Backyard Farming Box Set

What You Need to Know About Beekeeping and Raising Chickens in Your Backyard

Included Books

Backyard Chickens for Beginners: Simple Guide to Choosing Coops, Raising and Feeding Your Chickens

Beginner’s Guide to Backyard Beekeeping: From Finding Bees to Harvesting Honey

Table of Contents

Book One: Backyard Chickens for Beginners: Simple Guide to Choosing Coops, Raising and Feeding Your Chickens

Introduction

Chapter One: Setting up a Plan

Chapter Two: Hen Houses

Chapter Three: Chicken Runs

Chapter Four: Feeding and Watering Your Chickens

Chapter Five: Maintenance

Chapter Six: What Chickens to Get

Chapter Seven: Butchering

Chapter Eight: Dinner

Chapter Nine: Do’s and Don’ts

Do’s

Don’ts

Conclusion

Book Two: Beginner’s Guide to Backyard Beekeeping: From Finding Bees to Harvesting Honey

Introduction

Chapter One: Getting Started, Setting Up Your Hive

What is The Hive?

The Necessary Equipment

Transferring Your Bees

Chapter Two: Getting to Know Bees

What Species of Bees are There?

Workers, Drones & The Queen

The Anatomy of Bees

Chapter Three: The Best Way to Care for Your Bees

When to Leave Your Bees to Their Own Devices

When to Intervene in the Best Interests of Your Bees

Getting Your Bees

Chapter Four: Harvesting and Using Honey

How to Harvest Honey

What to Do With Honey for You

What to Do with Honey for Sale

Best Practices & Common Mistakes

Do’s

Don’ts

Conclusion

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Backyard Chickens for Beginners

Simple Guide to Choosing Coops, Raising and Feeding Your Chickens

Introduction

You just got back from the grocery store and are angry at the cost of chickens, or how they looked or what may be in them, so you decide to raise your own chickens.  So Frank Perdue, how do you raise a tender chicken?  This book is about how to successfully raise chickens for their eggs and meat.  While it goes into great detail about this subject, it is only a guide and you may elect to conduct further research into this subject.  Also before raising chickens, please check your local laws and ordinances to make sure it is legal to have them.

Chapter One: Setting up a Plan

In this chapter you will learn:

Why it is important to obey local zoning laws

Determining the size of hen house based on the number of chickens

What are you looking for in the way of egg production

How to set up a butchering station

How to store feed and what to buy

You just came back from KFC and you are more than upset with price you just paid for their chicken, or you saw on the news a very disturbing story on how chickens are raised and slaughtered, or one on Avian flu that terrifies you and you decided to raise your own chickens.  Congratulations, you are the next chicken supplier to the world, and that is a good thing.  You get to control what goes into the chickens, how to use the eggs, and when it is time how to slaughter and then cook your own chickens.  It will give you pride to open up your freezer or refrigerator or firing up the grill knowing you made what is there.  But without careful planning, this can be a disaster and possibly even fatal to you.

The first you need to plan is what are the local laws on raising chickens and do you need any permits for the facilities, and what are the rules regarding selling eggs or chickens or the meat, (This definitely has lots of regulations).  Secondly, are there restrictions on the type of birds that you can have, (For example no roosters), and any regulations on the waste they will generate.  Once you got the clearance on this, you are ready to start planning.  Failure to do this can mean anything from a fine to your residence being condemned and even jail time, (Particularly when it comes to removal of the waste, selling eggs, and the meat). 

So we have the all clear from the local government or at least know what they will allow, so it is time to start laying out some physical structure.  To do this draw on a piece of paper the land you have that can be used to raise chickens.  Next, if you are on a septic tank or home sewage system, mark its location and the location of the drain field.  You cannot locate the chickens on this area, so put a big X in these areas.  Next up is mark in the areas you can build a fence on to keep all those animals that like raw chickens from your chickens.  Then finally do you have any ground that is perpetually marsh or swamp or floods easily, mark that area with a big X.  Finally what is not marked out and inside the fence is the area you can raise chickens on.

The next bit of planning depends on local laws and that is the amount of chickens and types of chickens and roosters you plan on having.  Basic rule of thumb is for each chicken you will need 9 square feet, (3 foot by 3 foot) area in the henhouse and an additional 15 square feet for the chicken run or play area and you need to run electrical to the henhouse for cooling and heating.  You will also need a place to store the feed and the even the smallest bin will take up 15 square feet and sheds, (Preferred) take up larger footprints or area. You also need to set up a butchering area and this should be a shed, which will need access to potable, (treated) water.  It is preferred that it also have electricity for lights and to power up a hot plate. You will need a place to store clean bedding from wood shavings and straw, (Those these can join the feed in that storage bin).  Finally and this can be placed over your septic tank drain field, a compost bin to break the waste the chickens will generate into fertilizer for your garden, (You want to avoid contaminating any ground or well water you might use and since it is being made into fertilizer, after decomposition it safe for plants to handle).  You may also want to have a shed with electric power as an incubation shed, thought this can be done inside the house, (Depending on local laws).

You have your requirements so it is time to mark on your drawing what goes where.  You will need to be able to go from area to area and some space near the henhouse so that you can access it and clean it out, but this area will depend on the henhouse selected.

Finally it is time to select your feed for your chickens.  Corn meal is preferred, and other alternative are Chicken Chow, (Similar to Dog and Puppy chow), shredded lettuce and cabbage, (Grind these into very small pieces in your food processor), and finally some sort of protein, from ground up remains the meat you had with your meal, to canned dog food, (This does not need to be ground up and can be the cheapest brand).

Now that we have all of this decided we are ready for the next chapter which is about henhouses and hot to build or obtain one.

Chapter Two: Hen Houses

In this chapter you will learn:

How to design or select a henhouse

How to have access to the henhouse

Why electric power is so important

Cleaning out the waste in your henhouse

Before you become the next Frank Perdue and raise millions of chickens annually, you need to start at the beginning with just one henhouse.  Now if in the previous chapter you did your planning, this is going to be fairly easy, if not it will be a disaster.

You have decided on the number of animals you will be raising, so it is time to give them a home to live on.  Their house is called a henhouse and this requires some planning as to where on your land you are placing it.  So if you followed the plan in chapter one, you have got a good general grasp of the area for the henhouse.

The next question to be answered build from scratch, build a knockdown, (Prepackaged), or have a finished one shipped in.  If you decide to build from scratch, you need to make a plan as to its layout.  This would include where on the inside ceiling to locate fans and heat lamps, (For when the weather gets too hot or too cold, (All of which can kill your chickens)).  You would also need to give the chickens a walkway as the henhouse is to be built on stilts.  You also need to devise some sort of trap door mechanism so you can easily get to the eggs and to clean out the hen house and lay down fresh bedding.  The floor will need some sort of tile so that the wastes of the chickens do not rot the wood and make it easier to clean, and some ventilation as chicken manure will give off some heat and very definitely some smells. You also need to make sure that your local chicken lovers from coyotes to wolves to neighborhood dogs do not have an easy way in and that you can lock down the house in case of bad weather.

Knockdowns or prepackaged henhouses are very popular in that everything is planned out, they are usually have some decorative value and locations for cooling and heating are included, (Though you still have to run out you own power). Most websites dedicated to raising chickens have some advertisement of these and the pre-manufactured ones and it is simply a matter of plugging in the number of chickens you want to raise and the price you are willing to pay and you will have a henhouse.  Finished models are just that all made for you.  All you need is to run power out to them, (Or use some solar panels on the roof to make power), and lay a foundation and instant henhouse. Now a variation on this is the mobile henhouse.  This is a henhouse that you move every couple of days so that the chickens get some fresh grass to munch on, but more importantly they fertilize your area. Solar power with a battery inverter system is a great way to make power for your buildings and do not need an extensive electrical wire run.

Now every day, (Or possibly several times a day), you are going to need to get the eggs out of the henhouse, and more importantly provide fresh water and bedding and to clean out the waste.  Now one of the most obvious is to lift the roof up in some way and get the eggs or had a side being able to slide out allowing you access to the eggs and to do the cleanout. Failure to do this cleanout and you will soon have sick or dead chickens. 

You need to run or generate electricity to your henhouse as there needs to be fans and heat lamps to keep the temperature moderate. Now this power can come from a simple heavy duty extension cord or if you really want to live off the grid, solar with battery storage and a voltage regulator.  The panels could be located on the roof of the henhouse or on stands in the chicken run to give the chickens some extra shade.

Chickens create waste from urine to feces.  These need to be removed daily from your henhouse.  You can spread directly on your yard, or let them age in a compost bin and use them as a high nitrogen fertilizer for your garden. To do this you will need to sweep or shovel out all of the bedding material not involved in the nest, sanitize the floor with a combination of chlorine bleach and water know as a Dakin’s solution to kill any bacteria and then laying down new bedding or straw if needed. The bedding material is just wood shavings not having cedar in them put in the nests.  Cedar is not used as an oil in it can irritate your chickens and they refuse to lay any eggs. Newspaper while on the surface is a good idea, (After all it works for the dog), is actually a bad idea as chicken urine just promotes mold. 

Chapter Three: Chicken Runs

In this chapter you will learn:

How to set up an area for your chickens to roam

How to properly secure this area

How to keep your chickens from trashing your yard

While there is a movie out there called “Chicken Run” about birds trying to not get killed for meat, a chicken run is an area for your chickens to walk or fly around in.  If you remember the discussion in Chapter One about planning, you will already have marked out an area for this or if using the portable henhouse mentioned in Chapter Two, you are going to use the area around this henhouse as the run area. 

Chickens can fly to a point, (Okay hop is more like it than fly), and so the area needs to be enclosed at least to 4 feet so the chickens do not fly or run away.  This can be done by a simple wire screen tied to stakes with some rocks holding the bottom of the screen down. Other options include wire fencing like you see on the edge of a garden or yard, or mosquito netting supported by posts and again rocks or stakes on the bottom of it. This fencing is meant to be moved around as needed and not meant to be permanent.

The other thing you need to consider those animals in your area who think that raw chicken makes a great meal and this could also include your own dog, (Most dog food is chicken based and the smell of it and the chickens in range can cause issues).  So you want more substantial fencing keeping surrounding any area that you might want to use as a chicken run.  This may include wood or chain link fencing, or even a cement block wall, (Check local regulations regarding this).

If you want to have free range chickens, (Instead of ones with only a limited area to use), you could combine both needs into one fence but this fence needs to be checked regularly for animals digging underneath it. 

Chickens love to leave a mess be it food left over, grass and dirt dug up and their waste can be very harmful to plants or your own water supply or themselves.  So wherever you locate your run, you will need to rake up and compost anything the chickens leave behind, (The urine is considered to be uncollectable outside of the henhouse and will help your yard).  You will also need to provide shade if it is too hot outside and several times a day clean fresh water, (Chickens tend to make messes there also).

Chapter Four: Feeding and Watering Your Chickens

In this chapter you will learn:

What to feed your chickens

How much to feed your chickens

Why clean water is important to your chickens

This chapter is all about what and how much to feed your chickens, and why clean water is important.  Let us start with what to feed your chickens.  Your chickens need a balanced diet and there are a couple of ways to get it.  The first is your local feed store who sells not only the national brands, (Purina Chicken Chow is one, (And you only thought they made dog and puppy chow)), as well as local or custom brands mixed by the store.  Most mixes have some sort of grain, (Corn, flour or oats), some sort of animal protein, (Usually chicken or turkey scraps), some vitamins, and extra minerals and antibiotics.

However you can make your own with corn meal, cheap canned dog food, and if desired children’s vitamins. The mixture rate would be 10 pounds corn meal to 24 ounces, (2 cans) of the dog food to two tablets of the kid vitamins.  In a blender, food processor or by hand mix the ingredients together in batches and keep refrigerated, (You do not want the dog food to go rancid), and you can expect each one of your chickens to 10 to 13 pounds of whatever feed you use per week.

Chickens are made up like us of mostly water and they need to have clean water and at the proper temperature.  This means several times a day their water bowl needs to be drained, cleaned out and up and refilled.  If it is hot, you need to add ice to it and if super cold you will need to break the ice up so that the chickens can get a drink.

Chapter Five: Maintenance

In this chapter you will learn:

How to clean up after your chickens

How to keep them safe

Proper sanitary precautions for yourself

While some of the material we will talk about has been described in some amount in previous chapters, we will go into further detail about them.  One of the most important of these is proper clean up after your chickens.  In simple terms chickens are messy and if you do not get a handle on this you can and more likely have sick or dead chickens, as well as getting yourself sick. So let’s start with the most obvious problem, the henhouse.

Chickens do not deposit their waste in neat little piles but all over the place including their nest.  So on a regular basis you will need to replace the bedding, (It can be done at the same time you are collecting eggs.  If you use a wire frame nest starter or a box, this fairly easy, take it and dump the contents into a wheelbarrow or trash can, (After safely removing the eggs), and then install new bedding.  For this you will want to wear gloves and a mask. Next you will need to sweep and then scrub with Dakin’s solution the henhouse floor, (Now you see why the tile floor is so important) and your floor could have a trap door to make this easier.  Next up is the chicken run and for this you will need a broom and pan to sweep up the droppings. All of these wastes need to be taken to your chicken compost bin where they need to age into high nitrogen fertilizer and as stated before this bin can be located on a septic tank drainage field, but never where you draw water from or where it can run off in the rain into a local water source. Failure to do this you are looking at fines, jail and the knowledge you may have made someone sick or die, so plan ahead.

Next on the agenda is keeping them safe.  The biggest threat is all the local animals that think raw chicken makes a great meal.  In the previous chapter on chicken runs we touched on this in regards to fencing, but you also need to do a few more steps.  The first of these go back to your henhouse.  It needs to be secure from the outside world and this includes and ventilation or the construction of it.  Secondly at night, chickens inside behind a secure hatchway door, everything on the outside looking in. Third you will need to provide heat and cooling to the henhouse.  This could be done by smalls fans located in the ceiling or high up on the walls and a heat lamp to keep them warm in cold weather.  These two need to be safely installed so they will not burn down the henhouse or electrocute yourself or the chickens.

Finally there is personal safety.  So to accomplish this always wear gloves and boots when doing anything around the chickens.  When finished step into a mixture of Dakin’s and water up to the top of the sole of the boot to sterilize anything you may have picked up and never take these boots into your residence. Next wash your hands in hand sanitizer to eliminate anything on your hands.  If there is any chicken waste or body fluids on your clothes, take them off also before going into the house and wash these separately from other clothes.  

Chapter Six: What Chickens to Get

In this chapter we will learn about:

What are some of the most common types of chickens

Societal life of a chicken

Rooster or no Rooster

So far we have checked local rules and regulations, planned out the land, the hen house and chicken run, decided on our feed, planned out our maintenance and now it is time to get our birds.  While one of the easiest is to get some fertilized eggs, incubate them and then take them out to the henhouse, this is only for the experienced and even then it is a crapshoot as to whether you have hens or roosters. 

We have another choice and available at your local feed store or online, sexed chicks.  These chicks have had an expert actually tell what their sex is and you get chicks of all the same sex.  They will still need to be raised and for that they will need protected from the elements and kept warm until they hit about 6 months. For more money you can get birds that are six months old and ready to lay eggs.

Chickens come in different varieties and what you are looking for in them help determines the breed.  For example you want green eggs with your ham, (Sorry Theodore Geisel AKA Dr. Seuss), think Ameraucana as they lay a greenish tinted egg, (Though feed has a bit to say about this also).  Want something that grows fast for meat and egg production is also important, think Rhode Island Red, meat more than eggs think Plymouth Rocks.  All are quite friendly with people and very resilient to disease. Your county Ag agent, (And yes almost every county has one including Los Angeles and NYC), can help you with a mix tailored to your needs or your local feed store owner or manager, (A great info source for everything chicken as he/she would know what works locally).

Chickens are social creatures with each other and it is recommended that as you are getting chickens get at least three at one time of the type.  This keeps them engaged with each other and eliminates any sort of aggression where one chicken gets picked on or bullied by the others or acting out on those who are from a different generation or group. Do not be surprised if you have several different types or generations that in your chicken run they tend to separate out and stick with their group.

If you have checked your local regulations and zoning, (Remember chapter one?), you will know if you are allowed roosters.  Roosters are important as it will your hens to lay fertilized eggs which can be incubated into new chickens.  They also to a point act as protectors of the hens, which may be important if you have some lovers of raw chicken in your local animal inventory, (Coyotes, wolves, wild dogs, are some of the most common). Roosters are fast growers in bulk so make excellent meat birds.

If you decide to grow your own from scratch, you will need an incubator which is a chamber with a fairly warm temperature, controlled humidity and safety that allow your eggs to hatch and keep the chicks alive until they can fend for themselves.

Chapter Seven: Butchering

In this chapter you will learn:

What you will need in way of equipment and supplies

How to safely and humanely kill your bird

Removing the feather part one

Proper gutting technique

Proper final feather processing

Safe storage of the meat until use

What to do with the remains

Proper cleanup of your killing area and yourself

This chapter is about killing a bird and processing it.  If you are at all squeamish, this is not the chapter for you.  If you do not feel that you cannot do this in the proper order and safely, like the squeamish, hire a local butcher to do this, (There will be a fee for this and unless you meet all the federal, state and local regulations, the butcher cannot sell this meat it is for your use only

First while you can do this in the outdoors or in your garage or kitchen, you will most likely want a separate building for this.  This building should have a tile interior and floor, (For easy cleaning), electricity, running water, lights, a hot plate and some sort of a refrigerator or cooler.

To start at least 24 hours if not 48 hours the bird(s) selected to be killed must have no food, but allowed to have water.  This is to clean out as much as possible the digestive tract so that the bacteria count is as low as possible and any no material such as feces can contaminate the meat.  You will need to sanitize the inside by wiping down the tile with Dakin’s or some other of bacteria killer. You also need to have your boots soak in Dakin’s up to the top of the sole and wipe down any aprons or goggles you will use.  All knives and other implements you will use need to be placed in a pot of rolling boil for at least 30 minutes to kill all bacteria then placed in a closed container that was wiped down in Dakin’s and has paper towels to lay the tools down on.  Finally you will need a large pot of water with some dish soap on a rolling boil ready to go before slaughter.

In addition to the above you will need a container for any waste including feathers, (This will head to the compost bin), a roll of paper towels, a container for the chicken, and hand sanitizer.  

After we got everything ready to go, we need to secure the chicken so they can be killed without bruising the meat or torturing the chicken.  A old feed bag washed out and having a hole cut in it large enough for the chicken head to stick out or a metal plate or table with two hose clamps on it.  The one secures the head, the other the body. Secure the chicken and if you want to say goodbye or bless the bird and its meat, this is the time.  After this take an axe or sharp knife and sever the head from the body.  The bird will flop around for about a minute and there will be a good deal of blood loss.

As the bird dies, his bladder and colon will empty and this will need to be cleaned off with the paper towels, hand sanitizer, and boiling water.  Putting paper towels underneath the bird before slaughter can also help with cleanup.  Then stick the bird in the pot of boiling water for at least a minute as this will make the feathers easier to remove and also help clean the exterior of the bird.

Hold the chicken over the waste can and remove the feathers.  You will not be able to get all the feathers at this point, but you are looking to remove as much as possible quickly. Use the running water in the shed to give the bird a rinse and then you want to make a cut in the stomach and stop after piercing the skin and stomach wall. By carefully, (And I do mean carefully), you should be able to locate all the organs.

Locate where the colon and skin meet and cut a circle around this making sure to not cut into the colon.  After loosening the colon from the skin, you can then empty out the stomach area of all the organ you are not going to use and remove them without spilling their contents. You can with a simple knife cut to the interior chest wall remove the heart, lungs and liver, (Save them as these are great things to eat), and be careful to separate the bile from the liver without spilling it. Like the rectum you can cut the neck away from the skin and toss all these internals into the waste can. 

After rinsing out the bird once again, it is time to remove the feet.  This is done by twisting at the knee to have a space between the bones and cut through this space.  The feet are fantastic for stock or with cooking low and slow meat and flavor for a gravy. Now is the time for removal of any other feathers.  Another quick dip in the boiling water and use of tweezers will allow this to be done.  Give your bird a final rinse inside and out and either cool the bird for twenty four hours in a plastic bag in your fridge or you can cut it up at this time.  When you remove a piece immediately putting it into the fridge or cooler in the shed and like the feet, you twist to separate the bones and cut through the space. When finished and the bird either in the fridge or cooler it is time to clean your shed again.  The feathers and organs can go to the compost bin, (Make sure the bin stays closed as they will really smell), you will need to wipe down the walls, floor, re-boil your tools and store, and boots just like your prep. The chicken needs to rest twenty four hours before using.

Chapter Eight: Dinner

In this chapter you will learn:

How to make beer can chicken

How to make a soda marinade

A simple fried chicken recipe

Now that we got the bird, we need to cook it.  You probably have some good recipes to use but you might consider these ones in addition.  The first is beer can chicken.  This is simply the easiest to make and adaptable to lots of different liquids.  In a plastic bag put the chicken, salt, pepper, flour, paprika, thyme, and fennel and shake it so the inside and outside are coated.  Get a can of your favorite beer, sugar based soda, canned ice tea, or even a can of wine, and mount the bird on the can and use the legs to prop up the chicken and then either bake in a 350 degree oven until internal temperature hits 180, about 60 minutes, or on a grill and reload the charcoal as needed.

Similar to this is to make a marinade.  Take a sugar based soda, (Sorry, the bird is not on a diet), beer, red wine, (Merlot is great for this), smashed garlic to taste along with onions, and peppers into a plastic bag with the chicken, (Either whole or cut up), and put in your fridge and every 12 hours flip the bag to all gets covered.  You can either bake it in a 350 degree oven, or fire up the grill.  You can cook the marinade along with some flour to make a gravy, or no flour to make a glaze.  You must cook or throw away the marinade, never serve it raw. 

Finally a simple fried chicken recipe.   Cut up the bird if not already done.  Dry the bird with a paper towel, and in one plastic bag goes flour, salt, pepper, paprika, onion and garlic powder and in a bowl put in some buttermilk.  Shake the pieces in the flour mixture, then dip in the buttermilk, and back into the flour and either into the oven or a skillet with vegetable oil, (Olive oil is not to be used for this) under a high flame.  Rotate the chicken so all sides are cooked then remove to paper towels to remove excess oil.  You may need to refill the skillet with oil and between groups of pieces being cooked, let the oil regain its temperature.

Chapter Nine: Do’s and Don’ts

Do’s

Check your local regulations about raising chickens and obey them.

Plan how you want to raise your chickens and layout the area to grow them in.

Set up a proper henhouse with power for heat and cooling, and easy to clean.

Set up a large enough and safe area for your chickens to walk around

Keep all the area that the chickens use or live in clean and remember to sanitize them.

Sanitize your own clothes and shoes and keep them from polluting the house as much as possible.

Get with your local farm supply to get a feed mix that works.

Get your chickens from a friend or a feed store, (That way you know they are safe to start).

Get multiples of one type of chickens to raise together, so they can socialize.

Protect them from the local animals and this includes securing the henhouse at night.

Follow all steps in butchering and follow all precautions.

Research everything you do, before you do it, planning and knowledge make great chickens.

Don’ts

Raise chickens without checking the local laws.

Put together a barnyard haphazard without planning or building sheds and henhouses without plans.

Give the chickens food without making sure it will work for them.

Fail to clean up after the chickens.

Fail to obey proper precautions when it comes to butchering a chicken in particular let the contents of the guts spill on the chicken.

Assume something without research.

Conclusion

Raising chickens can be an easy, fun way to lower the cost of food, or control what you eat.  However, failure to maintain their living quarters, waste, and ways to butchering, can make you sick or dead and need to be followed.  Now get going and never, ever call one Foghorn Leghorn, (Warner Brothers own that trademark and name).

Beginner’s Guide to Backyard Beekeeping

From Finding Bees to Harvesting Honey

Introduction

Raising bees is something fun and interesting that you can engage in with your entire family. It’s also going to take some work. You have to be able to take care of your bees and that’s going to require you to make a commitment. You’ll need to make that commitment before you even get the bees themselves. You want to make sure that you’re prepared before you ever start because you don’t want to get a bunch of bees and realize you don’t know what to do with them.

In this book we’re going to talk about all the different things that you can do to get more out of the experience of raising bees. We’ll help you understand how to get started before you even get those bees and we’ll also help you understand what all your bees are going to need.

As you read through this book we’ll help you understand more about what you can do with your bees as you raise them and how you’ll  be able to use the honey that you’re going to get while raising them as well. You can use it personally or you can use it to make your family a little more money. We’ll talk more about those options very soon as well.

Chapter One: Getting Started, Setting Up Your Hive

So at this point you’ve decided that you’re going to raise your own bees. So how are you going to get started? Well the first thing that you need to do is get your hive ready. You need to make sure that it’s completely ready so that when you do get those bees all you have to do is put them in their new home.

So how are you going to get started with your hive? Well we’re going to help you. The hive is the most important thing to keeping your bees and that means you need to make sure that it’s absolutely perfect before you spend your money on a lot of bees.

In this chapter, you will learn:

What is The Hive?

What Does the Hive Need?

The Necessary Equipment

Transferring Your Bees

What is The Hive?

The hive is the place that your bees live. It’s essential to them being healthy and remaining with you. After all, bees are able to fly away pretty easily if they aren’t perfectly happy. So what all does your hive really need? Quite a few things actually. But you don’t need to worry because it won’t be too difficult for you to get started.

Where to Put the Hive

The first thing to consider when you start your own beehive is where you’re going to put it. After all, your beehive needs to be in the right place so that your bees have the protection they need from predators as well as from adverse weather. They also need plenty of open space surrounding their hive. All of these things are going to affect how your bees adapt to their new surroundings.

Since you’re going to be working with the hives you want to make sure that you have plenty of space to get all the way around each box. You’ll also want to make sure that water isn’t going to pool around the base of your hives. This means you may want to put stones around the base or use mulch to help absorb some excess water.

Next, make sure that, if at all possible, you orient your hive towards the south or southeast. This is going to help your bees to stay warmer (which is important to their being able to fly and produce honey). It’s also going to ensure that they get more sunlight, which is going to help them be more active. In the winter you also won’t need to worry as much about some of the coldest winds (which come from the north, behind the hive).

Make sure that, whenever possible, you have at least a bit of shade available for your hives. Keeping trees or bushes behind the hive (on the north) will help you keep the hive out of direct sunlight (which can actually slow down your bees) and it will help get rid of some of the excess wind and excess moisture when there is rain.

Building the Beehive

So now you have your ground level and you have a cleared section covered in mulch or stones. You also have found a great southerly space that is backed by trees. So now how are you going to keep the momentum going? Your bees are going to need an actual hive after all. The space that you’ve cleared is ready for your hives and you’re ready to get building.

Now, before we start with how to build your hive, you should know that beehives can be purchased from a number of different places. You’ll be able to select from different sizes and different styles based on your needs. These will also vary based on whether you want to be able to harvest the honey or not.

If you’re going to build your own beehive you need to make sure that it’s off the ground first. Remember that your hive needs to be solid. That means you want to make sure that it’s not going to fall over. You can build on a base of cinderblocks or on legs as long as they’re going to be stable.

Your hive should have a bottom board base and a very deep centerpiece. You’ll also need ten frames to put into this piece, known as a deep super. Next put in another deep super with ten more frames. The first of these frames is going to be where eggs are laid while the second will be a place for food storage. Next, put down an inner cover and an outer cover. Next, put a heavy stone on top of the lid to make sure that nothing blows away, no matter what the weather is like outside.

The Necessary Equipment

So now that you have the hive you want you’re all set to get your bees right? Not quite yet. You still need to get a little more equipment so that, once your bees arrive, you’re ready to work with them. So what type of equipment do you need to safely work with bees?

One of the first things that you’ll need is a smoker. This is going to help you when it’s time to transfer bees into your new hive and when you’re trying to harvest any honey that might be accumulating in your hive as well. It’s going to keep you from being stung (at least as often) than you would otherwise.

You’ll want what’s called a hive tool to help you pull honeycombs away from the frame and to make sure that you’re getting everything out quickly. Finally, make sure you have protective clothing that includes a bee veil to cover your head and neck and gloves to protect your hands. These things are going to help you avoid getting stung so much. Make sure your protective clothing is lightly colored and smooth as your bees don’t like bright colors or anything too fuzzy. You definitely don’t want to irritate them any more than absolutely necessary.

Transferring Your Bees

When you’re ready to transfer your bees you’ll want to put on your protective gear and get your smoker. The smoker you’ll want to spray right by the entrance to the mini hive that your bees will come in. This will help to slow your bees or even put them entirely to sleep. In this way, you’ll be able to move them without having to worry about getting stung.

The important thing is to make sure that you’re not transferring your bees during rain or foul weather. This is going to hurt your bees. Use the frames that are in the mini-hive so that your bees aren’t thrust into an entirely new environment. You want to keep the frames in the same order as they were in the mini-hive.

Your bees will start to move over to the new hive entirely on their own and that’s really what you want. Any bees that are in the frames when you transfer will be fine but don’t try to move all the bees against their will. It’s perfectly fine to leave the mini-hive next to your new hive until the bees move on their own.

Once all of your bees have moved you will be able to remove the mini-hive and put your stone back on top to keep the hive more secure. Your bees will continue to return to the new hive once their queen has established herself there and she will establish herself when the frames are transferred.

Chapter Two: Getting to Know Bees

So what do you really know about bees? If you’re like most people then you probably know that bees get pollen from flowers, make honey and sting. You may know a little about the queen and the worker bees and maybe a little about the drones. But you probably don’t know a lot about the different species’ of bees or what else they do. That’s what this chapter is all about.

In this chapter, you will learn:

What Species Of Bees Are There?

Workers, Drones and the Queen

The Anatomy of Bees

What Species of Bees are There?

Around the world there are actually 25,000 different species of bees. Solely in the United States there are 4000 bees. Of course, all of these bees are not good for your hives. You want to make sure that the bees you have are going to be good for producing honey and some of the common types, such as bumblebees, are not good for producing honey.

As you probably expected, honeybees are the ones that you want for your hives. These are the bees that are going to get you the most for your money. You’ll get plenty of honey with this. You’ll still want to consider different ‘stocks’ of honeybees as well. Each stock has different traits and different benefits. So what can they provide for you?

Italian Honeybees: These bees are very light in color and moderately gentle. They don’t engage in excess swarming and do well through the process of cold weather and winter. They are also very good at processing honey which means more money for you in the end.

German Honeybees: These bees are quite dark with a low gentleness and are very good at weathering the cold weather. They are also pretty good about not swarming and produce a decent amount of honey.

Carniolan Honeybees: These bees are black in color. They are extremely gentle though they also have a high tendency of swarming. You’ll notice that their honey processing is pretty good and that they weather the cold fairly well.

Buckfast Honeybees: Medium in color, these bees have low-moderate gentleness. They also have decent wintering ability, a low tendency for swarming and a good honey processing level.

Caucasian Honeybees: These bees are very dark in color but are also very gentle with a very low tendency for swarming. They also produce very little honey and are not as good at wintering.

Russian Honeybees: Finally, these bees are gray in color with low-moderate gentleness. They also have very good ability to weather the cold and produce a decent amount of honey with only a moderate level of swarming.

Workers, Drones & The Queen

Once you’ve selected the right type of bee for you, you’ll want to know more about the different sub-classifications within those species. All beehives are made up of three different classifications of bees. There is always one queen in the hive. The queen is the mother of most of the bees that are in the hive. She also doesn’t do anything but lay eggs and have more babies.

The queen is selected by worker bees while in the larvae stage. They are then fed a special diet which allows them to be sexually mature. They are typically the only mated female adult and they are the only ones that are capable of reproducing. The other bees will also follow her and protect her. If you want to move your bees she is the one you need to move. Be careful nothing happens to her however as the bees will have trouble adapting if their queen is killed.

Worker bees are exclusively female; however they are not able to reproduce. These are the bees that you see most often when you’re outside because they’re the ones that will gather pollen and transfer it back to the hive. They also seal the honey, feed the drones and take care of the queen. In this way, they are better capable of caring for all of the different parts of the hive.

Finally, drones are the males of the hive .They do not sting and do not engage in any pollinating either. They actually don’t do anything but mate with the queen bee (though not the queen from their own hive). They are not as important to the overall success of the hive as they are only responsible for mating.

The Anatomy of Bees

A bee is actually made up of three different sections. These are the head, thorax and abdomen. The head contains the eyes, which are quite large for enhanced sight and the antenna, also used for ‘sight.’ The thorax is where the wings of the bee are located while the abdomen is the location of the pollen press, where pollen is gathered, and the stinger.

Chapter Three: The Best Way to Care for Your Bees

It’s extremely important that you know how to care for your bees because they are not going to be easy to replace. You don’t want to spend a lot of money on bees and then have something happen to them. That means making sure that you keep your bees safe and healthy throughout their natural lifespan. This isn’t going to require a lot of effort from you but it definitely will require you to take some effort and a lot of attention. You need to be able to tell when to leave your bees and when to intervene.

In this chapter, you will learn:

When to Leave Your Bees to Their Own Devices

When to Intervene in the Best Interests of Your Bees

Getting Your Bees

When to Leave Your Bees to Their Own Devices

Your bees are actually perfectly capable of taking care of themselves in just about any situation. They know how to find their own ‘food’ and water. They also know how to care for their own. They will take care of adding to your hive by reproducing. They will even ensure that the hive is defended against problems from the outside.

If your bees seem to be doing well on their own you want to make sure that you are leaving them on their own as much as possible. This is going to allow them to get everything they need and it will make them more productive. They’ll produce a lot more honey. They do need to be comfortable with you however as you need to make sure that they are feeling safe when they work with you. This includes when you are harvesting honey.

When to Intervene in the Best Interests of Your Bees

You want to make sure that you’re inspecting your hives carefully to make sure that all of this is happening properly. Make sure that the size of your hive is adequate as well as making sure that your bees are producing enough honey. Make sure also that you are medicating them in the early part of the year (if you choose to medicate them). It’s not necessary to medicate your bees however, in some instances; it can keep them safer than leaving them to their own.

You will want to step in when your bees are getting ready for the winter as well. Make sure that you are reducing the size of your hive so that the bees are pushed into a smaller space. This will actually help to keep them safer through the winter. You’ll also want to make sure that your bees have plenty of honey to get them through the cold months. If they aren’t prepared they could suffer immensely.

If your bees run out of honey during the cold months you want to make sure that they are getting enough food. You can do this yourself if you create your own syrup. It should be a mix of two parts sugar and one part water. This will keep your bees healthy enough to get them through the winter and the cold. You’ll be able to keep all of them ready to go through the next few months as well.

Getting Your Bees

So how do you get the bees in the first place? Here we are talking about what you should do to keep them safe and healthy but you don’t even have them quite yet. So where are you going to find them and how are you going to make sure that they are good bees? Well we’ve already talked about some of the important aspects of bees. We’ve explained some of the different types so that you can decide which bees are the right type for you. Make sure that you are considering a number of factors for this:

Consider the likelihood of your bees swarming. Swarming means that the bees are going to split into different factions and some are going to leave. This is not something that you want so you want to make sure that your bees are going to be less likely to do this. You want to make sure that you choose bees that are less likely to swarm. It’s impossible to entirely get rid of this possibility and you’ll have to work with bees swarming and splitting at least a few times but you still want to get rid of the chances at least as much as possible.

Consider also how well your bees survive over the winter and how much honey they produce. These things are going to impact what you get from your bees and whether or not you need to get more bees as well. Make sure that you’re balancing out all of these things to get the most out of your expenses and the most out of your bees as well. You’re going to get some great benefits from these bees but only if you pay attention to what they have to offer and how well they are doing in the weather that you have in your area.

You can find bees in a number of different places but some of the best are from actually beekeepers in your area. You can probably locate beekeepers who are looking to get rid of some extra bees. Make sure that you are getting healthy bees and that there’s a warranty on your bees. You don’t want to get them and find out that they are not healthy. You may have to buy a queen separately but make sure that she is also healthy and that the other bees take to her quickly. There shouldn’t be a problem but you can never be sure.

The closer the bees are already to your area the better it will be for you. Once the queen is established the bees won’t leave unless there is a swarm. They may have trouble with the journey however. After all, a lot of bees could die on a long journey and that’s not something that you want. You want to make sure that the trip is as short as possible. You may even want to go to the beekeeper and transport your bees yourself rather than having someone carry out the transportation for you. Take some time to transport your bees. Don’t push them too much and make sure that they are healthy when they arrive.

Chapter Four: Harvesting and Using Honey

This is probably one of the most important aspects to you if you’re considering raising bees. You want to make sure that you can get as much honey as possible from your bees, without hurting them. After all, honey is important to your bees as well. You also want to make sure that you’re harvesting the honey in the proper way. And you need to know what you can do with that honey once you’ve collected it.

In this chapter, you will learn:

How to Harvest Honey

What to Do With Honey For You

What to Do With Honey For Sale

How to Harvest Honey

How should you go about harvesting your honey? This is a question that anyone with bees will ask and it’s an important one. You need to be careful about gathering honey from your hive because they will work hard to defend what is theirs. If you are too aggressive with them you could actually hurt your bees or they could hurt you.

You want to walk up to your hive from behind so that your bees don’t see you coming. You then want to make sure that you smoke the entrance of the hive. Once you have done this you are ready to open the top of the hive and smoke again at the top of the hive. Take off the inner cover (it may stick as your bees likely will seal it for protection).

Make sure that you carefully remove bees from the frames that you’re going to remove. You can use a soft bee brush which will help you brush the bees away without hurting them. Next, pull out your frames and replace them with empty frames ready for your bees to fill.

Put the lid back onto your hive and make sure you cover it back with your rock. This will prepare the hive for your bees when they wake up from the smoke. You’ll also be ready to pull the honey from your frames. You’ll need an uncapping knife or a fork to pull the wax seals off the honeycomb on your frame. Make sure you do this on both sides.

An extractor will pull the honey out of your frames and into a drum where it will be squeezed through cheesecloth so that you don’t have to worry about getting wax or dirt in your honey. That’s when you’ll be ready to use your honey for other purposes.

What to Do With Honey for You

There are a number of different ways that you can use honey around your own home which means you can actually replace some of your normal household products with honey instead. You may even be surprised what all you can use honey for.

Hangovers-a little honey will help you to get rid of that hangover because it helps your body get rid of the alcohol.

Injuries- if you have a cut or burn you can actually put a little honey on the area. It’s a completely natural antiseptic which is great for your body.

Sore Throat-If you have a sore throat or a cough you can add honey with lemon juice. It will coat your throat and help you feel better quickly.

Moisturizer- Need a little extra moisture on your body? Whether it’s your entire body or your lips or even your hair you can get some great moisture. Let honey sit on your body or lips for 30 minutes and then wash it off. In your hair add a little honey mixed with olive oil to your hair and let it soak for 20 minutes before you shampoo it out.

Facial-You can coat your face with a mix of 2 teaspoons honey and milk. Let it soak in for around 10 minutes and you’ll be amazed with the great results.

Eating-Of course you can eat your honey in a number of different ways by adding it to recipes or coffee. You can also substitute sugar for honey or infuse it with other flavors.

Of course, everything that we’re going to talk about in the next section that you can sell are great for you as well. Make sure that you consider making all of these things for yourself and your family as well.

What to Do with Honey for Sale

If you want to sell your honey you can do it in a number of ways. You can sell the honey itself in bottles but there’s plenty of other options as well that can be made with honey or with the beeswax.

Bar Soap

Lip Balm

Body Butter

Candles (variety of sizes/styles)

String wax

Each of these products will help you make a little money off your honey, beeswax and your bees. You also want to make sure that you are using these types of products yourself because you’ll be amazed how great they are for your family. Each of these products means one less thing you need to buy which is a great way to save money, and by selling them you’ll be able to make even more money.

Best Practices & Common Mistakes

Do’s

Build Your Hive Carefully

Make sure that your hive is sturdy and solid. If it’s not you’ll have trouble with your bees flying away or getting hurt. You want to make sure that they feel safe and that the queen is safe. Without a queen your bees will not survive.

Monitor Your Bees

Especially in the winter make sure that your bees have plenty of food and water so that they survive. Make sure during the entire year you’re watching for any oddities or changes in your bees.

Make Some Money

Don’t just let all that honey go to waste. Of course, your bees will use it if you don’t but there’s plenty that you can use it for as well. Make sure you’re selling some of those things and creating plenty of products. Make sure you’re using it personally as well.

Don’ts

Ignore Your Hive

You don’t want to ignore the hive completely because you may miss something important. You want to know if your hive is sick or if there is something getting into the hive. This includes too much water pooling up at the base of the hive.

Hurt Your Bees

Make sure that you’re not hurting your bees whenever you come to the hive. You need to use the smoker sparingly. Too much can actually hurt the bees. If you’re not gentle with them when removing frames this can cause harm as well. Remember that your bees are very fragile.

Take More Than Your Share

Remember that your bees need honey as well. So don’t take all the honey out of the hive, especially in the colder months.

Conclusion

There are a lot of things to consider when it comes to beekeeping. You need to make sure that you are doing everything possible when you care for your bees. After all, bees are essential for our own lives. We need them in order to pollinate not only flowers (which are pretty to look at) but also the food that we need in order to live. This means we need to start taking care of bees and keeping them alive instead of using so many pesticides and chemicals to get rid of them.

If you want to help the environment you can work on raising bees without taking the honey or using it at all. Any kind of hive can be sealed shut so that you don’t need to open and actually so you can’t open it. In some areas this can actually be the only way that you can raise bees but it will definitely help you get what you need for flowers or plants in your area. This is great for increasing the pollination rates in your area. So even if you’re not interested in honey you can consider raising bees.

If you are looking to get some honey and added benefits from your bees there are so many things that you can get. You want to make sure that you are doing everything you can to keep them safe and healthy. Make sure that you’re working with your bees and make sure that you’re harvesting the amount of honey that you can without hurting your bees. There’s a lot involved in working with bees but you can definitely get plenty for yourself when you are careful and take care of them the best way possible.