A beekeeper is someone who manages bee colonies in order to harvest honey. His responsibilities include looking after the bees as well as maintaining and monitoring their hives to ensure maximum honey production. The keeper removes the honey from the hives when it is ready to be harvested and processes it for consumption. He prepares his hives for the winter once honey production has ceased.
The beekeeper must prepare his bees for the upcoming honey-producing months each spring. He must ensure that the insects are free of parasites and that the queen is capable of producing eggs, whether he is introducing newly purchased packages of bees to empty hives or working with pre-existing colonies. He usually medicates his bees to keep them healthy during this time. He may also have to provide sugar and water to the bees until they are able to collect pollen and nectar and produce their own food.
When summer arrives, the beekeeper must maintain his hives and harvest honey as it matures. In order to function properly, bees require enough space in their hives. As a result, as honey production increases, the keeper may need to add more supers to his hives, which are boxes with combs into which the bees can deposit their honey.
The beekeeper starts harvesting honey removing filled supers from his hives. Because the keeper will be in close proximity to the bees, he or she will usually use several protective devices to avoid stings. To protect his head and body, he frequently wears a veil, as well as a protective suit and gloves. He may also use a smoker, which is a device that emits light puffs of smoke to calm agitated bees.
The keeper removes the wax coverings from the super’s combs and extracts the honey within them after the honey-filled supers have been removed and the bees brushed from their surfaces. This can be accomplished manually or with the assistance of a mechanical extractor. The honey must then be purified. Typically, the beekeeper strains the honey first, then lets it sit for a while, allowing impurities to rise to the surface and be skimmed away. The honey is then jarred and sold in some cases.
When the honey harvest is finished, the beekeeper must decide whether or not to keep his colonies over the winter. If he doesn’t, he might have to kill his bees. A beekeeper who wants to keep his bees must take precautions to prepare them for the coming winter. He’ll usually treat the bees and make sure the queen is still alive. In addition, he must provide enough food for his hives to last through the nonproductive months.
Finally, the beekeeper must ensure that his hives are prepared for the impending cold. He could simply relocate them to an indoor location. In other cases, he might wrap and insulate each hive to keep his bees warm until spring.