Beeswax is one of the most popular bee products used by humans. It is a compound secreted by four pairs of special glands located on the inner side of a bee’s abdomen. Honey is the primary raw material used to make wax. It all starts when bees eat honey and metabolize its sugars. Beeswax is …
Honey bees sting to defend their hive against intruders, whether human, animal, or insect. At times, they will sting you if they think you are a threat. This is perhaps most common during a honey harvest – which is why many beekeepers use smoke before opening a hive, as it calms bees and makes them …
Many species of insects escape the cold temperatures of winter by migrating or hibernating. But what about honeybees? You don’t see them very often, if at all, when it’s cold. So where do they go, and what do they do, in winter? In winter, honeybees don’t actually go anywhere. They overwinter inside their hive. They …
Sugar water (or syrup) is a combination of white cane sugar and water fed to bees as a short-term replacement for honey. The sugar is mixed with the water and gradually heated until the sugar is completely dissolved. When cool, the sugar water or syrup can be fed to a honeybee colony. The ratio of …
If you’ve ever had to replace or introduce a queen into one of your colonies, you probably already know how this can be a delicate task. Bees are very protective of their hive, and they will reject a queen bee that is not familiar to them. Honeybees use chemical signals that regulate many aspects of …
Many types of wasp (including yellowjackets) kill honeybees as a source of food for their young. This most commonly occurs during summer, when other food sources are running low and the population of wasp colonies reaches the highest point. Why Do Wasps Kill Bees? Honeybees get their food from flowers, collecting nectar and pollen to feed …
Premature queen loss is one of the most common reasons for colony failure noted by beekeepers in both the United States and Europe. The queen honeybee has an essential role in the colony. She is the only member that can lay fertilized eggs to produce more worker bees. As the colony’s mother, a queen’s characteristics …
Sugar water (or syrup) is made up of white cane sugar that is dissolved in water and given to honeybees as a reliable substitute for the nectar they usually collect. White cane sugar is used because it doesn’t contain additives which may be harmful to bees. It is also readily available and inexpensive to buy, which …
Removing honey supers is an essential component of preparing your beehive for winter. Supers that aren’t required by your bees should be removed when temperatures cool in mid to late fall. Supers should be removed because in winter bees have formed a cluster, grouping together to conserve heat. Honeybees have a high level of temperature …
A new queen honeybee is born from an egg laid by an existing queen. The egg hatches into a larva, which is then fed a special diet by nurse bees in order to become sexually mature. Thirteen days after the egg hatches into a larva, a new queen bee emerges. New Queens Are Born And …
