Honey bees can be easily be raised to get useful products like honey
wax, pollen, etc. You too can even rear bees in your back yard so that
you can generate honey for your household use. Moreover, products like
wax pollen etc. fetch very good market value and thus, you can earn some
extra money as well. The following article will give you some idea about
apiculture bee keeping.

For performing apiculture bee keeping you do not need to have a large
open space. All you need is some space where you can keep artificial bee
hives. The artificial bee hives which are usually small wooden boxes can
be kept in the backyard as well. You can also place the hives on roof or
balcony as well. You may think that keeping bee hives in your house may
be dangerous as bees can sting. However, the bee species which are reared
are quite calm by nature and they hardly ever sting. Therefore, there is
no need to worry at all.

However, you will have to care for the bees with devotion. The most
important thing that is required if you want to perform apiculture bee
keeping is that there should be a rich source of nectar producing plants
nearby. Plants like clover or other meadow flowers are ideal for bees. A
place close to oilseed rape field can also be chosen in order to practice
successful beekeeping.

Artificial hives play a very important role in apiculture bee keeping.
The most popular type of artificial hive is the Langstroth which has got
its name from its inventor. The feature that makes it so popular is its
brood chamber. The brood chamber is actually a wooden box having frames
made from wax foundation. These are arranged vertically similar to the
honey comb pattern.

This brood chamber acts as a nursery where where the queen will lay her
eggs and the bees will store their food. If the previous chamber is
filled additional chambers called as ‘supers’ are to be added. This is
added in such a manner that the worker bees are able to pass into this
new chamber but the queen cannot. Therefore, only pure honey is stored in
this new chamber by the worker bees and this honey remains free from the
contamination by queen and her larvae.

After getting appropriate artificial hives you will need to bring a
colony of bees in them. There are three methods through which you can do
so, you can obtain a colony of from an existing hive, or you can get a
nucleus or you can get a swarm:

* Colony: Amongst all steps for bee keeping, this one is the easiest.
However it is the most costliest as you will have to buy a whole well
established colony.
* Nucleus: Nucleus comprises of a some hundred workers and a queen
along with them.
* Swarm: This is the cheapest however the most dangerous and difficult
as in this method you will have to find a natural colony of bees and
forcefully introduce them into your hive. For this collect them, from a
natural hive, into a box and then keep this box near your hive. They will
tend to go into the hive naturally.

Just rearing a colony in your hive is not enough, you will have to care
for these bees. There are several diseases and pests which can affect
your colony. During the rains or snow fall you will have to provide them
food like sugar water as the bees cannot go to hunt for food at this
time. Moreover, collecting honey also requires some skills. Therefore it
is advisable that you first learn all the aspects related to apiculture
bee keeping and only then try to get involved in it.