The Beekeeper's Problem Solver

Author James E. Tew

Release Date: 2015/02/01

ISBN: 9781627883184

Topic:

20
Chapters

0-1
Hours read

0k
Total Words

    Start Reading Now    
       Add to Wishlist       
View table of contents

Table of Contents

1. Introduction
2. CHAPTER ONE: BEEKEEPING BASICS
   1. 1. I don’t know how to start beekeeping
   2. 2. I’m unsure when is best to start beekeeping
   3. 3. I don’t know where to get my first bees
   4. 4. I’m concerned that my apiary is in a poor site
   5. 5. My new bees arrived during a cool, rainy period
   6. 6. Beekeeping equipment is expensive
   7. 7. I’m not sure how to buy an established colony
   8. 8. My nextdoor neighbors are afraid of bees
   9. 9. Some bees were crushed during a hive examination
   10. 10. My bees are aggressive toward garden machinery
3. CHAPTER TWO: BEEKEEPING EQUIPMENT
   1. 11. My hive equipment doesn’t match
   2. 12. I’m concerned about hive equipment theft
   3. 13. The paint finish on my hives is failing
   4. 14. The inner cover of the hive is glued down
   5. 15. Plastic hives accumulate water during the winter
   6. 16. Beeswax foundation is difficult to install
   7. 17. I don’t have the right tool to open up the hive
   8. 18. The queen excluder is disrupting colony function
   9. 19. My bee gloves make hive work difficult
   10. 20. The beehive smoker will not stay lit
   11. 21. The handles on my bee boxes are inadequate
   12. 22. A hand truck loaded with a colony tipped over
   13. 23. My observation hive is not thriving
   14. 24. I’m confused by differing foundation cell sizes
   15. 25. I’m unsure which bottom board design to opt for
   16. 26. A loaded hive stand has accidentally collapsed
4. CHAPTER THREE: BIOLOGY AND BEHAVIOR OF THE COLONY
   1. 27. My bees seem to sting more often than is normal
   2. 28. A swarm has clustered beneath the parent hive
   3. 29. There are few eggs and larvae in the brood nest
   4. 30. There is cross comb on the foundation inserts
   5. 31. The bees keep scouring the hive entrance
   6. 32. Some capped brood cells have small openings
   7. 33. Healthy bees are lying dead in front of the hive
   8. 34. The brood combs have turned heavy and dark
   9. 35. There are many dead drones at the hive entrance
   10. 36. There are two queens in the brood nest
5. CHAPTER FOUR: MANAGING AND MANIPULATING HIVES
   1. 37. The bees have built combs in empty spaces
   2. 38. The bees are gathering on the front of the hive
   3. 39. The brood nest is overcrowded
   4. 40. The brood nest has been built across multiple boxes
   5. 41. The hive is bulging with too many bees
   6. 42. A large number of bees died off in the winter
   7. 43. The bees are visiting neighbors’ water sources
   8. 44. The colony looks too weak to survive winter
   9. 45. My apiary has been flooded
   10. 46. The hive lower entrance is often blocked in winter
   11. 47. Brace combs have stuck the hive boxes together
   12. 48. The bees have built many swarm cells
   13. 49. Rain has stopped pollen and nectar flow
6. CHAPTER FIVE: QUEEN PRODUCTION AND MAINTENANCE
   1. 50. I need to store a replacement queen
   2. 51. I don’t know where to look for the queen
   3. 52. The queen is not a good egg producer
   4. 53. Some cells have multiple eggs
   5. 54. Finding the queen takes a long time
   6. 55. The queen is difficult to cage
   7. 56. Larvae won’t slide off the grafting tool
   8. 57. Too few drones are available for queen mating
   9. 58. Some of my queen mating nucs have failed
   10. 59. My replacement queen was killed
7. CHAPTER SIX: DISEASES AND PESTS OF HONEY BEES
   1. 60. There are mice living in the beehive in winter
   2. 61. There are multiple problems with the colony
   3. 62. Varroa mites have overrun the colony
   4. 63. There are ants nesting beneath the outer cover
   5. 64. Small hive beetles have invaded the colony
   6. 65. There are signs of AFB in the hive, but no foul odor
   7. 66. Chalkbrood is affecting colony productivity
   8. 67. Wasps are attacking the bees
   9. 68. Animals are visiting the apiary at night
   10. 69. The brood smells foul and has punctured cappings
   11. 70. Wax worms are destroying the combs
8. CHAPTER SEVEN: POLLEN AND POLLINATION
   1. 71. Too much pollen is packed in the brood nest
   2. 72. There are drones stuck in the pollen trap
   3. 73. The bees are pollinating weeds
   4. 74. The pollen I have collected is decaying
   5. 75. My pollination colonies are mixed sizes
   6. 76. Too few bees are pollinating the target crop
   7. 77. The bees won’t eat certain types of pollen
   8. 78. The bees won’t consume pollen supplements
   9. 79. Many bees are lost during a hive move
   10. 80. The bees are struggling to find good forage
9. CHAPTER EIGHT: PRODUCING AND PROCESSING HONEY
   1. 81. The bees won’t leave full honey supers
   2. 82. Some honeycombs do not have wax cappings
   3. 83. The extracting room is cramped and inefficient
   4. 84. Many bees are coming to the extracting area
   5. 85. Honey has granulated in the comb
   6. 86. My comb honey crop is disappointingly small
   7. 87. The honey filter keeps getting clogged
   8. 88. I’m unsure how to guarantee varietal sources
   9. 89. Liquid honey has accidentally been spilled
   10. 90. Extracted honey has granulated in jars
   11. 91. My bottled honey is not selling well
10. CHAPTER NINE: BEESWAX, PROPOLIS, AND SPECIALTY ISSUES
    1. 92. Beeswax is firmly stuck to plastic foundation
    2. 93. Propolis is difficult to gather and process
    3. 94. I can’t get my beeswax candles out of the mold
    4. 95. My pure beeswax candles have a cloudy film
    5. 96. Bee stings are painful and cause swelling
    6. 97. My honey soap is not setting up properly
    7. 98. My neighbor has found bee droppings on their car
    8. 99. Spots of beeswax are hard to remove
    9. 100. Rendering beeswax over a flame is a fire hazard
11. Glossary
12. Index
13. Further Resources
14. Image Credits