Honey Beekeeping and Beeswax

Not only does honey beekeeping provide you will honey it also will give you beeswax.    What exactly is beeswax, you ask?

Beeswax is a natural wax produced by honey bee females or worker bees.  The beeswax is used to build honeycombs where they store honey and pollen.

So you wonder, how can I use this beeswax?

Beeswax is often used to make candles, and used in lip balms.  Beeswax candles are preferred because they produce little to no smoke and very little dripping.

And of course beeswax has been claimed to be the best and most natural lip balm on the market.  So if you are into honey beekeeping don't just use the honey from the beehive, but also make use of the beeswax.  If it a very sought after item and will help you increase profits and make the most from your honey bees.

The Honey Bee Colony

A honey bee colony is made up of three types of honeybees.  The queen, workers, and male drones.

The job of the queen honey bee is to lay eggs to produce worker bees and drones.  All of the worker bees and drones are usually the offspring of the queen bee in the hive.  Typically a queen will lay up to 1,500-2,500 eggs per day.  The queen bee starts off as a normal worker bee egg, but she is fed more royal jelly then the other eggs, resulting in development of ovaries which is need to lay eggs.  Royal jelly is the secretion the worker bees produce to feed the larvae once the egg hatches.  A queen is produced if the current queen is too old or is somehow killed.  A queen will typical live for three years.  During the queens lifetime she may produce over a million eggs.

The worker bee are usually females and make up most of the bee hive population.  Worker bees perform many jobs and duties.  They are used for cleaning the hive, feeding larvae, getting pollen, making beeswax.  The life span of a worker bee is anywhere from six to fourteen weeks depending on conditions.

The male bees of the honey bee colony are often referred to as drones.  The drones main purpose in life is to breed with the queen honey bee.  The drones are the largest of the three, and are half as big as worker bees.

Types of Honey

photo from honey.com

The kind of honey you get from the supermarket is not the same as you get from the beehive or as well like to call it raw honey.  Raw honey is unprocessed and straight from the hive, the taste varies slightly depending on the type of honey bees and the flowers used during pollination.

Most of the honey found in supermarkets has been processed, and it is also usually pasteurized.  It is often passed through filters and other preservatives added.

Most everyone agrees raw honey from honey bees is the best, and most tasty.

If you are thinking of making your own honey or starting your own honey beehive.  Then you should look into the Honey Beekeeping Guide.  Your family and taste buds will thank you.

Anatomy of the Honey Bee

photo courtesy of Wikipedia user WikipedianProlific 

About Honey Beekeeping

Honey Beekeeping is also sometimes refer to as apiculutre.  Beeswax and honey are gathered from honey bee hives.  They are often sold.  Hives or colonies of honey bees can reach the size of up to one hundred thousand honey bees.  Most of the honey bees used in honey beekeeping are of the following species

• Western Honey Bee
• Italian Honey Bee
• European Dark Bee
• Carniolan Honey Bee

Collecting honey has been done since the beginning of time, but it also can be very dangerous, if you do not known the type of honey bee that is occupying the hive.  Smoke is used to help calm the bees during the removal process. 

Honey Beekeeping suits may be worn by the beekeeper to help warrant them from getting stung.  It is believed that the more someone gets stung(not at once) the more and more the stings lose effectiveness.

Honey Beekeeping is a great hobby and also a praticial business in today's market. 

What is a Honey Bee? Honey Bees for Honey Beekeeping

Honey bees get their name from the making and storing of honey.  There is several different types of honey bees.  However there is over twenty thousand different species of bees.  Close relatives of honey bees are bumble bees.  Their is two primary honey bees used for beekeeping they are known as species A. cerana and A. mellifera.  Aside from using honey bees being used for Honey Beekeeping (making honey) they are also often used for the pollination of crops.  They are mostly used to pollinate fruit trees and plants.

Some different species of Honey Bees are:

• Africanized or Killer Bees
• Cavity Nesting Honey Bees
• Dwarf Honey Bees
• Giant Honey Bees

Honey Beekeeping has become more and more popluar as a hobby.  Fresh made honey from honey bee can not be beat.  Not only can beekeeper make and sell/use the honey.  They can also profit from "renting" there bees to fruit farmers to help pollinate there fruit trees. 

Honey bees and Honey beekeeping have been around forever.  If you are interested in getting started in honey beekeeping or become a beekeeper.  There is a guide on Honey Beekeeping that will say your hours upon hours of reading and looking for information.