For thousands of years, man has kept bees for the delicious honey that they produce. In modern times, there are easier ways to satisfy our craving for sweets, but we still study the little creatures. Lots of interesting facts can be learned from papers, books and on the world-wide web. Today bees are important because they are pollinators for much of the fruits and vegetables we grow. No apples, almonds, zucchini or many other fruits, berries and vegetables would grow without honey bees.
In the beekeeping project, we'll learn about bees and about bee keeping. We'll observe our bee colonies and tend to them. We'll build beehives and frames to hold the honey combs. The most fun part is harvesting the honey.
Meetings will nominally be held on the first Sunday afternoon of the month, from 2:00PM to 4:00PM. (We'll skip January 1st 2012, even the bees will be lazy that day).
The meetings are either held in my backyard or at the farm. If the weather is bad, the meeting may be cancelled or moved to another date.
There are seven meetings scheduled, they are two hours each. If you attend five meetings you will have met the 4-H requirement for completing a project.
Date | Location | Topic |
11/6/2011 Sunday |
Hallamasek Home | Organizational meeting; wasps are not bees; introduction to bees and beekeeping |
12/4/2011 Sunday |
4-H Farm | Inspect the beehives; take off honey supers;feed the bees sugar water. |
2/5/2012
Sunday |
Hallamasek Home | Learn about beekeeping equipment;build frames, honey supers, paint hive. |
3/4/2012 Sunday |
4-H Farm | Inspect hives, add honey supers. |
4/1/2012 Sunday |
4-H Farm | Inspect hive; check honey flow, look for queen cells, split a colony if possible. |
5/6/2012 Sunday |
4-H Farm | Inspect hives; take away honey combs if they are full; handle the drones. |
6/3/2012 Sunday |
Hallamasek Home | Harvest honey: spin the honey from the combs, filter, fill in jars. |
Inspecting Hive
Examining the bees.
Removing the Caps
Watching the Honey
Extracting Honey
Extracting Honey
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