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Robbing
Robbing is a term used in beekeeping. Bees from one beehive will try to rob honey from another hive. Occurrence Robbing behavior is especially strong when there is little nectar in the field. Strong colonies with the largest stores are the most apt to prey upon weaker colonies. Some robbing is carried out so secretly that it escapes notice. Most of the time, when robbing is going on, one can see bees from the opposing hives fight. The fights can lead to significant losses of bees. Robbing may go on between hives in one apiary or hives of different apiaries. Among the races of the Western honeybee, the Italian bee has been identified with an especially strong tendency to rob. Defence measures Robbing can be prevented by reducing the entrances of the hive so the attacked hive has a better chance of defending itself. Bees are immediately attracted when a hive is opened and honey super A honey super is a part of a commercial or other managed (such as by a hobbyist) beehive ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Apiary
An apiary (also known as a bee yard) is a location where beehives of honey bees are kept. Apiaries come in many sizes and can be rural or urban depending on the honey production operation. Furthermore, an apiary may refer to a hobbyist's hives or those used for commercial or educational usage. It can also be a wall-less, roofed structure, similar to a gazebo which houses hives, or an enclosed structure with an opening that directs the flight path of the bees. History Apiaries have been found in ancient Egypt from prior to 2422 BCE where hives were constructed from moulded mud. Throughout history apiaries and bees have been kept for honey and pollination purposes all across the globe. Due to the definition of apiary as a location where hives are kept its history can be traced as far back as that of beekeeping itself. Etymology First known usage of the word "apiary" was in 1654. The base of the word comes from the Latin word "apis" meaning "bee", leading to "apiarium" or "beeh ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Western Honeybee
The western honey bee or European honey bee (''Apis mellifera'') is the most common of the 7–12 species of honey bees worldwide. The genus name ''Apis'' is Latin for "bee", and ''mellifera'' is the Latin for "honey-bearing" or "honey carrying", referring to the species' production of honey. Like all honey bee species, the western honey bee is eusocial, creating colonies with a single fertile female (or "queen"), many normally non-reproductive females or "workers", and a small proportion of fertile males or " drones". Individual colonies can house tens of thousands of bees. Colony activities are organized by complex communication between individuals, through both pheromones and the dance language. The western honey bee was one of the first domesticated insects, and it is the primary species maintained by beekeepers to this day for both its honey production and pollination activities. With human assistance, the western honey bee now occupies every continent except Antarctica. W ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Italian Bee
''Apis mellifera ligustica'' is the Italian bee which is a subspecies of the western honey bee (''Apis mellifera''). Origin The Italian honey bee is thought to originate from the continental part of Italy, south of the Alps, and north of Sicily. The subspecies may have survived the last ice age in Italy. It is genetically a different subspecies than that from the Iberian peninsula and from Sicily. It is the most widely distributed of all honey bees, and has proven adaptable to most climates from subtropical to cool temperate, but it is less successful in humid tropical regions. Italian bees that originate from the Ligurian alps in northern Italy are often referred to as the Ligurian bee, which only survives on Kangaroo Island and thus is considered extinct in the wild. Italian bees, having been conditioned to the warmer climate of the central Mediterranean, are less able to cope with the "hard" winters and cool, wet springs of more northern latitudes. They do not form such tigh ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Beekeeping
Beekeeping (or apiculture) is the maintenance of bee colonies, commonly in man-made beehives. Honey bees in the genus '' Apis'' are the most-commonly-kept species but other honey-producing bees such as ''Melipona'' stingless bees are also kept. Beekeepers (or apiarists) keep bees to collect honey and other products of the hive: beeswax, propolis, bee pollen, and royal jelly. Pollination of crops, raising queens, and production of package bees for sale are other sources of beekeeping income. Bee hives are kept in an apiary or "bee yard". The keeping of bees by humans, primarily for honey production, began around 10,000 years ago. Georgia is known as the "cradle of beekeeping" and the oldest honey ever found comes from that country. The 5,500-year-old honey was unearthed from the grave of a noblewoman during archaeological excavations in 2003 near the town Borjomi. Ceramic jars found in the grave contained several types of honey, including linden and flower honey. Domestication of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Beehive (beekeeping)
A beehive is an enclosed structure in which some honey bee species of the subgenus '' Apis'' live and raise their young. Though the word ''beehive'' is commonly used to describe the nest of any bee colony, scientific and professional literature distinguishes ''nest'' from ''hive''. ''Nest'' is used to discuss colonies that house themselves in natural or artificial cavities or are hanging and exposed. ''Hive'' is used to describe an artificial/man-made structure to house a honey bee nest. Several species of ''Apis'' live in colonies, but for honey production the western honey bee (''Apis mellifera'') and the eastern honey bee (''Apis cerana'') are the main species kept in hives. The nest's internal structure is a densely packed group of hexagonal prismatic cells made of beeswax, called a honeycomb. The bees use the cells to store food (honey and pollen) and to house the brood (eggs, larvae, and pupae). Beehives serve several purposes: production of honey, pollination of near ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Honey Super
A honey super is a part of a commercial or other managed (such as by a hobbyist) beehive that is used to collect honey. The most common variety is the "Illinois" or "medium" super with a depth of 6 inches, in the length and width dimensions of a Langstroth hive. A honey super consists of a box in which 8–10 frames are hung. Western honeybees collect nectar and store the processed nectar in honeycomb, which they build on the frames. When the honeycomb is full, the bees will reduce the moisture content of the honey to 17-18% moisture content before capping the comb with beeswax. Beekeepers will take the full honey supers and extract the honey. Periods when there is an abundant nectar source available and bees are quickly bringing back the nectar, are called a honey flow Honey flow is a term used by beekeepers indicating that one or more major nectar sources are in bloom and the weather is favorable for bees to fly and collect the nectar in abundance. The higher norther ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
