Guide to Swarm Control	DARG
ABC and XYZ of Bee Culture, The	Root, A I
African honeybees: how to manage them in top-bar hives	Clauss, B.
Be Polite to your Bees	Holm, E.
Bee hives for honey production	Schmolke, M
Bee hives of the ancient world	Crane, E. and Graham, A.J.
Bee Keeping Handbook	Kepaletswe, K.
Beefarming in India	Rawat, B.S.
Beekeeping for Dummies	Blackiston, H
Beekeeping Guidelines in Dari (Afghane)	Shahrouzi, Reza
Beekeeping Guidelines in Persian (Iranian)	Shahrouzi, Reza
Beekeeping in India	Ghosh, G.K.
Beekeeping in India	Sarder, S.
Beekeeping in India	Singh, S.
Beekeeping in South Africa: Bulletin No. 394	Anderson, R.H., Buys, B. & Johannsmeier, M.F.
Beekeeping in Zambia	Silberrad, R.E.M.
Beekeeping, theory and practice	Kugonza,D R
Bees & Honey: from flower to jar	Weiler, M.
Bees and Bee-keeping in India	Abrol, D.P.
Bees in the City	Benjamin A. & McCallum B.
Better beekeeping in top-bar hives	Gregory, P.
Better beekeeping in top-bar hives - Things that can go wrong	Gregory, P.
Better beekeeping in top-bar hives: Choose a site, making hive stands and attracting bees...	Gregory, P.
Better beekeeping in top-bar hives: Entrances and roofs	Gregory, P.
Better beekeeping in top-bar hives: Hives and hive making	Gregory, P.
Better beekeeping in top-bar hives: Things that can go wrong...	Gregory, P.
Cement hives - an environmentally-friendly alternative to wooden hive boxes	Ravishankar, J.
Collection of Historical and Contemporary Beekeeping Material	Vernon, F.G.
Concrete Hives in the Gambia	Lassen, K. & Jammeh, E.
Dividing Honey Bee colonies in Ethiopia	Kebede, A.; Ejigu, K. & Tassew, A.
Haiti Beekeeping Project	Sterk, B.
Handling honey bees safely	Gregory, P.
Haynes Bee Manual	Waring, C. & Waring, A.
Hive Management: A Seasonal Guide for Beekeepers	Bonney, R.E.
Honey bee biology - back to India (part 2): Giant bees in a giant tree	Mangum, W.A.
Honey Bee: Coloured Atlas of Primative & Modern Hives, Stingless Honey Bee, Beekeeping Calender of Iran	Saadatmand, S.J.
Honeybee Brood Diseases in India: Technical Bulletin	Mishra, R.C. & Rana, B.S.
In response to modern hives or modern ideas	Crowder, L.
Inappropriate use of frame hives in Tanzania: a discouraging factor for beekeepers	Svensson, B.
Interview with Eva Crane	Bees for Development
Introduction to Beekeeping	Rureebwa Deo Twine
Keeping Bees in Towns and Cities	Dixon, L.
Kuweta Njuchi	Wildlife Society of Malawi
Letter - 22mm Top Bar Cameroon	Romet, A.
Letter on Top Bar hive articles	Clauss, B.
Letter to BfDJ103 - baiting hives
Making local beekeeping sustainable in Sierra Leone	Aidoo, K.
Making simple gloves	Mngazija, R.
Making waz starter strips for top-bars	Eaton, P.
Manual de Apicultura para Ambientes Subtropicales: Una Propuesta de: \'La Red de Escuelas del Noroeste Argentina (NOA)\'	Dini, C. & Bedascarrasbure, E.
Migratory beekeeping in South India	Kavumkal, T.K.K.
Modern hives or modern ideas?	Lowore, J. and Bradbear, N.
Mono Block Clay Hive for Apis cerana	Barnes, G.
Natural Beekeeping with the Warre Hive	Heaf, D.
Natural Beekeeping: Organic Approaches to Modern Apiculture	Conrad, R.
NOVOS RECURSOS TÉCNICOS, NOVOS CAMINHOS PARA CRIAÇÃO DE ABELHAS SEM FERRÃO	Mitsiotis, N.M
Of plants, hives, conservation and computers	Harman, A.
Practical Beekeeping - Bark hives	Musachi, J.K.
Practical Beekeeping - Body Cream using Beeswax	Ndichia, F. A.
Practical Beekeeping - Failing queens and laying workers	Gregory, P.
Practical Beekeeping - Honey: local tests and therapies	Olagbaju, E.
Practical Beekeeping - Pollen substitutes and supplements	Gregory, P.
Practical Beekeeping - Reducingthe water content of tropical honey	Leo, R.
Practical Beekeeping - Top-bar hives in Eastern Senegal	Romet, A.
Practical Manual on Beekeeping	Gupta, JK; Sharma, HK; Thakur, RK.
Problems with bees	Wendorf, Horst
Queen includers - the debate continues	Clauss, B.
Queen includers!	Aidoo, K.S.
Rafter beekeeping in Cambodia	Perterson, S.
Rafter beekeeping in Cambodia	Jump, D. and Waring, C.
Rafter harvest in Cambodia	Waring, C.
SEJA GENTIL COM SUAS ABELHAS	Holm, E.
Starting with Bees: An Introduction to African Beekeeping	Nazzi, F., Annoscia, D., Del Fabbro, S., Del Piccolo, F.
Sustainable bee-friendly beekeeping: part 1	David Heaf
Tales from the Hive	NOVA
The alpine hive	Jankovic, S.Z.
The alpine hive	Jankovic, S.Z.
The barefoot beekeeper	Chandler, P.
The basis for success in beekeeping projects	Paterson, P.
The BBKA Guide to Beekeeping	Davis, I. & Cullum-Kenyon, R.
The shape, construction and identification of traditional hives	Crane, E.
The Thinking Beekeeper: A Guide to Natural Beekeeping in Top Bar Hives	Hemenway, Christy
Top Bar Beekeeping: Organic Practices for Honeybee Health	Crowder, L. & Harrell, H
Top bar hives	Sanford, M.T.
Top-bar beekeeping in America	Crowder, L.
Transferring colonies of Apis cerana to frame hives	Fajardo, A. & Cervancia, C.
Turn an old outboard motor into a new honey extractor	Yepes, J.M.
Wall hives in Northern India: Anotehr rare look at an olf form of beekeeping	Mangum, W.A.
Wall hives of Northern india: giving a hopelessly queenless colony another chance for survival	Mangum, W.A.
Zambian Beekeeping Handbook	Clauss, B. & Clauss, R.

Bees for DevelopmentInformation Page

Practical beekeeping

Bees for Development
Information Page