The Basics of Beekeeping by Members of Dunblane and Stirling Beekeepers' Association 2018 edition Contents 1 Introduction 6 1.1 Development of methods of beekeeping . 6 1.2 The beekeeper . 8 1.2.1 Stings . 9 1.3 The place of the honey bee in nature . 11 1.4 Significant bee forage plants in our Association area . 13 2 Beekeeping Equipment 14 2.1 Beehives and their accessories . 14 2.1.1 Introduction . 14 2.1.2 The National hive and its accessories . 15 2.2 Protective clothing . 18 2.3 Tools for working with bees . 18 2.4 Harvesting tools . 18 2.5 Miscellaneous and specialist items . 19 2.6 Appendix | other hive designs . 19 2.6.1 Introduction . 19 2.6.2 The (Unmodified) National hive and the Wormit Commercial hive . 19 2.6.3 The Smith hive . 20 2.6.4 The WBC hive . 20 2.6.5 Some more unusual hive designs . 20 3 Basic Honey Bee Biology 23 3.1 What is a honey bee? . 23 3.2 The anatomy of a honey bee . 23 3.2.1 The Head . 24 3.2.2 The Thorax . 24 3.2.3 The abdomen . 25 3.3 The Colony . 26 3.3.1 The queen bee . 27 3.3.2 Drones . 28 3.3.3 Workers . 29 3.4 Honey bee communication. 31 3.4.1 The importance of pheromones in honey bee communication . 31 3.4.2 Trophallaxis (Food sharing) . 31 3.4.3 Bee dances . 32 3 4 Handling: Spring and Summer Management 33 4.1 Beekeeping | basic handling skills . 33 4.1.1 Introduction . 33 4.1.2 Opening a hive and inspecting the combs . 33 4.2 Spring and summer management . 36 4.3 Prevention and control of swarming . 39 4.3.1 Finding, clipping and marking the queen . 39 4.3.2 Principles of swarm prevention . 40 4.3.3 Principles of swarm control . 41 4.3.4 Queen removal as a method of swarm control . 42 4.4 Taking a swarm . 43 4.5 Hiving a swarm . 44 4.6 Dealing with a swarmed stock . 45 4.7 Hiving a swarm on the site it came from . 46 4.8 Moving bees: the heather flow . 46 5 Autumn and winter management 49 5.1 Removing honey . 49 5.2 Uniting stocks . 49 5.3 Feeding bees . 50 5.4 Preparing bees for winter . 51 5.5 Managing bees in winter . 51 5.6 The end of winter . 52 6 Diseases and pests 55 6.1 Introduction . 55 6.2 Viruses . 56 6.3 Bacterial infections . 56 6.3.1 American Foul Brood . 56 6.3.2 European Foul Brood . 58 6.3.3 Apiary hygiene and movement control to prevent the spread of Foul Brood . 58 6.4 Fungus infections . 59 6.4.1 Chalk Brood . 59 6.4.2 Nosema disease . 59 6.5 Protozoal infections . 60 6.5.1 Amoeba disease . 60 6.6 Arachnid infestations . 60 6.6.1 Acarine disease . 60 6.6.2 Varroosis . 61 6.6.3 Tropilaelaps clareae ................................... 66 6.7 Insect infestations . 66 6.7.1 Braula . 66 6.7.2 Wax moths . 66 6.7.3 Ants, wasps and hornets . 67 6.7.4 The Small Hive Beetle . 68 6.8 Amphibians, birds and mammals . 68 6.9 Human pests . 69 6.10 A disease inspection . 70 6.11 Useful contact addresses for help in dealing with bee diseases . 71 6.11.1 Science and Advice for Scottish Agriculture (SASA) . 71 6.11.2 SGRPID contacts . 71 4 6.11.3 The Scottish Beekeepers' Association's Science and Bee Health Officer . 71 7 Setting up as a beekeeper 72 7.1 The year's work in outline . 72 7.2 Setting up as a beekeeper . 74 7.3 Mutual support of beekeepers . 76 7.4 Appendix | Details of hive assembly . 77 7.4.1 Introduction . 77 7.4.2 Top and bottom bee-space . 77 7.4.3 Assembling hive boxes and roofs . 77 7.4.4 Assembling frames and foundation in which the bees will build combs . 78 7.4.5 Spacing frames in the hive . 79 8 Dealing with the crop of honey and beeswax 80 8.1 Honey in shallow frames . 80 8.2 Section honey . 81 8.3 Dealing with Oil Seed Rape honey . ..