FROM BOOK ONE (from the new version that came out in April 2007)
Beekeeping
According to Anastasia in every garden-plot there should be a minimum
of one colony of bees. She gives special instructions on how to make a
beehive (see below).
She states that the way people have been raising bees until now has
“just gets in the way”. (pp 81)
In regards to bees Anastasia says that the products that come from
bees are “so useful for Man”. (pp 82)
Instructions for making a beehive:
- Make the hive in the shape of a hollow block
- Use a log that already has a hole in it and make it bigger
- Or use boards from deciduous trees to make a long hollow box 120
centimeters long (the boards should be no less than 6 cm thick). The
inside measurements of the cavity should be at least 40 x 40
centimeters.
- Triangular strips should be inserted into the corners where the
inner surfaces meet to make the cavity rounded (lightly glue the
strips so the bees can firm them up later).
- Cover one end with a board of the same thickness, with a hinged
panel at the other end. Cut the panel so it fits snugly into the
opening and seal it with grass or cloth covering the whole bottom.
- Cut a series of slits in the cloth (not too many) along the bottom
edge of one of the sides approximately one and a half centimeters
wide, starting 30 cm from the hinged opening and continuing to the
other end.
- Set the hive on pilings anywhere in the garden-plot at least 20-25
centimeters off the ground, with the slits facing south. Stand it on a
small platform, with an overhead canopy to protect it from the sun,
and wrap it with insulation in the winter.
- Whenever possible place the hive under the roof of the house so as
not to interfere with the bees when they are flying in and out. Attach
it to the south wall of the house, just under the eaves.
- Align the hive horizontally at a 20-30 degree angle, with the
opening at the lower end.
- The hive can be installed in an attic as long as there is proper
ventilation, or it can be installed on the roof of the house.
- Make sure that no matter where you place the hive you have proper
access to it and can remove the honeycomb.
- If the hive is not made properly the bees will spend their time to
fix what is broken instead of gathering honey and producing offspring.
- Under natural conditions bees live in tree hollows. They should be
kept under conditions as close to their natural ones as possible.
- The bees pollinate the plants more effectively than any other means.
- Bees’ mouths open up “channels in the plants through which the
plants take in supplemental information reflected by the planets”.
- Put a little chunk of wax and some honey-plant in the hive to
attract bees. Once the colonies are established on a few neighboring
plots the bees will multiply by themselves.
- When gathering the honey do not be greedy. Break off the hanging
honeycomb and extract the sealed honey and pollen. Be sure to leave
part of it for the winter. It is better to not collect any honey at all for the first year. (pp 82-85)
please see anastasia and the better way to make the hives without moving the frames?
ReplyDeleteHi there. Im not sure what you are saying. This site is about top bar hives and not framed hives. As the very name applies such hives use Top Bars. The comb is naturally build by the bees. Most of us live in countries which require movable comb for inspection by the bee inspector. How to inspect the comb in the Anastasia Hive? There is no way is there ;)
ReplyDeleteYou can keep bees naturally in Top Bar Hives with minimum disturbance.
I do like the Anastasia Hive though but such hives are to be hidden from the bee inspectors (illegal in some countries).
This type of hive looks huge. What happened to the 40 liter cavity theory? Interesting non the less.
ReplyDeleteYes it is huge. I would say approx 200 liters. These are not my hives ;) I plan on keeping bees which are kept in small hives around 40-50 liters.
DeleteEuropean dark bee has NO CHANCE filling that space with comb. Africanized bees probably but not European bees. Perone hive is also around 200 liters but he does keep africanized bees which build huge colonies.
If you respect the bees way and let them have a brood break after swarming the colony will never need a huge space. Conventional beeks dont respect that and do anything they can to prevent swarming and keep the old queen laying eggs until they have new mated queens ready to requeen. The result is constant egg laying, constant brood raising which is a great breeding ground for Varroa ;)
We need more beeks who do it for the bees well being and not for the honey profit.
I didn't know the queen has a break from laying eggs. When does that happen? I started beekeeping two years ago so I don't have much experience.
DeleteI too started two years ago :)
DeleteEven if so we still can draw on other peoples research, observations and experience :)
The fact is that worker bees stop feeding the old queen with royal jelly as swarm prep to slim her down so she can fly. She immediatelly starts reducing egg laying. Once the new queen cells are capped the old queen departs with the swarm. It takes at least 2-3 more weeks before the virgin queen is mated. This is the brood break = no new eggs being layed.
There can also be a brood break during drought periods because no nectar is coming in. Bees adjust to the environment. During such time some beeks take all the honey from the bees to force them to forage anything they can find even feed them sugar syrup tricking bees into thinking nectar flow is great so the queen continues to lay eggs.
Brood break is important part of bee biology. We must honour that in my opinion.
Thanks, I didn't know that :-) I don't plan to interfere anyway. I read that some beekeepers destroy young brood in July and cage the queen so she doesn't lay any eggs for some time to prevent varroa from spreading. That seems a bit too extreme for me. But in Italy seems a common practice. I have 13 hives and plan to expand. Beekeeping isn't my main source of income so I'm trying to figure out what is the best for the bees and what is best for me, a win-win situation for both.
DeleteFor anyone interested in saving the bees, please see the following link. https://www.shungitebeehives.com/
ReplyDeleteNothing is sold on the website, as it is a forum and way of spreading the news there is the ultimate protection for bees that is a rock from Russia. And, you can get the rocks free by asking.