How to Start Beekeeping

People who look for the perfect home business, often overlook a great option�that of beekeeping. Apiculture, as its also known is a great business, because the cost is minimal, there is a need for the product, and it is all natural and environmentally friendly. It�s a great way to make extra money for your family, while at the same time supplying yourself with honey, wax and other useful products.

-What You need to Start your Beekeeping Business-

You really don�t need a lot to start this type of business. You don�t even really need a lot of space, because hives can even be kept in a small garden or even in a rooftop garden. But they should be kept close to plants that produce nectar, like meadow flowers, or clover. Bees also like oilseed rape, so if you are in an area where that is grown, a beekeeping business would be ideal. Now this doesn�t mean it has to be right next door, because bees travel as many as four miles to get their nectar.
Now, once you have decided where to have your bees, you need to choose the type of hive you want. The type of hive that is most used in beekeeping is the Langstroth hive, so called because it was the name of the inventor. This is the wooden box with frames of wax that come in the honeycomb pattern.

-Learn Before You Start-

A beekeeper manages the hive in such a way that the honey production is kept at a maximum. It does take some knowledge and skill, and anyone who is thinking about starting a beekeeping business, needs to learn, maybe not everything about beekeeping, but at least the basics. If you are seriously thinking about this new enterprise, then you should pick up a few books on the subject, and if possible join a local beekeepers association. You will learn a lot from being around other beekeepers.

-The Tools you will need-

The great news is that beekeepers don�t need a lot of tools, especially if they are only managing one or two hives. You will need a hive tool, which will let you open the hive and inspect it. You will need the hive and the bees. You will also need some protective clothing and a smoke box.
You want a smoke box because it has a calming effect on bees, and when you puff some smoke into the hive it calms the bees, and lets you inspect better.

-Getting Your Bee Colony-

The easiest way to get your bee hive is to buy a ready made colony, which you can buy from a beekeeper supplier. If this way doesn�t appeal to you, then you might want to find a nucleus, which is a queen and several hundred workers that come from another colony. You can place them in your hive and then feed them with sugar water until they are established, and can find their own nectar.

The third way of getting your bee colony is the most dangerous and involves getting a swarm. You have to find a swarm which is comprised of a queen and her thousands of worker bees. You will find these in trees. All you have to do is cut the branch or shake the branch and make the bees fall into your box. Take your box to the hive and lay a sheet on the ground. Shake the bees out of your box onto the sheet and the bees will usually crawl up into your hive.

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