25 May

Why Nature Prefers Beeswax Hexagons – Issue 35: Boundaries – Nautilus

Beeswax Hexagon shape is preferred by nature

Beeswax Hexagon shape is preferred by nature

How do bees do it? The Beeswax Honeycombs in which they store their amber nectar are marvels of precision engineering, an array of prism-shaped…

Sourced through Scoop.it from: nautil.us

We would like to share this article about hexagons and why the bees prefer it for building their beeswax honeycomb. Honey bees are amazing creatures and their ability to build a very precise beeswax foundation with such accuracy, considering the beehive is completely dark inside, is nothing short of amazing. It takes complex team work with many thousands of bees involved over different stages of their lives and roles they play within it to create the hexagonal beeswax honeycomb. The hexagonal comb structure provides a place to raise their young bees, store honey and pollen. It is critical for the success of a bee colony. Visit our Beekeeping Youtube video channel to learn more: https://www.youtube.com/mahakobees or visit our website if you are interested in becoming a beekeeper http://www.mahakobees.com/store.html.

14 Jul

(via https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kh_zYrlLHUc) Beekeeping honey frames are essential beekeeping equipment for any beekeeper. Backyard beekeepers or young bee keeping beginners need to learn how assemble frames and how to embed beeswax foundation sheets into a wired honey frame. This video covers that in detail. All parts can be sourced from our online beekeeping supplies store at http://www.mahakobees.com/store.html at great prices, especially if you order bulk beekeeping frames, wax sheets, or hive components. Visit our store and get started in your beekeeping hobby.This video is the last part of our beekeeping equipment series that looks at honey frames specifically. Watching all the below beekeeping frame assembly videos will teach you all you need to know. PART 1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jRWxK2zc4qQ
PART 2: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=–xHCd9k4kk
PART 3: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fltI7Zcg3bQ
PART 4: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bLDLg0P-9hUIf you are a new beekeeper that has one or two beehives, you may be interested to learn how to save your already wired frames after extraction. This video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5LJeMEf2lN0 shows a very simple method of removing beeswax foundation honeycomb structure after it has been extracted. It is wise to replace beeswax foundation every year or two to reduce the likelihood of diseases in the bee colony. The wax does not go to waste as you can melt it down and reuse for new foundation sheets or for many other craft projects such as candle making, cosmetics and so on.We hope these videos are of use to those considering joining the beekeeping community and possibly getting a beehive of their own, or those that may have a few hives already and are simply seeking new ways of doing things. We appreciate your support, so do give us thumbs up if you feel we deserve it, subscribe and share the links.Visit us on http://www.mahakobees.com for lots of new content.
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08 Oct

Beekeeping – how to SAVE your wired timber beehive frames


HOW TO Save your wired timber beehive frames.

All beekeepers know, that building and maintaining your beekeeping equipment such as beehive, timber frames, beeswax foundations, queen excluders and all the beehive related tools of the beekeeping trade is time consuming and costly. Here is a quick tip on how you, as a new beekeeper, can save yourself many hours of your time by saving the frames before each peak honey flow season.

 

Beekeeping Equipment - frames with foundation

Beekeeping Equipment – extracted honey frames from the beehive


It is recommended, that as part of your beekeeping frame rotation schedule within your beehive apiary, all your old drawn beeswax honey comb foundations extracted and removed at least once every 1 to 2 years to keep your hives and bee colonies within them healthy and disease free. The removal of the old comb reduces the potential for spreading diseases and keeps the wax nice and clean for each new beekeeping season. You can melt the beeswax comb, process it, render it, purify it, and reuse it for new foundation sheets, or to make candles, creams or other cosmetic products. We show you this process in a small home based backyard beekeepers way in this series: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLfE6cWwwWKog1Mx0wdsnkPbeIDvo-qPng.

So nothing goes to waste. The Honey Bees simply need to draw the new honey comb in the beehive body on top of the new beeswax foundation sheets, and use it either as honey stores or as the new brood frames in your lower hive boxes.

Solid Beekeeping Timber Frame

Click to view HOW TO make this Solid Beekeeping Timber Frame for your beehive

So, what are we suggesting? Simple. Firstly, watch our earlier video series on how to build a solid timber honey frame: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jRWxK2zc4qQ. Once you have a solid full depth honey frame assembled, add foundation and put the frame into rotation in your hives. A year later, once you extract the honey and the beeswax inside the honey frames becomes darker, use a sharp knife to cut along the inner edge of the timber frame, and then carefully cut the wax along the wires. Remove the strips of beeswax, melt, render and filter as required. The beekeeping frame should now be relatively clean of all beeswax. Then, use a heat gun or a blow torch to melt the remaining wax, and to kill any remaining parasites, wax moth eggs, and to coat the frames with the beeswax for protection. (See this video on HOW TO clean frames and kill wax moth eggs using a heat gun: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YwRAW7_xLw0). 

This will save you lots of time and effort by reducing the time spent on rewiring your frames and you get some wax for new foundation sheets as well. Not to mention, it will go a long way in saving you money by reducing requirements for treating diseases and controlling unwelcome parasites in your bee colonies in the apiary even if you sometimes mix and match the frames from one beehive to the next. So all in all, a worthwhile investment we think. 

Old retired Beeswax honey comb

Old retired Beeswax comb removal. It is not ideal to keep old comb in the beehive.

We invite you to share this video, click the thumbs up and to SUBSCRIBE if you enjoy our content. It goes a long way in helping our pollinators in crises as we continue to combat the phenomenon of bee colony disorder where our bees simply disappear in massive quantities. Thank you for visiting. MahakoBees.