Dear viewers,

I could not help myself and had to upload this one! COOL little BOY helping build our timber honey frames. Very cute, very excited, and great skill with the eyelets and all the tools to be honest. We believe in getting kids involved in beekeeping young and in all the activities associated with it. Bee it hive inspections, building brood boxes, painting and cleaning honey supers, extracting honey, bottling, and off course cooking with RAW honey and in the end, enjoying the fruits of our labor. Get them away from the TV and computer games and get them out there, into the back yard, into nature and into the fields, learning real life skills. This video is a little example of such an activity. Great little beekeeper in the making. Take a look and share the video. We trust you will enjoy this short clip and it may put a smile on your face.

Enjoy and have a fabulous day.

MahakoBees

Music composed, performed and provided by Groovey – Adam Kubát a Pavel Křivák

You can visit their website on: http://www.groovey.cz/

Also, a big thank you goes to Kevin McLeod for providing his royalty free music “Up on a Housetop”. We appreciate your kind contribution.

CLOSEUPS of Honey Bees – Beekeeping (playlist)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pU85oNHkSdA&list=PLfE6cWwwWKoiXEp4xSACAmvTHSrweW0nU

This is a new beekeeping playlist we have created which consists of all sorts of videos of our bees. This includes our Honey Been as well as our Australian native Stingless bees. Most videos are closeups or slow motion to give you an opportunity to really see the been in detail. So please, click though to flick through the videos, like them, and we invite you to subscribe for many more intriguing beekeeping additions in the future.

Thank you for visiting
MahakoBees

CLOSEUPS of Honey Bees – Beekeeping (playlist)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pU85oNHkSdA&list=PLfE6cWwwWKoiXEp4xSACAmvTHSrweW0nU

This is a new beekeeping playlist we have created which consists of all sorts of videos of our bees. This includes our Honey Been as well as our Australian native Stingless bees. Most videos are closeups or slow motion to give you an opportunity to really see the been in detail. So please, click though to flick through the videos, like them, and we invite you to subscribe for many more intriguing beekeeping additions in the future.

Thank you for visiting

MahakoBees

This is a short clip of a fresh honey bee full timber frame being decapped with an electric hot knife. Rather a slow process, especially where the wax and comb have not been built up by the honey bees over and above the timber top and bottom bars. Those areas we decap with a decapping fork. We find the electric hot knife sufficient, but perhaps a steam hot knife would be better. Also a larger version would be nice. This one is cooled too quickly and does not reheat fast enough, so its slow and your hands get ratehr sore after a while. Before running the hot knife just under the wax cappings, we use a blunt knife to clean the frames and have them ready for use in the hives. This frame is a very light coloured but absolutely delicious tasing raw honey.

I may do a video later showing the entire process and the setup we have. Beekeeping is a great hobby, and we are only just learning so any feedback or suggestions are very welcome.

This very short clip shows the freshly collected raw propolis we scraped off the frames and boxes after honey collection. It is not clean nor purified, just as is from the hive. Below are some definitions and uses of propolis. Let us know if you are interested in more detailed videos of propolis uses and we will create them as required. Propolis is one of the most powerful natural shields to be found in nature: anti-infective, antibiotic, antiviral, fungicidal, powerful antioxidant, help to prevent cancer. Its effects are more powerful in combination with other medicinal plants such as Echinacea and Garlic for stimulating the immune system and protecting the body from infection.

Propolis is a resinous mixture that honey bees collect from tree buds, sap flows, or other botanical sources. It is used as a sealant for unwanted open spaces in the hive. Propolis is used for small gaps (approximately 6 millimeters (0.24 in) or less), while larger spaces are usually filled with beeswax. Its color varies depending on its botanical source, the most common being dark brown. Propolis is sticky at and above room temperature, 20 °C (68 °F). At lower temperatures, it becomes hard and very brittle. For centuries, beekeepers assumed[1] that bees sealed the beehive with propolis to protect the colony from the elements, such as rain and cold winter drafts. However, 20th century research has revealed that bees not only survive, but also thrive, with increased ventilation during the winter months throughout most temperate regions of the world.

Propolis is now believed to:[2]
– reinforce the structural stability of the hive;
– reduce vibration;
– make the hive more defensible by sealing alternate entrances;
– prevent diseases and parasites from entering the hive, and
– to inhibit fungal and bacterial growth;[3]
– prevent putrefaction within the hive. Bees usually carry waste out of and away from the hive. However, if a small lizard or mouse, for example, finds its way into the hive and dies there, bees may be unable to carry it out through the hive entrance. In that case, they would attempt instead to seal the carcass in propolis, essentially mummifying it and making it odorless and harmless. (Wikipedia – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Propolis)

Also a good source of information is: http://en.mr-ginseng.com/propolis/

MahakoBees