1. JONATHAN R. ENGELSMA, PH.D. H T T P : / / W W W. H U D S O N V I L L E H O N E Y. C O MSO YOU WANT TO BE A BEEKEEPER?

2. TOPICS Getting up the learningcurve. Equipment youll need. Getting your bees. Caring for your bees. Harvesting Honey Wintering bees. 3. TOPICS Getting up the learningcurve. Equipment youll need. Getting your bees. Caring for your bees. Harvesting Honey Wintering bees. 4. SCALING THE LEARNING CURVE Get yourself a local mentor! Join a local bee club. Read some good bee books. Engage in the online beekeeping community. 5. GET YOURSELF AMENTOR! 6. G E T I N V O LV E D :JOIN A BEE CLUB 7. READ SOME GOOD BEE BOOKS! Backyard Beekeeper/ Kim Flottum How to keep beesand sell honey / Walter T. Kelley Honey Bee Biologyand Beekeeping / Dewey Caron 8. VISIT SOME GOOD WEBSITES! beesource.com scientificbeekeeping.com michiganbees.org bees.library.cornell.edu 9. TOPICS Getting up the learningcurve. Equipment youll need. Getting your bees. Caring for your bees. Harvesting Honey Wintering bees. 10. THE MODERN BEEHIVE Invented by the Rev. L.L.Langstroth in 1851. Removable frames Size matters: bee space 11. THE HIVE Decisions to make: 10 frame vs. 8 frame / beconsistent! Deep vs. medium forbrood chambers. 12. HIVE COMPONENTS hive stand inner cover bottom board outer cover entrance reducer rims / shims hive bodies honey supers frames feeders foundation queen excluder 13. SMOKERS 14. THE HIVE TOOL Most essential tool! Multi-purposes: prying,scraping, etc. The simple $4 hive tool willsuffice! 15. VEILS & BEESUITS, ETC. Veil is essential equipment. Wear a bee suit / whitecoveralls as needed. Gloves / gauntlets optional. Avoid wool clothing. 16. TOPICS Getting up the learningcurve. Equipment youll need. Getting your bees. Caring for your bees. Harvesting Honey Wintering bees. 17. GETTING BEES FOR YOUR HIVE 3 options for getting bees: package bees nucs catch a swarm! 18. PA C K A G E B E E S 19. NUCS 20. C AT C H A S W A R M ! ! 21. PA C K A G E S V S . N U C S Packages Nucs (northern raised) raised in the south build up faster slower start get stock that winters no old combs!well. you might get junkcombsORDER YOUR BEES EARLY!!! 22. TOPICS Getting up the learningcurve. Equipment youll need. Getting your bees. Caring for your bees. Harvesting Honey Wintering bees. 23. CARING FOR YOUR BEES In order to care for yourbees, you need to think like a bee NEED TO UNDERSTANDBASIC BEE BIOLOGY! 24. Source: The Honey Bee by Frank C. Pellett. 1919 25. CAN YOU FIND THE QUEEN? 26. CAN YOU FIND THE QUEEN?CAN YOU FIND A DRONE? 27. THE QUEEN 16 days from egg to bee fertile female: mother lives 2 or more years lays as many as 2000 eggsper day mates (in flight) with anumber of drones 28. HONEY BEE BIOLOGY Worker bee 21 days from egg tobee infertile female does all the work:housekeeping, childrearing, foraging, guard, etc. Drone bee 23 days from egg tobee mates with queen(maybe) kicked out whengoing gets tough 29. BEEKEEPING / S P R I N G TA S K S Start new colonies (feed!). Feed wintered colonies ifnecessary. Monitor/treat for mites Split strong winteredcolonies to prevent swarming. 30. BEEKEEPING / S U M M E R TA S K S Monitor for mites Super colonies Harvest honey 31. BEEKEEPING / F A L L TA S K S Monitor / Treat for mites Feed if needed. Prepare hives for winter 32. YOUR #1 CHALLENGE IN KEEPING YOUR BEES ALIVE:VA R R O A D E S T R U C T O R 33. D E A L I N G W I T H VA R R O A M I T E S Hard Chemicals (miticides): not recommended Soft treatments: formic acid, thymol Integrated Pest ManagementNote: If you dont do something for mites, you will most likely be buying new bees every year! 34. TOPICS Getting up the learningcurve. Equipment youll need. Getting your bees. Caring for your bees. Harvesting Honey Wintering bees. 35. IF YOU ARE NICE TO YOUR BEES, THEY MAY PRODUCES O M E V E R Y TA S T Y H O N E Y ! ! 36. C O M B H O N E Y: R E A L LY R A W ! 37. EXTRACTING HONEY Required Equipment Extractor (spinner) Uncapping melter Wax melter 38. EXTRACTING HONEY 39. TOPICS Getting up the learningcurve. Equipment youll need. Getting your bees. Caring for your bees. Harvesting Honey Wintering bees. 40. GETTING READY FOR WINTER! 41. THANK YOU! 42. O U R C O N TA C T I N F O Jonathan & Mieke Engelsma, Nunica, MI Phone: (616) 209-9BEE Email: sales@hudsonvillehoney.com Web: www.hudsonvillehoney.com Facebook: www.facebook.com/hudsonvillehoney Twitter: @honeyandcandles