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Natural Bee Husbandry / Books / Keeping Bees Simply and Respectfully by Johannes Wirz and Norbert Poeplau

Keeping Bees Simply and Respectfully by Johannes Wirz and Norbert Poeplau

Keeping Bees Simply and Respectfully

Apiculture With The Golden Hive

Johannes Wirz & Norbert Poeplau
(Martin Kunz Trans.)

£29.95

Category: Books

IBRA & Northern Bee Books. 1st Eng. ed., 2021
Paperback, 172 Pages
229 × 152 mm
ISBN 978-1-913811-03-7

  • Description
  • Contents

Description

Keeping bees, because one loves nature or wants to harvest one’s own honey, no longer has to remain a dream. The Golden Hive makes beekeeping simple – and is gentle on one’s back, while the needs of the bee colony remain central.

The German Non Governmental Organization – Mellifera – works to protect bees, humans, and nature. The Golden Hive, which has been developed in the teaching apiary owned by Mellifera, provides optimal living conditions for the bees: they build their own comb and they are allowed to swarm, which benefits their health and makes many interventions by beekeepers superfluous. The colony has enough space in one single cavity, which allows it to develop as one contiguous organism, while retaining sufficient honey stores.

Dr Johannes Wirtz, a board member of Mellifera, and master beekeeper Norbert Poeplau provide an introduction to the concept of bee friendly beekeeping and insights into the fascinating life of the makers of honey. The authors’ experience guides the reader step by step while managing a Golden Hive throughout the course of a year. Important issues related to location, swarming, varroa treatment and winter feeding are competently addressed. Valuable suggestions help children become familiar with a bee colony, and with teaching its relationship with nature in general.

This comprehensive guide to beekeeping with the Golden Hive ensures that beekeeping is a joyful endeavour. At the same time our respect for the bees will continue to grow.

Contents

1. Learning to Understand Bees
2. First Encounter With Our Bees
3. Bee Friendly Bee Keeping: A Question of Conscience
3.1. Origins and evolution of the relationship between bees and humans
3.2. The re-discovery of the nature of bees
3.3. Confirmations from current bee science
3.3.1. The swarming instinct and bee health
3.3.2. Natural comb and bee health
3.3.3. Natural insemination and bee health
4. The Path to The Golden Hive
4.1. Various hive types with moveable frame systems
4.2. The development of the Mellifera Golden Hive
4.3. Further developments of the Mellifera Golden Hive
4.3.1. Measurements and parts of the Golden Hive
4.3.2. Useful accessories
4.3.3. The original and copies
5. Bee Keeping: How to Begin
5.1. Preparation and location of the Golden Hive
5.2. A swarm moves in
5.3. Food for the youngsters
6. Bee Keeping Through the Course of the Year
6.1. End of winter and spring
6.2. Der Schwarmtrieb
6.2.1. The urge to swarm
6.2.2. Casts and queen splits
6.2.3. The making of queen splits
6.3. Feeding and the expansion of the young colony
6.4. Managing the construction of combs
6.5. Monitoring the changing mass
6.6. Keeping varroa mites under control
6.7. Feeding in summer and in winter
6.8. Winter break and a new beginning
7. Bee Health: Bee Diseases
7.1. Influences on the varroa drop
7.2. Varroa diagnosis
7.3. Varroa treatment
7.2.1. Physical method
7.2.2. Chemical method
7.2.3. Biological method
7.4. American and European foulbrood
8. The Golden Hive and Bee Pedagogics
8.1. Setting up a Golden Hive
8.2. The opening of the beehive
8.3. Harvesting the honey
8.4. Care and feeding of the bee colony
8.5. Varroa treatment of bees in a school ground setting
9. Products from the Bee Colony
9.1. Delicious honey
9.2. Bees' wax and comb
9.3. Precious pollen
9.4. Propolis for bees and humans
10. Advanced Bee Keeping
10.1. Ten-frame-hive for young colonies
10.2. Use of the small honey super as a mating unit
11. Learning from the Bees
12. The Authors
Acknowledgements
Appendix
1. Addresses related to Mellifera e.V.
2. Further addresses
3. Further reading
4. Film documentaries

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