Saturday, April 25th 2026
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What will you learn in our class? Here is a high level overview!
- Prepare for and install Bees
- We will discuss the type of hives available and explain how to set you your apiary.
- 8 or 10 frame Langstroth
- Top bar
- Long langstroth
- Apimaye
- European
- Flow hive
- Did you know that it helps to position your hive in a southeast direction?
- Beekeepers set hives on 12-18 inch stands, but why?
- We will discuss the type of hives available and explain how to set you your apiary.
- Basics of Bee Management
- What is bee space? Did you know that bees will use propolis to fill space smaller than 1/4". They will build comb in space larger than 3/8"
- Bees maintain 93 - 97-degree (F) temperature in the hive but why and how?
- Bees propagate by swarming. Half of the hive and the old queen will find a new home. The remaining hive will create a new queen but how?
- Hive Inspection
- Before inspecting, check the weather! Bees can get cranky if it is windy, cold or rainy.
- A bee smoker is used to mask alert pheromones
- Remove an outside frame completely to create more space for removing additional frames and prevent "rolling" bees between frames
- Bee Behavior and Biology
- Bees communicate with a waggle dance to tell the hive where to locate food and water
- Only female bees (worker and queen) have a stinger. Male bees (drones) do not have a stinger
- Bees have a stomach to digest food and a honey gut to collect nectar
- Honey Extraction
- Worker bees break down nectar in their honey gut into simple sugars
- One 10-frame medium honey super can produce 30-60 pounds of honey
- Honey labels require specific information in order to sell in Texas
