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Congratulations! You're on board! Do bees, do beekeeping, do honey, do pollinating and bee more.
We offer a beekeeping starter kit for newbee beekeepers which includes all of the beginner bee tools and hives you need to get started.
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Go visit our page @ http://www.facebook.com/beewareza
****YES! We now stock 30-42 frame extractors, honey pumps, wax comb extruders 50kg/hr processing ability and more... ****
Spring Buzz is Happening
~ Sept of 2019! ~
In the South, it's buzzing... The evenings are warmer and the sun sets later every day. Spring is here!
There's also a frantic buzz by the bees to get their first harvest in from any spring flowers in bloom and crops like sunflowers, blue gums, fruit trees, seed crops like tomato, watermelon, butternut and citrus.
As beekeepers, we should prepare for excess production of nectar which is converted to honey stores once it is made ripe. Bees do this by removing the moisture content so it sits at between 16-18% water content and then cap the cells. This is the telltale sign the honey is ripe and ready for harvesting! Always wait for honey to be capped before harvesting it...
Apiary site(s) management STEPs:
- Bees build in numbers in the 1000s per day > Provide space in the brood if they have dark brown or even black coloured honeycomb by cutting it out (NB as long as it doesn't have any brood in it!!)
- Have spare super chambers (shallow or deep) for the storage and building of comb for the excess honey that the spring provides for!
- Bees need FOOD and water to thrive so ensure they are placed in sites with access to super high value or excess amounts of flowering blossoms - This usually equates to honey for you so make it so...
- Have harvesting space and tools and equipment to take advantage of harvesting honey as it is ready - extractors, honey presses and honey tanks
- Have containers like bottles and jars in glass or plastic (we prefer plastic as an option any day!) and filling machinery (semi-automated filling machine pump available)
There's more details on this further down...read on!
We've helped people start pollinating businesses, bee removal businesses, honey production and even other shops - simply because we can bee more together!
How can we help you bee more?
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We hope you had warm memories and great times with your family and friends over the April Easter season.
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~ Bees and Spring Season -------------->
This time of year is referred to as the Bee Season in beekeeping lingo [southern hemisphere]. It's the perfect time for you to GROW your apiary management and Develop on the beekeeping!
Tools for Spring
# Entrance feeders for 500ml bottles of sugar water
# Storage of excess honey - honey tanks
# Maizena pollen substitute - blue book has a recipe (got stock)
# Extra Super chambers
# Manual wax presses / honey presses
# Manual or Electric Honey extractors
# Uncapping Scrapers / forks
# Glass or plastic jars
# Honey dispensers
# Honey pumps and honey filling machines
# Honeycomb wax extruder press
Entrance feeders and external feeding is a good practice to be putting to use over this period to boost new colonies after swarming. By watching them, you can get a good indication of what your bees are gathering and bringing back to the hive. Usually there will be yellow or red pollen coming back with foragers. If no pollen is noticed then it is very likely that forager was collecting nectar and or water for the colony.
If you can see pollen being brought in then it is very unlikely that they need pollen feeding or a pollen substitute. Remember although bees require pollen in their diet to keep themselves warm and feed the young larvae, the important thing is that during this time all energy is usually utilised for brood expansion as the bees explode in population with the change of season.
Egg laying ROCKETs off and over the weeks to come. Now laying 1500-2000 eggs a day in the peak of the season, the queen bee will need space!
Bees also live shorter over the spring period as they are working more and burning energy to find a high quality source of pollen and or nectar nearby. From an average lifespan of 35 days at their peak season they can live passed 60 days during the off season.
ALERT:> Ants can become a major risk when feeding sugar water to so make sure not to spill sugar water around or in the hive. USE Nip-It nearby to your hives to keep ants away from your apiary.
P.S. We also feel it is important to inform customers that our contact details by phone line are 012 771 4288 and 012 757 5538 to speak with TJ and Shirley or contact Shirley on 083 308 0042 at the Bee WARE Centurion Shop.
Our email address is buzz@beeware.co.za at the shop.
Contact details for Bee WARE
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