An Introduction to Beekeeping for Agriculture Students

 

This post will give you a glimpse into the world of beekeeping, drawing from a recent lecture by Mrs. Patel, a scientific officer from the Entomology Division of the Ministry of Agro-industry and Food Security, Republic of Mauritius.

Why Bees Matter to Agriculture
As future leaders in agriculture, understanding the importance of bees is crucial. While honey production is a well-known aspect, Mrs. Patel highlighted that honeybees are very important pollinators, indeed, one of the most important pollinators known to date.

Pollination is essential for the production of many of the foods we eat and for the health of the ecosystem. It's the process where bees transfer pollen between plants, enabling them to produce seeds and fruit, ensuring the continuation of plant species.

A staggering around 75% of flowering plants and approximately one-third of our food crops rely on bees for pollination. Think about crops like cucurbits (pumpkins, cucumbers), cauliflower, blueberry, onion, lychee, beet, coconut, and even grapes (though perhaps less reliant) – their production significantly benefits from bee pollination. The impact of bee decline is real. When the Varroa mite was introduced in 2014, there was a reported drop in lychee production due to the decline in bee population in Mauritius. Without bees, the yield and diversity of crops would significantly decrease, leading to reduced food availability and increased prices. You can even see the difference: strawberries pollinated by bees are "nice ones," while those not pollinated are visibly different. Farmers sometimes even loan beehives during specific seasons to promote pollination in their fields to ensure both quality and quantity of food.

Beyond the Farm: Bees and the Ecosystem

The benefits of bees extend beyond cultivated crops. By pollinating wild plants, bees support habitats for many animals, including birds, mammals, and insects. These plants, in turn, contribute to soil health, water retention, and air quality, all vital for the survival of all living organisms. Protecting bees is therefore critical for a sustainable future.

Stepping into Beekeeping: Setting Up Your Apiary

Here are some key considerations for setting up the place where hives are kept.

Know your surroundings: It's crucial to understand the neighbourhood before starting. Bees forage and can become a nuisance in residential areas, potentially leading to problems with neighbours if bees attack pets, kids, or adults.

Hive Placement:

• Face the sun: Sunlight is the first cue for bees to start foraging in the morning. Cloudy or rainy days mean less foraging.
• Away from prevailing winds: This helps protect the hive.
• Water supply: Bees need a good source of water, with a colony needing up to one liter per day
• Consider an artificial source like a bucket of water or rainwater harvesting to ensure quality. Polluted water from rivers or ponds due to agriculture or pest control can be harmful to bees
• Partial shade: Hives don't need full sunlight, as excessive sun can increase the hive temperature, forcing bees to work to cool it down
• Hive stands: Place hives on stands to protect them from predators like ants, frogs, and toads, and to make working with the hives easier, preventing back strain
• Free entrance: Ensure the hive entrance is free from any obstructions like trees or walls to allow bees to fly in and out freely.
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  Hive Management: Keeping Your Bees Healthy
• Regular hive checks are essential to ensure your bees are thriving
• Look for: Good bee population: A strong colony can have 40,000 to 60,000 bees with visible movement.
• Presence of eggs, larvae, and capped brood: This indicates a healthy and active queen
• Food resources: Ensure sufficient honey and pollen stores
• Absence of pests and diseases: Watch out for Varroa mites and small hive beetles. A strong hive can usually manage these pests.
• Queen cells: The presence of multiple new queen cells in a hive with an existing queen can indicate problems like an ageing, sick, dead, or disappeared queen, or that the hive is preparing to swarm. Swarming is when a large group of bees leaves the colony due to overpopulation. Beekeepers may need to perform a splitting of the hive to prevent losing the bees

Safety First: Protecting Yourself from Bee Stings

• Personal Protective Equipment (PPE): It is very important to wear protective gear, including a full suit with a veil, gloves, and boots, ensuring all areas are tightly sealed with elastic bands to prevent bee entry.
• Colour of clothing: White or light colours are recommended as bees are less likely to see them as a threat compared to dark colours like black
• Avoid clothing made of woolly material, as bees can easily grip and sting through it
• Veil: Ensure the zipper of the veil is properly closed, as the neck area is very sensitive, and a sting there can cause severe swelling and breathing difficulties•
• Bee Smoker: This is a crucial tool. The smoke masks the alarm signals bees release when they sense an intruder, and it also triggers a reaction in the bees to fill up on honey reserves, making them less likely to sting. Use natural, non-toxic materials like dry leaves or coconut husks for the smoker, avoiding cardboard, plastic, or newspaper.
• Hive Tool and Bee Brush: These are essential for opening the hive and gently brushing bees off frame.
• Bee Sting First Aid: If stung, scrape the stinger off immediately using a fingernail or hive tool, avoiding squeezing it which releases more venom
• Wash the area with water and apply ice to reduce swelling
• Allergic Reactions: Be aware that some individuals are severely allergic to bee stings and can experience life-threatening reactions like difficulty swallowing or breathing, whole-body itching and swelling, and dizziness
• Individuals with known allergies should avoid beekeeping or always work with someone and have access to medical help

Harvesting honey requires knowing when it's ready

• Capped Combs: The best time to harvest is when around 90% of the honeycombs are capped with a layer of wax. This indicates a moisture content of less than 21% and mature honey. Unripe honey can be watery and may ferment.
• Extraction Methods:Crush and Strain: For a few frames, you can crush the combs and let the honey drip out. However, this destroys the comb, and the bees need to rebuild it, consuming energy. 
• Honey Extractors: For larger operations, manual or electric extractors spin the frames to remove honey without damaging the combs.
• Settling Tank: After extraction, the honey is collected in a settling tank for a few days to allow debris and wax to float to the top, which can then be removed to collect clean honey from the bottom
• Storage: Honey is hydrophobic and absorbs moisture, so it must be stored in airtight containers, preferably glass jars or food-grade plastic.
  

Quality Control: Ensuring the Goodness of Your Honey

• Maintaining honey quality is vital.
• Moisture Content: This is crucial for preventing fermentation
• Sugars: Good quality honey should have more than 60% of fructose and glucose and less than 5% of sucrose
• Feeding bees only sugar can increase sucrose levels and reduce honey quality. Similarly, bees collecting sugar from sugarcane fields produce a high-sucrose product that isn't true hone
• HMF (Hydroxymethylfurfural): This compound is almost undetectable in fresh honey but increases over time and with heat. Good quality honey should have less than 40 mg/kg of HMF
• It's generally best to consume or sell honey within one year to maintain optimal quality
• Pesticide Residues: Testing can identify any contamination.
• Beekeepers can have their honey tested for quality parameters at the Ministry's lab

Beyond Honey: The Treasures of the Hive

• Beekeeping offers more than just honey.
  Beeswax: Can be used for various products like lip balms, lotions, and soaps
  Propolis: A sticky, resinous substance collected by bees with antimicrobial properties, used in some medicines and to boost the immune system
  Royal Jelly: A nutrient-rich substance produced by bees, used in some high-value cosmetics for its purported anti-ageing properties
  It is very expensive due to the small quantities available in queen cells.

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