Bugs at Work: A Guide to Honey Bees and BeeKeeping

For thousands of years, people have cultivated and even domesticated bees for a number of reasons. Apart from simply harvesting sweet, nutritious honey from the hives, humans have also found a number of uses for the byproducts, such as royal jelly, beeswax, and propolis. Ancient civilizations, dating back to 13,000 BCE, and possibly even earlier, have left proof of activities in which they gathered honey from beehives. There are thousands of species of bees but the most popular in Europe and the Americas is the Western Honey Bee. As their methods progressed, people learned how to create artificial hives for wild bees, in an attempt to domesticate them. This practice can even be evidenced in Ancient Egyptian culture.

In older times, containers such as straw baskets, wooden logs, or even clay pottery were used as artificial hives. Ancient findings from Israel turned up rows upon rows of beehives, indicating that even in those times, people had a highly refined honey industry. During the Middle Ages, people would obtain honey from their hives by destroying the entire structure. Smoke was used to keep the bees at bay. This was a very wasteful and inefficient way of cultivation. By the 1700s, European scientists started to study bees and their behavior by installing them in glass hives. In the following centuries, they experimented with creating hives and cultivation methods that allowed the bees to live. Moreover, the comb hives were removable in a safe, non-destructive manner. When the frames of honeycombs were removed by the beekeeper, the honey could be obtained, and then the frame was put back for the bees to fill again.

Bees create honey from nectar from flowers, which is mostly made up of water and various complex sugars. Some beekeepers even plant certain flowers like lavender or clover near their hives to help influence the flavor of the honey. Apart from simply supplying honey for humans, bees also help in another very important way. In obtaining nectar from flowers, they also play a key role in pollinating plants and crops. Today, beekeeping is a large industry worldwide, as well as a backyard hobby for some people. While industrial beekeepers tend to maintain three hundred or more hives, hobbyists usually have twenty-five or less. On average, about half of all honey production is created by full-time beekeepers, while the rest is created by part-timers and hobbyists.

Beekeeping History and Origins

• The History of Beekeeping
• Beekeeping During the 1800s
• Beekeeping in Ancient Egypt
• Wild Versus Tame Bees
• Domesticating Honey Bees
• Pioneers of the Honey Industry
• Tracing Beekeeping in Ancient Times
• Lorenzo Langstroth: Inventor of the Modern Hives
• Beekeeping in Ancient Eastern Europe

Honey Bee Info

• The Startling Intelligence of Bees
• Meet the Honey Bee
• Roles of Different Bees
• Life Cycle of Honeybees
• Bee Biology
• Different Types of Bees
• Mating Habits of Bees
• Facts About Queen Bees
• A Guide to Queen Bees and Behavior
• Learn About Bee Swarms
• Compare Species of Honeybees
• African Honey Bees
• How Bees Help With Pollination

Educational Sites

• Turning Nectar Into Honey
• A Description of Honey Production
• What Does Beekeeping Entail?
• The Basics of Beekeeping
• Getting Started in Beekeeping
• Safeguarding Honeybees from Pesticides
• A Full Guide to Beekeeping
• How Honey Transitions from Hives to Bottles
• Beekeeping for Beginners
• In-Depth Notes on Beekeeping

Beekeeping

• Advanced Methods for Beekeepers
• Wicker Basket Beehives
• Older Types of Beehives
• A Traditional Japanese Style of Beekeeping
• Traditional and Modern Indian Beekeeping Methods

Honey Industry

• The Beekeeping Industry in the Late 1900s
• Requirements for Aspiring Beekeepers
• Find Information About Honey Suppliers
• Archived Reports on the U.S. Honey Industry

Bee Research

• Wild Honey Harvesting in Bangladesh
• Beekeeping Resources and Tutorials
• The Beekeeper’s Glossary

Beekeeping Organizations and Associations

• State-Specific Beekeeping Associations
• The American Honey Producers Association
• The American Beekeeping Federation
• The Eastern Apicultural Society
• The Western Apicultural Society
• The Heartland Apicultural Society
• The Back Yard Beekeepers Association
• Apiary Inspectors of America
• The National Honey Board
• Apimondia (An International Beekeeping Association)
• International Bee Research Association

Beekeeping Magazines and Ezines

• Bee Culture Magazine
• American Bee Journal
• BeeCraft Magazine
• The Speedy Bee Industry Journal