Omlet Beehaus Assembly Instructions Manual Download

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Guide to Keeping Bees

and Assembly Instructions

Summary of Contents for Beehaus

Page 1: ...UK Guide to Keeping Bees and Assembly Instructions...

Page 2: ...haus works and much more Your bees will fascinate you provide hours of enjoyment and wonder as you watch and learn about their way of life They will also occasionally surprise you For this reason this...

Page 3: ...box x 1 Entrance Adapter x 2 Clearer Boards x 2 Queen Excluder x 4 Dummy Board x 1 Lid x 1 Bungee x 2 Inspection tray x 1 Divider Board x 1 Cover boards x 4 Supers x 4 What you have received Super Fr...

Page 4: ...to do with your packaging If you have ordered a Beehaus starter kit you will also have received the following items What you have received continued Optional starter kit Beekeeping Guide and Record B...

Page 5: ...e this in for a week to monitor mite drop Step 4 Inserting the brood frames The assembled brood frames fit in the Beehaus like this Step 5 Inserting the dummy board The dummy board fits at the end of...

Page 6: ...r end Fitting queen excluders Place the queen excluders on top of the frames Its normal for 2 queen excluders to overlap Adding Queen Excluders Your Beehaus has 4 queen excluders which stop the queen...

Page 7: ...er of supers Pull the bungee cord tight then repeat at the other end Now place the lid gently on top of the supers and pull the cord over the knob With a second layer of supers you can extend the bung...

Page 8: ...s hold the adapter in place Using the entrance adapter You can use the entrance adapter to completely close the entrance to the Beehaus For example if you are transporting your bees If you turn the en...

Page 9: ...le and calm You normally give a couple of short sprays at the entrance and through the mesh floor a couple of minutes before opening the Beehaus to give them a chance to eat some honey The liquid smok...

Page 10: ...Keep to one side it s used at the end to secure the wax Push the side bars into place making sure that the groove is facing inwards Step 2 Attach sides to top bar Tack a nail into each end of a bottom...

Page 11: ...and bees However an abandoned hive or colony can spread disease and damage your local natural bee population Do be aware that bees sting and by keeping bees you are increasing your risk of being stun...

Page 12: ...n should I add honey supers 30 Queen excluder 30 Clearer boards 31 Using dummy boards 31 Inspecting health 31 Closing up 31 The beekeeping year 32 January 32 February 32 March 32 April 32 May 33 June...

Page 13: ...m for delivering the pollen would mean less effort for the plant and a higher chance of successful mating Although nature didn t have a Fed Ex account it did have a daughter called innovation and she...

Page 14: ...e One of the most famous bee breeders was a monk called Brother Adam who made it his life s work to create the ultimate honey bee He travelled all over the world collecting queens from wild colonies i...

Page 15: ...honey around the brood but when a surplus occurs they will store the nectar in the super frames that you place above the hive This can then be harvested by the beekeeper The amount of nectar that the...

Page 16: ...ore shades of blue than we do whereas reds look black to bees Perhaps not surprisingly scientists have found that flowers of all colours that attract bees have petals which strongly reflect ultraviole...

Page 17: ...ke a little maggot and the nurse bees start to feed it The nurse bees feed the larvae with bee milk This is masticated pollen and is an extremely nutritious protein rich food The cell is regularly top...

Page 18: ...Honey bee population The population of the colony expands in the spring and contracts in the autumn Understanding this is the very essence of beekeeping A typical colony will build up it s population...

Page 19: ...honey comb As it s quite dark in the beehive the other bees have to feel the dance with their antennae The scout also shares some of the nectar to let the other bees know the quality that they have f...

Page 20: ...ive because they might have defecated in it Suitable water sources you can provide are Bees can be kept in a garden with other pets such as chickens rabbits and dogs Dogs should be prevented from bein...

Page 21: ...s is covered in more detail on Page 45 Garden locations Country apiaries You can keep you bees in an apiary You should not have more than 5 6 colonies in a single location as there is unlikely to be e...

Page 22: ...however please check with your doctor or pharmacist if this is suitable for you and be aware that some antihistamines make you drowsy as a side effect A severe reaction A severe reaction will produce...

Page 23: ...for the queen to be caged during transport to protect her from accidental damage If this is the case then you can release her on to the top of the frames If she doesn t come out straightaway don t try...

Page 24: ...draw out the comb on the new brood frames that you add You should aim to have bees on at least 6 frames by winter It s unlikely you will be able to harvest any honey this year instead you will probabl...

Page 25: ...densing the smoke given off by wood as it smoulders It is completely natural and will not harm you or your bees It should be diluted at a ratio of 1 part liquid smoke to 15 parts water It should be us...

Page 26: ...t around You can also rest your liquid smoker on the other side of the Beehaus However you should never rest a traditional smoker which is very hot on the Beehaus To make it easier you can lift out th...

Page 27: ...comb and what s in it because it s covered with bees There are a couple of ways of dealing with this either brush all the bees off the comb with a bee brush or goose feather or you can move bees with...

Page 28: ...with the time of year In winter there will be mostly honey Larvae Sealed brood Nectar Pollen Queen bee Egg Drone brood Capped honey Empty cell Perfect Brood This frame shows a perfect circle of brood...

Page 29: ...en there could be a problem See Page 46 Queen cups A queen cup is the beginning of a queen cell Sometimes the bees will start quite a few but not draw them out any more than this They can be found on...

Page 30: ...owers appear Can you add supers too quickly Yes If you provide the bees with too much space early in the season you make it harder for the bees to maintain the temperature in the brood nest Also if yo...

Page 31: ...yourself that your bees are in good shape it s time to close up the hive and leave the bees to their important work An easily made mistake is to leave a gap either in between frames or at the back of...

Page 32: ...ping season is now just around the corner you should order any new equipment you need such as frames and foundation to make sure you have them in time Feed If you put feed on in January and they are s...

Page 33: ...for more than a week a big colony can run out of stores Health Take the opportunity to treat your bees for varroa during the artificial swarming procedure using the powdered sugar method If you are n...

Page 34: ...onitor the natural mite drop by putting the inspection tray under the beehaus for 5 7 days If the drop is higher than 10 mites per day apply a treatment such as Apiguard Apilife VAR or Exomite Apis bu...

Page 35: ...inside What are the bees doing The bees will be clustering on the frames The queen will be at the centre and the bees will be vibrating their bodies to keep themselves warm this is very similar to sh...

Page 36: ...eed to feed your bees 1 Spring Feeding Syrup After the winter the bees supply of honey may be running low The bees will have eaten most of their stores and there will only be a small number of flying...

Page 37: ...can hold a 2 5 litre contact feeder To use fill the tub with sugar syrup and close the lid so that it is airtight You should never partially fill the feeder as this will stop it forming a vacuum insid...

Page 38: ...as dissolved You should then wait until the water has cooled Do not test the temperature of the sugar syrup with you finger sugar syrup can cause serious burns Use a jam making thermometer if you want...

Page 39: ...ueen in the cage Turn the cage over and make sure the queen is at the bottom Now you can lift the cage Remove the hive tool and slide the plunger in At this point you can put the cage with the plunger...

Page 40: ...n a matchbox or a queen cage on top of the frames until you have finished A strong colony from with 12 frames of bees and good food stores Step 2 Select 2 3 frames with a good covering of brood in all...

Page 41: ...remove her If both queens are young and healthy then you could cage one and use her in a different colony or make up a nucleus to keep her in Step 2 To unite the colonies you will need a piece of new...

Page 42: ...each the entrance Step 3 Move a few frames of honey or empty frames i e without any brood to the front of the hive Step 4 When the nest has reached full size and is not expanding any more you need to...

Page 43: ...o back The basic idea of this method of swarm control is to mimic a natural swarm by removing all the brood frames that contain the next generation of bees from the Queen The bees that stay with the q...

Page 44: ...the combs to house the larvae and the stores of honey and pollen 40 to 100 litres with an entrance small enough to be defended The bees are said to prefer the entrance to face south perhaps because t...

Page 45: ...h as the queen naturally crawls upwards and her colony follow her in Registering your interest in swarms If you are interested in catching a swarm of bees then you should either register your interest...

Page 46: ...e any new swarms and check for disease Do not simply place a new swarm next to your existing hives Do not feed your bees using honey that is from other bees There are a few pests that can attack your...

Page 47: ...can keep your inspection tray in all year around however you should check it and empty it regularly to avoid a wax moth infestation Removing your inspection tray An inspection tray with debris Using...

Page 48: ...e Beehaus as in the photograph After 2 weeks you remove the first tray and put a second one on Varroa treatment Mechanical Control The mite population can also be reduced through physical means alone...

Page 49: ...on in 60 sucrose trickled over combs of bees 2 5ml per brood comb Contact not ingestion despite sugar presence Sublimation Winter and broodless periods Ideally needs broodless conditions 90 average ef...

Page 50: ...s of prolonged confinement during inclement weather especially during the spring This can lead to the bees being forced to defecate in the hive thereby contaminating it further In Spain it has been re...

Page 51: ...ens lay two types of eggs those that are fertilised and develop into worker bees and unfertilised ones that develop into drones The eggs are fertilised as the queen lays them however if the supply of...

Page 52: ...ng of weakened infected colonies and swarms are also methods by which the disease can be transmitted Control There are three options available to the bee keeper in the UK who has colonies infected wit...

Page 53: ...the supers and extract the honey Any spilt honey around the hive can attract other bees and wasps who are after a free lunch they will soon find the spilt honey and then also try to take honey from i...

Page 54: ...smetics and candles Candles are the easiest thing to make with the wax and silicon baking moulds can be used to pour melted wax into all you need to do is add a wick Here s how You will need A bowl A...

Page 55: ...a cloth Step 7 Silicone cup cake moulds are ideal for making beeswax candles Don t just use a piece of string as the wick it won t work You can make your own wick but it involves something called bora...

Page 56: ...st or accidentally killed and your colony has eggs they will re queen themselves and once you have selected just one queen cell and removed the rest the best thing is to leave them undisturbed 2 4 wee...

Page 57: ...brood As the larvae cells develop they are capped with wax allowing them to spin cocoons and turn into pupae and eventually a bee Castes A term which describes the three types of adult bees in a colon...

Page 58: ...y one queen within a hive Unlike a worker bee she has fully developed ovaries and can lay eggs which can develop into other queens workers or drones Queen cell A large peanut like cell which is design...

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