The Gift of Bees - Slow Food International

8/3/2019 The Gift of Bees - Slow Food International

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Slow Food Foundationfor Biodiversity

bees

of

The gift


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Slow Food

Founded by Carlo Petrini in 1986, Slow Food became an international association in 1989. It now boasts

86 000 members, oces (in order o creation) in Italy, Germany, Switzerland, USA, France, Japanand the United Kingdom and supporters in 130 countries.

Slow Food believes in recognizing the importance o pleasure connected to ood. We should learn toenjoy the vast range o recipes and favors, recognize the variety o places and people growing and pro-

ducing ood. We should respect the rhythms o the seasons and conviviality. But the recipe developed

by Carlo Petrini and other Slow Food members proposes to add a new sense o responsibility to thesearch or pleasure, which we all have a right to enjoy. Slow Food has called this approach ecogastro-nomy. It is an attitude that combines a respect and interest in enogastronomic culture with supportor those battling to deend ood and agricultural biodiversity around the world. Slow Food stresses the

need or taste education as the best deense against poor quality and ood adulteration. It is themain way to combat the incursion o ast ood into our diets. It helps to saeguard local cuisines, traditio-

nal products, vegetable and animal species at risk o extinction. It supports a new model o agriculture,

which is less intensive and healthier, ounded on the knowledge and know-how o local communities.

This is the only type o agriculture able to oer prospects or development to the poorest regions on

our planet.

For these reasons Slow Food is committed to saeguarding oods, raw materials and traditional methods

o cultivation and transormation. It seeks to deend the biodiversity o cultivated and wild varieties

and protect convivial places which orm a part o cultural heritage because o to their historic, artistic or

social value.

Slow Food has a distinctive approach to these issues. The philosophy o the movement, ounded to de-end gastronomic pleasure and seek a slower and more aware pace o lie, extended its ocus rom the

virtues o ood to considering the quality o lie and identity. It aims to recognize the history and culture

o every social group as it interacts in a network o reciprocal exchange. Whether you consider a variety

o ruit or a traditional local dish, you cannot ignore its relationship with history, material culture and

the environment where it originated. Slow Food stresses the importance or agricultural and livestock

production to maintain a balance o respect and exchange with the surrounding ecosystem. That is why

Slow Food has been dened a movement o eco-gastronomes.

The network o over 86 000 Slow Food members is organized into local groups - Condotte in Italy andConvivia elsewhere in the world - which, coordinated by Convivium leaders, organize courses, tastings

and dinners, promote campaigns at local level and participate in large international events organized by

the association. More than 1000 Slow Food Convivia are active in 130 countries, including 410 Condotte

in Italy.

Press Oce Slow Food - Via della Mendicit Istruita, 14 - 12042 Bra (Cn) - Italy

tel. +39 0172 419615/ 45/ 53 /66 - [email protected] - www.slowood.com


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Slow Food Foundationfor Biodiversity

Slow Food Foundation

for BiodiversityThe Slow Food Foundation or Biodiversity raises and invests unds in order to deend oodbiodiversity and ood traditions around the world. It promotes sustainable orms o agricultu-re that respect the environment, peoples cultural identity and animal wellbeing, through manyprojects.

The Slow Food Foundation or Biodiversity was ounded in Florence in 2003 in partnership with theTuscany Regional Authority, and is unded through the eorts o the Slow Food movement, by institu-

tions, private companies, other Foundations and anyone interested in supporting projects deending

biodiversity.

The Slow Food Foundation supports and spreads the idea o biodiversity as a actor in human, civil and

democratic growth. It acts to deend the ood heritage, environmental, arming and artisan heritage in

any country. While it supports projects around the world, its most signicant commitment is ocused on

developing countries, where deending biodiversity not only means improving peoples quality o lie,

but can mean guaranteeing lie itsel.

The principal project o the Foundation, rom an economic and organizational point o view, is that

o the Presidia. There are now over 300 Presidia in42 Countries, which were created to protectsmall producers and to preserve the quality o artisanal products. Thanks to the initiatives o Slow Foods

network o members, leaders, researchers, writers, ches and producers, the Foundation is able to help

improve production techniques, come up with new products or new ways to use products and nd local

and international markets or then.

The Foundations second important project is the Ark o Taste, the catalogue o quality ood pro-ducts that are at risk o extinction. Through the research o experts rom all over the world who are in-tegral to our 18 national commissions, over 700 products in 50 countries have been chosen or the Ark.

With Mercati della Terra project, the Foundation supports the development, diusion andenorcement o the relationships between the armers markets o the world, to reduce the number

o intermediaries between producers and distributors, which will lessen the distance ood travels rom

eld to table.

The Slow Food Foundation also promotes the exchange o inormation and knowledgebetween members o dierent ood communities through participation in Terra Madre. Terra Madre isan event held in Turin every two years and is attended by 5,000 producers rom 130 countries.

Slow Food Foundation or Biodiversity - via della Mendicit Istruita, 14 - 12042 Bra (Cn)

tel. +39 0172 419701 - ax +39 0172 419725 - [email protected] - www.slowoodoundation.com


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The gift of beesSummary

IntroductIon 5

LIfeandorganIzatIonInsIdethehIve 8

theanatomyofbees 1

thebeekeepersequIpment 1

managInghIves 18

tradItIonaLandmodernhIves 1

howtoharvesthoneyandextractItfromcombs

raIsIngqueenbees 6

concLusIons 0


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5

Introduction

Beekeeping, compared to other types o animal arming, has several advantages. Here are a ew:

Bees do not need eeding like other animals, as they are able to nd ood by themselves almost all

year round.

Bees produce honey even in dry and semi-dry areas unsuitable or cultivation.

When using traditional hives, all the material needed to build them can be ound on site. Beekeepers do not need to own land.

Once started, beekeeping is a sel-nancing business.

All this allows a community, or an individual, to start a project even with ew unds available.

Six dierent products can be obtained rom beekeeping: honey, beeswax, pollen, propolis, royal jelly

and poison. O all these products, the ones that can be most easily preserved and sold - both locally and

abroad - are honey and beeswax.

honey is a sweet and viscous fuid that bees keep in their hive, inside the comb cells. Usually, honeyound in closed cells is suciently dry and can be preserved or an indenite amount o time. Honey

inside open cells may contain too much water and may thereore erment, i harvested.

beeswax is produced by the bodies o bees and is used to build combs which will contain honey andthe brood.

whocanbecomeabeekeeper?Anyone can be a beekeeper, even young people and women. The only people who cannot keep bees

are those who suer rom allergies.

Slow Food honey PresidiaThe Terra Madre network includes 58 beekeeper communities

and 5 Presidia:

Canudo nectar o the Sater Maw (Brazil)

Wukro White Honey (Ethiopia)

Wenchi Volcano Honey (Ethiopia)High Mountain Honeys (Italy)

Polish Mead (Poland)


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bees

ofThe gift


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The bee is a magic insect that produces gold - honey! Honey issweet, nutritious and natural. Is this why people keep bees? Sure!But honey is not only a delicious food, it also means money!Honey can be sold and the prot can then be used to buy commoditiesfor the community.


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Life andorganization

insidethe hiveHoney bees can be ound in most

o the Old World and have been

imported by man to other continents

too.

Several species o bees exist; they

dier in color, size and, mostimportantly, temperament.

Some Arican species have a strong

tendency to swarm, others can

be particularly aggressive. These

peculiarities are the result o their

adaptation to the dierent climates

and environments in which they

live.

howabeecoLonyIsstructuredAs with other animals, there are

male and emale bees. The queen

and worker bees are emale. In each

hive, a queen lays the eggs rom

which all the other bees are hatched.

10,000 to 50,000 worker bees do all

the work in the colony. According to

the time o year, the hive also hosts300 to 800 males, called drones.

thebroodAgain, depending on the time o

the year, the hive can contain eggs

or immature bees at dierent stages

o development: the brood.

The brood in open cells can consist

o eggs (the rst three days aterthey have been laid), larvae (rom

the ourth until the eighth day) and

pupae (rom the eighth until the

twenty-rst day approximately).

on the letf: FANNING BEEunder: TROPHALLAXIS

Bees that go back to the hivepass the nectar on to otherbees waiting for them at theentrance.


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thebeesnestThe colony nest comprises o vertical wax combs made o hexagonal cells. These cells can be o two

types: small ones are where worker bees are hatched, while drones are born in the bigger ones.

Both types o cells are also used to store honey and pollen collected by bees. Usually honey is placed in

the higher part o the comb, while the brood is in its central area. There is also a third type o cell, used

exclusively to raise queens: the royal cell.

howbeesdeveLopBees are hatched rom the eggs laid by the queen on the bottom o cells. I eggs are laid in emale cells

and ertilized, they will hatch worker bees; i they are laid in male cells and are not ertilized, they will

generate drones. Ater three days, eggs produce larvae. For the rst three days o their lives, larvae are

ed with the jelly produced by nurse bees (very young bees); rom the third until the eighth day they

are ed with a mixture o pollen and honey, with the exception o larvae destined to become queens,

which only eat royal jelly throughout their development period.

Remember: i a worker larva is ed only with royal jelly, it will become a

queen!I a queen accidentally dies, bees may choose a ew worker larvae and eed them with royal jelly in

order to turn them into new queens.

From when the eggs are laid, it takes about 16 days or a queen to ully develop, 24 or drones and

about 21 or worker bees.

When the cell is closed, the transormation rom larva into pupa begins.

thequeenThere is generally only one queen in a hive: she can be recognized as she is larger than a worker bee

and longer than a drone, and her wings do not cover her whole abdomen.The queen has a sting too, but she only uses it to kill other queens. Shortly ater being born, the queen

kills all her rivals. Ater ve days, she takes a ew fights to get her bearings and then takes a nuptialfight, when she mates with several drones. The drone seed is kept in a bag-shaped organ located inthe abdomen. It will be used to ertilize all the eggs laid by the queen, except or the male ones.

I, or any reason, the queen is unable to become ertile, the eggs that she lays will only generate

drones. In this case, the colony will die within a ew weeks.

What should a beekeeper do in such a situation? Find out on pages 16-17!

A ew days ater the nuptial fight, the queen begins to lay eggs. She can lay more than 1,000 a day! I,

or some reason, the sperm she has stored nishes, she will become a drone layer.The queen produces smells called pheromones, which regulate the colonys activities. When the queen

gets old and no longer produces these pheromones, worker bees prepare a ew royal cells to replace

the old queen with a new one.

I, in a orphan colony, all larvae are older than three days, bees can no longer raise a new queen.

In such cases, the ovaries o some worker bees develop and they start laying eggs. But as they have not

been ertilized, they can only produce drone eggs. These workers are called laying worker bees.

dronesDrones do not carry out any work within the hive and do not collect pollen or nectar. Their only task is

to ertilize queens. They are bigger than worker bees and have larger eyes and wings to see better and

reach queens during their nuptial fights.

Drones are ready to mate nine days ater their birth and start fying outside the hive looking or virgin

queens. They can cover several kilometers and they oten pool in specic areas.

Drones that manage to ertilize queens die straight aterwards.

The colony raises drones only when there is plenty o pollen and nectar. In times o scarcity, they are no

longer ed and are driven away rom the hives.


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workerbeesA colony contains a very high number o worker bees up to 50,000! They are inertile and have a long

tongue to suck nectar rom fowers. Worker bees have several eatures that queens and drones do not

have: a bag to carry nectar rom fowers to the hive, baskets on their legs to carry pollen, glands in their

head to produce ood or larvae and queens, glands or the production o beeswax to build combs and

a sting to protect themselves against attackers.

The kind o work carried out by worker bees depends on their age. During the rst three weeks they arecalled house bees and carry out tasks inside hives; or the rest o their lives, they work outside hivesand are called oraging bees.House bees:

clean the hive and combs

eed the brood

take care o the queen

build combs

keep the hive cool by anning it with their wings

deposit nectar, pollen and water in the combs guard the hive entrance

cLeanIngCleaning is the rst thing that bees need to do ater their birth. They clean the hive rom dirt and dead

bees and make sure that cells are ready or the queen to lay her eggs inside them.

feedIngthebroodWhen they are three-ve days old, worker bees start eeding the brood. They are now called nurse

bees.

attendIngthequeenThe next task is to eed and look ater the queen bee. Bees around her constantly touch her with their

tongues and antennae to serve her.

orIentatIonfLIghtsYoung bees start practicing their fying skills and learn how to recognize their hive. This allows them

to fy urther and urther away rom the hive within a three-kilometer radius and, i necessary, even

beyond.

buILdIngthecombsCombs consist o hexagonal cells used both to raise the brood and to store honey and pollen. Between

the twelth and eighteenth day o lie, bees produce beeswax through the glands under their bodies.

When rst exuded, beeswax is fuid but it then hardens and turns into small fakes. Bees lit these fakes

with their mandibles and legs and work it to build the combs.

keepIngtherIghttemperatureInsIdethehIveKeeping the temperature under control is one o the most important tasks or house bees. I it is cold,

they gather in a tight group and generate heat. On the other hand, i it is too warm, some o themwill go to the hive entrance and start anning with their wings to generate an air current. The required

temperature is 33-36C, but the brood must be kept at about 35C.

honeyproductIonandstorageWhen they are about 20 days old, workers become oraging bees and bring nectar back to the hive.

House bees then store the nectar inside cells, where it dries thanks also to the air current generated by

anning bees.


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waterandpoLLenstorageForaging bees also bring back water, pollen and propolis and house bees must take care o these

substances too. Water is used to cool the hive when the weather is hot and dry. Water is also mixed

with honey and pollen and ed to older larvae (three-six days old). Pollen is stored in the combs around

the brood.

guardIngSome o the hive activities are designed to protect the colony rom possible dangers. Bees prevent beesrom other amilies rom entering the hive, they kill or drive away old and ill bees, they get rid o drones

when they are no longer necessary. Also, they do not allow predators to get into the hive. Guarding the

hive is the last task that a worker bee carries out beore becoming a oraging bee. Guard bees protect

the hive entrance rom enemies and inspect all the nectar and pollen that are brought to the hive.

foragIngbeesWorkers become oraging bees between the eighteenth and twenty-rst day o lie, when the royal

jelly and beeswax glands start to deteriorate. Now bees have reached the optimal conditions to fy andare amiliar with the environment around the hive. They choose to collect nectar, pollen, propolis or

water according to the needs o the colony.

nectarNectar is a sweet fuid secreted by fowers. Bees recognize fowers through their sight and smell. One

bee can carry up to 85% o its own weight.

coLLectIngwaterCollecting water is one o the most important things to do. Bees can use rather drastic methods to do

this: they suck water rom clothes hanging out to dry and rom damp places inside houses. Through

their proboscis, it takes them just a ew minutes to collect a lot o water. They take it to the hive and

then fy back out to look or more.

scoutbeesScout bees explore the territory searching or ood or a place to build a new hive and then fy back to

pass the inormation on to the rest o the colony. They communicate through a sort o dance which

indicates the direction and distance o the target.

robbIngbeesAll worker bees are robbers, as they try to steal anything they like. This happens especially when oodresources are scarce or when a hive has been abandoned or is very weak.


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The anatomyof beesBees are the most useul insects

to man. In order to carry out theirwork, they have special organs. Lets

see what they are like.

Like other insects, bees have a head,

a thorax and an abdomen.

headIn the head, we nd the eyes, the

antennae, the mandibles and the

proboscis.

Eyes: bees have ve eyes in total,two big ones and three small ones.

Drones have bigger eyes, so that

they can nd virgin queens more

easily during their mating fights.

Antennae: bees have two anten-nae and they use them to commu-

nicate. Bees constantly touch each

other and thus exchange inorma-

tion through smells.

Mandibles: the two mandiblesare used to grab things. They are

also used to mix pollen and to work

beeswax.

Proboscis: used to suck nectar,honey or other fuids.

thoraxThe thorax supports the legs, the

wings and the head.

Legs: bees use them to walk, butthey also have other unctions. For

instance, they have brushes to col-

lect the pollen pressed against the

pollen baskets. Drones and queens

do not have pollen baskets because

they do not work as oraging bees.

On the legs, there are also two semi-circles to clean the antennae.

A - Proboscis

B - AntennaeC - Three simple eyes

D - Royal jelly gland

E - Wings

F - Sting

G - Beeswax glandH - Brushes to collect pollene

I - Hook to clean antennae

L - Buccal apparatus (mandibles)

A

B

C

H

IL

G

F

D

E


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Drone Queen Worker

1st day

th day

6th day

8th day

0th day

Wings are necessary to fy and toan the hive.

abdomenThe abdomen contains all inner or-

gans: heart, intestine, reproductive

and excretory organs.

For a beekeeper, the beeswax glan-ds, the glands producing smells (phe-

romones) and the poison glands are

very important.


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Thebeekeepers

equipmentthesmokerIt is almost as undamental as the hive

itsel. No bee will ever allow a beekee-

per to visit the hive without deending

itsel against him.

Bees are renowned or their aggressi-

veness: a beekeeper should never che-

ck a hive without using a smoker.

The smoker is made up o two parts:a metal container, large enough to

contain dry matter that can burn or

at least 30 minutes, and a bellows that

pushes air into the container, so that

smoke comes out o the chimney. No

uels or oils should be placed inside the

container, only materials such as wood,

manure, shells, dry leaves or other dry

substances that produce cold and whi-te smoke. Smoke calms bees down, so

that the beekeeper can work undistur-

bed.

theLeverIt is needed to open the hive and re-

move combs. With a traditional hive,

a knie may be enough. During the

harvesting season, a knie is also use-ul when combs are glued to the body

o the hive or to separate portions o

a comb which are stuck together or to

the hive wall.

Important!smoke must always be cold


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Good, now we can start our visitto the hive.

But we cant getclose without taking

precautions: bees alwaystry to protect the hive.

This is why well have towear a suit, gloves, and a mask.

In this way, we can work without the risk of beingattacked. If the beekeeper is condent and calm,the bee colony wont get upset.

thebrushIt is used to remove bees rom com-

bs and gently let them into a contai-

ner or into the hive. Branches with

leaves or animal eathers are equal-

ly eective.

thefeederIt can be a jar or a special comb-sha-

ped container.

Modern beekeepers use protective

clothing: a suit (preerably light-co-

lored), gloves, a veil and boots.

thesuItIt covers the whole body, except

the head, hands and eet. The veILis very important and protects the

ace, head and neck.gLovesmustbe fexible (rubber ones are recom-

mended) and protect wrists, hands

and ngers rom stings. A pair o

bootsprotects eet rom stings.

All the equipment is lightly-colored.


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This colony had lost itsqueen. She may have been

replaced by the bees.We can see there are royal cells.

The cap of the one on the right isopen. Thats where

the new queen was born.

Heres the new queen: the long abdomen showsshes fertile and ready to lay eggs. In a few dayswe can check if new eggs have been laid and thusbe sure that everything went well.

This is not always the case: a queen may die,

eaten by a bird while she is taking her mating

ights, or because she is too old.

In these cases, if the family has no young

brood available to raise a new queen, the colony

will be orphaned. An orphan colony is quite easyto recognize: bees make a loud, long buzz,

as if they are crying, and are restless.


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WHAT CAN A BEEKEEPER DO IN SUCH CASES?

Now lets visit this colony. We hear the typical buzz, the whining:this is the rst sign that this may be anorphan colony.

We must still make suretheres no trace of a brood.

Now that we know there isno brood, we can take

a comb with eggs fromanother hive and placeit in the orphan colony.

This will give bees the opportunity toraise a new queen.

In about two weeks, the queen willbe born. Until then, its betternot to visit the hive.


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Managinghives

theapIaryThe apiary is the place where hives

are located. Bees must have access to

nectar plants and water. The apiary

must be protected rom thieves - it is

a good idea to mark hives with the

owners name or initials.

theIdeaLLocatIonThe ideal place to have an apiary

should:

be away rom inhabited areas,

where bees can disturb people

have plenty o nectar plants

be easily accessible

have access to a water source

be sheltered rom the wind

be protected rom thieves.

arrangementofhIvesModern hives must be placed on

supports that raise them rom the

ground, so that they are protected

rom insects such as ants.

howtoputbeesInahIve

Hives can be lled with bees in ourdierent ways:

capturing a swarm

nding a wild bees nest and

transerring it to the hive

buying a colony

splitting up amilies.

howtocaptureaswarmOnce the swarm has been sighted,

the rst thing to do is to prepare the

hive that will house it. I a modern

hive is used, this shall be prepared

with ready made combs or beeswax comb oundations


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with ready-made combs or beeswax comb oundations.

Then, you need to gure out how to capture the swarm, possibly with the help o someone else. Once

youre ready, the branch where the swarm is clustered can be cut and placed inside the hive. I you

cannot cut the branch, the bees can be dampened, so that they will not fy away. Now they can be

shaken directly into the hive.

fIndIngawILdbeesnestandtransferrIngIttothehIveIn this case, bees are very aggressive. This is why, beore getting close to the nest, you need to protect

yoursel with a suit and a mask. Also, a lot o smoke must be produced with the smoker.

With a knie, try and cut the combs without breaking them. Then, one by one, asten them to the

rames (with no beeswax comb oundation) with a ne cord. I youre lucky, you will also transer the

queen. I not, the bees will build royal cells and a new queen will be born.

The hive where the bee colony has been transerred to should be moved at least 3 kilometres away

rom where it was removed, otherwise only young bees will stay in the hive.

buyIngacoLonyThis makes everything much easier! You just need to go to the seller with an empty hive. Make surethat the combs transerred into your hive also contain the queen.

spLIttIngacoLonytoobtaIntwofamILIesI you already have modern hives, their number can be increased by splitting the nest into two halves.

Be careul: you can only split up hives with at least eight combs and you need to make sure that there

is enough fowering.

The easiest way is to remove our combs and put them into the empty hive. Make sure that both hives

contain brood with eggs or very young larvae and enough adult bees to keep the brood warm.The orphan hive will build royal cells so that new queens can be born. The empty spaces inside the hives

must be lled with beeswax comb oundations.

Ater about one month, check that both hives contain a brood.

For the operation to be successul, you must make sure that there are drones. Splitting up a amily

should be avoided in times o scarcity.

Ideally, the new amily should be placed at least three kilometers away rom the original one. I this is

not easible, the new colony must contain more bees, as many will go back to the old one.

managIngcoLonIesOnce bees are put in the hive, the beekeeper must learn how to visit it. He will be more successul i he

observes what happens inside the hive during the dierent times o the year.

howtoInspectahIveTo open a hive, you will need to activate the smoker and direct the smoke onto the bees. Ater liting

the crown board, smoke the nest and extract the combs with the help o a lever or a knie. Look at the

arrangement o the brood and the honey and look or any royal cells. Their presence means that the

hive is preparing to swarm.

howtopreventbeIngstungbybeesBees sting! And they can kill! Allergic people should stay away rom bees. When a bee stings, the sting

stuck in the skin gives o a smell which attracts even more aggressive bees. The best thing to do is to

extract the sting by scratching it with your nails and smoke the aected area to mix smells.

when do bees stIng the most?


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whendobeesstIngthemost? i you open the hive without using any smoke

i it is cold, rainy or windy

i you rock the hive or disturb it in any way

i you are wearing black

i you make abrupt movements while holding a comb

i you are scared: ear makes you sweat, bees can smell that and get irritated.

howtoprepareframesforaLangstrothhIveFrames must be ortied with a ne iron wire where the comb oundation will be mounted.

The comb oundation is then attached to the rame by passing a very hot bar o iron on the wire, which

thus penetrates the molten beeswax o the comb oundation. Alternatively, you can heat up some

beeswax in a pot and then pour it over the iron wire. Frames with comb oundations must be placed

inside hives when bees collect nectar, otherwise combs will not be built.

howtomergetwocoLonIesSometimes it is necessary to merge two colonies, either because one no longer has a queen or because

two weak colonies do not produce any honey, while a strong and populated one does!

When two weak colonies are merged, it is always better to kill the least ecient queen one day beore.

I you leave both queens alive, one will be killed by the bees, and she may not be the weakest one.

When carrying out this operation, it is a good idea to conuse bees with some scented substance, so that

they all smell the same and do not ght each other.

The best moment to merge two colonies is in the evening, when bees are about to stop fying. This

reduces the risk o thet.

Beore merging the two amilies, they must be abundantly smoked. Remember: i the emptied hive is

not moved away, many bees will go back to where they originally were and will try to get into the closest

hives.

howtoevaLuateaqueenThe queen is the mother o all bees, so a good queen is one that lays many eggs.

Many eggs mean a large brood, hence large populations which ensure rich honey harvests.

howtopreventtheftBees, by instinct, collect anything that is sweet and store it or times o shortage. This instinct is so strongthat sometimes they steal honey rom weaker hives.

When a colony is being robbed o its honey, you will see many bees fying around the hive, quickly going

in and out o it. Robbing bees are very nervous and sometimes darker, as they get dirty with honey and

lose their hairs. They are also very aggressive and sometimes attack people and animals.

To prevent thet, avoid opening the hives in times o scarce resources. When visiting hives, do not leave

combs and honey in the open. Reduce entrances to weaker hives: only leave one small hole. In times o

scarcity, only eed bees in the evening, when they are not fying.


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Straw

Entrance

Area with brood/pollenArea with honey

To harvest honey, proceed as follows.Try and use as little smoke as possible.

1) spatula to pick up combs) sharp wood to cut combs) knife

1

Traditionaland modernhivestradItIonaLcoLonIesThey produce less honey than

modern ones and this can be a

good reason to consider switching

to more ecient hives.

tradItIonaLhIvesTraditional hives have been used all

over the world since time immemorialand can be built with dierent

materials according to geographical

area. They can be made o straw,

clay or wood.

Inside them, bees build combs, which

are then collected by the beekeeper

with a knie or a spatula.

modernhIvesModern hives are the result o theresearch done by Lorenzo Lorraine

Langstroth on the organization o

spaces inside a hive. He discovered

that the minimum necessary distance

or two combs to remain separated

is about 7-9 millimeters. Ater this

discovery, Lorenzo designed a hive

which is now used all over the world

and carries his name: the Langstroth

hive. This hive contains 10 wooden

rames on which bees can build their

combs in a parallel arrangement, as

they would do naturally. Compared

to a traditional hive, this one has the

advantage o removable rames,

which can be extracted without

bothering the bees. Also, honey can

be harvested without destroyingthe combs: in the Langstroth hive,

the nest with the brood can be

separated rom the super hives

1 5 6

that contain honey with the help b


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that contain honey with the help

o a queen excluder. This is acalibrated grid which prevents the

queen rom passing through its

mesh, so that she is conned to the

brood chamber, while other bees

(smaller than the queen) are ree

to move rom one compartment o

the hive to another.

advantagesofmodernhIves

Combs can be easily extracted

and the hive can be visited without

damaging them

Hives can be easily transported

rom one place to another Honey can be extracted with a

centriuge without breaking the

combs, which can then be restored

to the bees

The honey obtained is clearer and

cleaner

Hives can be easily doubled by

simply distributing combs between

two hives A bee swarm can be placed inside

a modern hive more easily.

dIsadvantagesofmodernhIves A modern hive is expensive

It takes equipment and wood

to build it

Wood, i available, must be

seasoned

Frames must be ortied with

wire and tted with beeswax

comb oundations

A centriuge is necessary to extract

honey.

Now that we have removed all thehoneycombs, we must think of away to extract it and obtain the twoproducts we want: honey and beeswax.

Its very important for combs withpollen and brood not to be removed.

Combs that only containhoney can now be placed in ahoney press, where we alsoinsert a bag lter.The honey obtained mustthen be ltered and poured

into a jar.

how to feed bees


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Outer cover

Inner cover

Super hive

Queen excluder

Nest

Bottom board

MODERN HIVE

Important!

honey in the nestshould not be removed.

howtofeedbeesBees can be ed with honey or a

mixture o water and sugar.

The ood can be given with a jar or

rame-shaped eeders.

whentofeedbeesBees can be ed when ood is scarceor when colonies have just ormed.

howtogIvewatertobeesA water source must always be

accessible to bees near the apiary.

Water is undamental: it dilutes

honey and it is used to eed the brood

and to cool down the hive when it is

too hot. I no water is available nearthe apiary, the beekeeper should

provide containers lled with water

and foating brushwood, so that

bees can drink without drowning.

H


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Howto harvest

honeyand extract itfrom combshoneyextractIonWhen using traditional hives, com-

bs are removed with a knie and a

wooden spatula.

To separate honey rom beeswax,combs are placed in a press. The ho-

ney obtained must be ltered throu-

gh a bag lter (made o a very ne

nylon mesh) beore being jarred.

When using modern hives, combs

ull o honey can be taken out when

the honey contained in super hives

is inside capped cells. Ater ope-

ning the hive and using a modera-te quantity o smoke, take out the

combs, brush o any bees and place

the combs in a container, sae rom

robbing bees.

Once the combs are taken home,

remove the beeswax layer rom the

capped cells and place the combs

inside the centriuge to extract the

honey.Honey is now passed through a l-

ter to remove any beeswax residue

and then stored in containers. From

these, it will later be jarred and nal-

ly sold.

It is important to extract honey

when it has the right moisture con-

tent. A simple way to check its ripe-

ning stage is to squeeze a drop o

honey between thumb and oren-ger. When opening your ngers, i

the honey is stringy it has reached

the right maturation. I it hasnt, it

After removing the bees from the combswith a brush, the combs should be takento a closed place. There, the beeswaxcappings that block cells can be removedwith a knife.

Now all thats leftto do is to place thecombs in a honeyextractor and pro-ceed with thelast step.

is too fuid and needs more time to

l t it d h idi ti


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5

complete its dehumidication pro-

cess.

beeswaxextractIonThe ideal procedure would be to use

a solar beeswax extractor: a metal

box with a piece o glass on top. Youonly need to put beeswax inside it

and leave the box in the sun, so that

the wax melts.

The most widely used method is ex-

traction with hot water. In this case,

you will need a pot where beeswax

can melt. Put water and beeswax in

the pot and on a stove until beeswax

is melted. Now take the pot o the

re and leave it to cool slowly. The

day ater, the beeswax will have har-

dened and can be taken out o the

pot.

Locking clamp

Bag lter

Ripener

R i i b


26/32

6

Raising queen beesLearning how to raise queens is important to rapidly increase the number o hives.

In the previous paragraphs, we saw how worker bees can raise a queen rom a young worker larva

when they need to. The beekeeper exploits this instinct to have many queens.

choosIngthequeentoreproduceWhen choosing a colony to reproduce, three aspects must be taken into account: density o popula-

tion, docility and production.

raIsIngaqueenwIthemergencyceLLsWhen a queen is taken away rom a hive, bees become aware o it and start building emergency royal

cells. Ater one week, cells are capped and can be removed by cutting them o with a knie together

with a piece o comb, so as not to damage them.

The removed queen bee must be placed in another hive, with a brood comb and a honeycomb. At the

end o the season, you will have obtained a new amily.

In order to have many queens, you need to:

count how many royal cells you have

have hives in which to put the new amilies

ll the new hives with two or three brood combs and honeycombs

move the new hives about three kilometers away or, alternatively, add more bees

remove the cells rom the hive you have orphaned six days beore

place the cells in the hives by attaching them to the combs with a small twig

ater about 15 days, check i the new queen has laid eggs.

swarmceLLsWhen bees are about to swarm, the hive contains several royal cells. These can be used by moving the

whole comb with the cells attached to it or by repeating the steps described above.

supersedureceLLsSometimes, the royal cells ound in hives are not swarm cells, but supersedure cells, used to replace an

old queen. In this case, mother and daughter can live together in the same hive or a ew months.


27/32

This is the end of our short journeytogether. We have tried to give you

some information and hints on how tostart or improve the fantastic adventurethat is beekeeping and honey production.

One book is not enough to evenstart exploring the complexityand the many variables involvedin managing hives.

In order to master this wonderful trade, the totaldedication of the beekeeper and a ne spirit ofobservation are essential.

We wish you great success in your work!


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8

Notes


29/32

Notes


30/32

0

Conclusion

We have tried to illustrate, simply and briey, the most important practicesthat should be followed to produce high quality honey.This manual is only a rst tool to nd out about the complex and fascinatingworld of bees. The rest comes from daily experience and passion.

The manual has been designed and written for Slow Food Presidia producersand all honey food communities.It has been written by small beekeepers for small beekeepers.We hope you will nd it useful and that in future years, thanks to suggestions

gathered through the Terra Madre network, it will improve and become evenmore helpful and exhaustive.

bees

of

The gift


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1

ILLustratIonsandscrIpt

Diego Pagani

texts

Massimiliano Gotti, Diego Pagani

transLatIonSimona Caldera

wIththecooperatIonof

Paolo Bolzacchini, Chris Godber, John Irving, Serena Milano, Grazia Novellini

cover

Honey harvest, illustration by Diego Pagani

graphIcdesIgnandLayout

Claudia Saglietti

prIntIng

On recycled paper (Cyclus Oset), La Stamperia Carr (Cn)

THE PRODUCTION OF THIS PUBLICATION HAS BEEN PROMOTED AND COORDINATED

BY THE SLOW FOOD FOUNDATION FOR BIODIVERSITY ONLUS AND HAS BEEN POSSIBLE

THANKS TO THE COOPERATION OF:

Zewdi Abadi Alemu, Ethiopian Honey Presidia Coordinator

Aspromiele, Piedmontese Honey Producers Association

CCM (Medical Cooperation Commitee) Ngo, Project Partner

Conapi, Organic Beekeepers and Farmers

Raaele De Lutio, the Italian Ambassador in Addis Ababa

GTZ (German Technical Cooperation), Project Partner

Gianluca Pressi, Ethiopian Presidia Collaborator

andthesupportof

Conapi, Organic Beekeepers and Farmers

Saint-Gobain Vetri, Food quality glassware


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If the bee disappears

from the surface of the earth,

man would have no more

than four years to live

Albert Einstein

Documents

The Gift of Bees - Slow Food International