Beekeepers' Prolem solver Beekeeping Education Books

 

CHAPTER ONE BEEKEEPING BASICS

I don't know how to start beekeeping

I'm unsure when is best to start beekeeping

I don't know where to get my first bees

I'm concerned that my apiary is in a poor site

My new bees arrived during a cool, rainy period

Beekeeping equipment is expensive

I'm not sure how to buy an established colony

My next-door neighbours are afraid of bees

CHAPTER THREE BIOLOGY AND BEHAVIOUR OF THE COLONY

My bees seem to sting more often than is normal

A swarm has clustered beneath the parent hive

Some bees were crushed during a hive examination

There are few eggs and larvae in the brood nest

There is cross comb on the foundation inserts

The bees keep scouring the hive entrance

Some capped brood cells have small openings

Healthy bees are lying dead in front of the hive

The brood combs have turned heavy and dark

My bees are aggressive towards garden machinery

CHAPTER TWO BEEKEEPING EQUIPMENT

My hive equipment doesn't match

I'm concerned about hive equipment theft

The paint finish on my hives is failing

The inner cover of the hive is glued down

Plastic hives accumulate water during winter  

Beeswax foundation is difficult to install

I don't have the right tool to open up the hive

The queen excluder is disrupting colony function

My bee gloves make hive work difficult

The beehive smoker will not stay lit

The handles on my bee boxes are inadequate

A hand trolley loaded with a colony tipped over

My observation hive is not thriving

I'm confused by differing foundation cell sizes

I'm unsure whether to get a wooden or plastic hive

A loaded hive stand has accidentally

There are many dead drones at the hive entrance

There are two queens in the brood nest collapsed

CHAPTER FOUR MANAGING AND MANIPULATING HIVES

The bees have built combs in empty spaces

The bees are gathering on the front of the hive

The brood nest is overcrowded

The brood nest has been built across multiple boxes

The hive is bulging with too many bees

A large number of bees died off in winter

The bees are visiting neighbours' water sources

The colony looks too weak to survive winter

My apiary has been flooded

The hive lower entrance is often blocked in winter

Brace combs have stuck the supers together

The bees have built many swarm cells

Rain has stopped pollen and nectar flow

CHAPTER FIVE QUEEN PRODUCTION AND MAINTENANCE

I need to store a replacement queen

I don't know where to look for the queen

The queen is not a good egg producer

Some cells have multiple eggs

Finding the queen takes a long time

The queen is difficult to cage

Larvae won't slide off the grafting tool

My drone bee numbers are getting smaller

Some of my queen mating nucs have failed

My replacement queen was killed

CHAPTER DISEASES AND PESTS OF HONEY BEES

There are mice living in the beehive in winter

There are multiple problems with the colony

Varroa mites have overrun the colony

There are ants nesting beneath the outer cover

Small hive beetles have invaded the colony

There are signs of AFB in the hive, but no foul odour

Chalkbrood is affecting colony productivity

There are faecal smears on the hive

Cane toads are visiting the apiary

The brood smells foul and has punctured capping

Wax worms are destroying the combs

CHAPTER SEVEN POLLEN AND POLLINATION

Too much pollen is packed in the brood nest

Beeswax is firmly stuck to plastic foundation

Propolis is difficult to gather and process

There are drones stuck in the pollen trap

The bees are pollinating weeds

The pollen I have collected is decaying

My pollination colonies are mixed sizes

Too few bees are pollinating the target crop

The bees won't eat certain types of pollen

The bees won't consume pollen supplements

Many bees were lost during a hive move

The bees are struggling to find good forage  

Bee stings are painful and cause swelling

My honey soap is not setting properly

My neighbour has found bee droppings on their car

Spots of beeswax are hard to remove

Rendering beeswax over a flame is a fire hazard

CHAPTER EIGHT PRODUCING AND PROCESSING HONEY

The bees won't leave full honey supers

Some honeycombs do not have wax cappings

The extracting room is cramped and inefficient

Many bees are coming to the extracting area  

Honey has crystallised in the comb

My comb honey crop is disappointingly small

The honey filter keeps getting clogged

I'm unsure how to guarantee varietal sources

Liquid honey has accidentally been spilled

Extracted honey has crystallised in jars

My bottled honey is not selling well

CHAPTER NINE BEESWAX AND SPECIALTY ISSUES

I can't get my beeswax candles out of the mould

My pure beeswax candles have a cloudy film