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Table of Contents
Summary of Contents for Omlet Beehaus
- Page 2 Congratulations on becoming a Beehaus owner! We hope that you will If you haven’t yet been on a course it’s a good idea to go along, even for have many years of pleasure from your Beehaus and that your bees will just one or two sessions. The practical experience will come in useful and soon fill the supers with lots of delicious, fresh honey.
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Page 3: Super Frames X10
Beehaus Instruction Manual What you have received: Lid x 1 Bungee x 2 Cover boards x 4 Super Frames x10 Wax Foundation x10 Supers x 4 Brood Frames x 10 Divider Board x 1 Wax Foundation x10 Entrance Adapter x 2 Brood box x 1 Inspection tray x 1... - Page 4 What to do with your packaging If your Beehaus arrived by courier, please remember to retain all the packaging it arrived in. In the case that you wish to return your Beehaus or any part of the Beehaus, please call us within 30 days of the delivery. It must be sent back in the original packaging and have no more than normal wear and tear to receive the full product refund.
- Page 5 Step 3 - Inserting the divider board Slide the inspection tray on the ledge underneath the Beehaus. You The divider fits in the middle of the Beehaus. The tabs fit over the normally just leave this in for a week to monitor mite drop.
- Page 6 Adding Queen Excluders Your Beehaus has 4 queen excluders which stop the queen walking up and laying eggs in the supers, which are for honey storage only. You should add queen excluders if you have supers on your Beehaus.
- Page 7 You should have a bee escape and clearer board base. Slot the bee escape over the screw heads. Align the bee escape up with the clearer board. Then click the bee escape into place by pushing it forwards. www.omlet.co.uk Page 7...
- Page 8 Using the entrance adapter You can use the entrance adapter to completely close the entrance to the Beehaus. For example, if you are transporting your bees. If you turn the entrance adapter around it becomes an entrance restrictor, which makes it easier for the bees to defend the hive against wasps.
- Page 9 The two most common uses for a hive tool are opening the hive, which the bees seal from the inside with propolis and freeing a frame for inspection. The Beehaus has a specially designed space between all of the parts that the hive tool fits into.
- Page 10 Lay a sheet of wax foundation on the table. You’ll notice one Starting from the bottom with the bent wires at the top, slide end has three wire tabs. Bend these up at 90 degrees. the sheet of wax foundation until it’s all the way in. Page 10 www.omlet.co.uk...
- Page 11 See Page 22 Do take care to locate your Beehaus so that it is not near a Do use the online Omlet Club to get advice and help. Visit footpath or highly active area of the garden. See Page 21 www.omlet.co.uk/club to join up.
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Page 12: Table Of Contents
How to catch a swarm Transporting a swarm How to stop a bee chasing you How to transfer a swarm to Transferring bees to your Beehaus Transferring bees from short to deep frames your Beehaus The nucleus colony in the first year... -
Page 13: The History Of Honey Bees And Beekeeping
You can find someone to help by attending an Omlet Course and This evaporated nectar is known more meeting follow beekeepers (see www.omlet.co.uk/courses for more commonly as honey. -
Page 14: Honeybee Breeds
The three main sub species of honey bees available for the beekeeper are reducing the bees urge to swarm. This can be done, and in fact one of the as follows. great benefits of the Beehaus is that it is designed to make this easy. The British black bee (Apis Amateur Beekeepers mellifera mellifera) An amateur beekeeper might have anywhere between 1-40 hives. -
Page 15: Why Are Honey Bees So Important
The plant provides food the comb. In the Beehaus you will sometimes see a chain of bees, who for the bees in the form of nectar... -
Page 16: About Honey Bees
3000 flights a day and most will die away from the hive, on the can hold approximately 0.25ml - so it takes a lot of flights (approximately wing, with one last belly full of honey. 20,000) to create a single jar of honey. Page 16 www.omlet.co.uk... -
Page 17: How Does The Queen Lay Eggs
The guard bees can be seen at the entrance fed as much of this as possible until the cell is capped. This difference to the Beehaus, checking in the arriving bees. The smoke will placate produces a strong queen with properly developed ovaries. Incidentally,... -
Page 18: Cell Types
Only found in to open the Beehaus. There is more on managing the colony throughout the spring and early summer. More the seasons later in the guide. -
Page 19: How Do Bees Find Food
As you can see, bees have to be experts in air conditioning and are able to maintain the required temperature in the hive even when the outside air temperature is significantly different. However, by providing a well insulated hive (such as the Beehaus,) you are giving them a helping hand. Thyme. Love-in-the-mist. -
Page 20: Water Sources For Your Bees
If you have a dog, it would be a good idea to fence off the area of the Apple garden that the bees are in so that the dog can’t investigate. Cherry Plum Willow Horse Chestnut Hawthorn Bees and chickens can live happily together in the same garden Page 20 www.omlet.co.uk... -
Page 21: Locating Your Beehaus
Generally it is a good idea to place your beehive at the bottom of your Beehaus in a variety of places, from rooftops to a country orchard. your garden unless this is very close to a busy part of your neighbours Choosing the right location will make it much easier to manage bees. -
Page 22: Bee Stings And How To Avoid Them
How to stop a bee chasing you An extreme reaction After you have inspected your Beehaus, you may find that the odd guard A tiny percentage of people are extremely allergic to bee stings and even just one sting can be fatal, therefore you bee will continue chasing you after you have left the hive. -
Page 23: Transferring Bees To Your Beehaus
After one day of flying, you can then transfer the bees to your Beehaus in exactly the same way as for a short distance move. Any Step 1 - Place the nucleus box next to the Beehaus so that transferring the flying bees will then return to the Beehaus. -
Page 24: The Nucleus Colony In The First Year
A nucleus colony takes a while to build up to full strength. However, it still Once you have filled your Beehaus with a colony of bees, you will need to follows the same yearly cycle as a full size colony and you should therefore inspect it regularly to make sure that the bees are beehaving themselves. -
Page 25: Preparing Your Equipment
Opening your Beehaus Opening your Beehaus should be done delicately and gently. You should A toolbox to keep all your beekeeping move more slowly than normal and avoid sudden movements. -
Page 26: What Am I Looking For
You can rest the corner of the frame on another frame and then it’s easy to turn it around. You can also rest your liquid smoker on the other side of the Beehaus. this can break the frame and squash bees against the side. -
Page 27: Turning And Holding A Frame
Of course if you want to look at the whole frame then you will need to brush the bees off. To do this rest the frame on the beehaus and quickly brush the bees off onto the tops of the brood frames. -
Page 28: Cross Section Of The Colony
This frame comes from the front of The first frame, closest to the entrance, is usually used for honey storage. the Beehaus and contains mostly The second and third frames for a mixture of honey and pollen. The next honey and some pollen. -
Page 29: Identifying Parts Of The Comb
When you add brood frames you normally add towards the the queen has failed and a worker is entrance of the Beehaus. To encourage a nucleus colony or small over laying eggs. wintered colony to draw the frames out, you can feed them with syrup, there’s more information on feeding on page 36. -
Page 30: When Should I Add Honey Supers
Open Closed you will eat - so you should try to keep them ‘food safe’ (i.e. don’t put them directly on the ground and get them covered in mud). A large colony with two layer of supers. Page 30 www.omlet.co.uk... -
Page 31: Clearer Boards
If you don’t, the bees will build wild comb in the space and later you can collect the super. this will make it difficult to inspect them. If you do find wild comb built in a space in the beehaus, then it is best to remove it. Using dummy boards Whenever you don’t have a full set of frames in the Beehaus, you should put a dummy board after the last frame. -
Page 32: The Beekeeping Year
Feed What should you be doing? With experience, you will be able to tell by lifting one side of the Beehaus Choose a warm day (at least 15 C) when the bees are flying and have a roughly how much stores the bees have left. But until you have gained quick look inside the Beehaus. -
Page 33: May
Keep an eye out for any signs of Nosema. The tell tale signs are streaks of bee poo on the inside of the Beehaus. See the health section for more What should you be doing? information on Page 50. -
Page 34: July
Monitor the natural mite drop by putting the inspection tray under the beehaus for 5-7 days. If the drop is higher than 10 mites per day apply a treatment such as Apiguard, Apilife VAR or Exomite Apis but only after all... -
Page 35: November
Health You can use the inspection tray to monitor when brood rearing ceases. What will the Beehaus look like inside? When there are no more crumbly debris from cappings dropping onto the tray brood rearing has stopped. Wait a further 21 days and put the inspection tray back in to monitor mite drop. -
Page 36: Feeding Your Bees
You should not leave supers on over winter. Once you have taken the honey off in August, you should Beehaus comes with standard Super frames and Deep National brood immediately start to feed your bees with syrup until they have stored frames. -
Page 37: What Time Of Day Is Best To Feed
What time of day is best to feed? A circular feeder uses the same You should add feeders to your Beehaus in the early evening when most technique as frame feeder However of the bees have stopped flying. When you start to feed your bees, the... -
Page 38: How To Use Fondant
How to use fondant Adding a contact feeder to your Beehaus A good alternative to using sugar You should add the contact feeder, mesh side down, on to clearer board syrup is to use fondant. This is a semi with the bee escape attached. -
Page 39: Advanced Beekeeping
First find the queen on the comb and then gently rest this frame flat on top of the Beehaus. Place the queen marking cage over the queen and, using the flat end of the hive tool to cover the opening, lift the cage up so that you can slide the plunger in. -
Page 40: Making A Nucleus Colony
Step 5 - Open the second entrance. Put the entrance adapter in place in the wasp guard position. All the flying bees will leave the nucleus side and return to the other side of the Beehaus leaving only the nurse bees on the frames. -
Page 41: Introducing A New Queen To The Colony
Open Open The Beehaus with the divider board in place and a colony on either side. Step 1 - Check that there is only one queen. The safest way to unite two colonies is to make sure only one has a queen. If both colonies have a queen you should choose the the queen that is weakest and remove her. -
Page 42: Swarm Control
Beehaus. Open the rear entrance of the Beehaus and within 48hrs all the older flying bees will return to the front entrance (the one that they have been used to using). -
Page 43: Swarm Control Method 2 - Easy But Better
15 frames. There should be 3 new frames in front of the 9 frames the bees overwintered on and a further 3 frames behind. You should also have a couple of supers over the brood. The Beehaus should look like this. -
Page 44: Wild Swarms
Step 6 - When you come to the last three frames, return them so that they are right at the front of the Beehaus (these were added earlier in the year 4 Weeks Later -... -
Page 45: How To Catch A Swarm
How to catch a swarm How to transfer a swarm to your Beehaus To catch a swarm you will need some essential bits of equipment: There are two ways of transferring the bees to their new home. 1. Shake the bees straight in • A skep or cardboard box... -
Page 46: Bee Health
There are a few pests that can attack your colony of bees. This normally happens in winter when you bees are hibernating and not guarding the entrance 24hr a day. A lava covered with varoa mites. The underside of a varoa mite. Page 46 www.omlet.co.uk... -
Page 47: Using Your Inspection Tray
Counting the number of mite that die naturally gives you a good estimate of the total number of mites in the hive. Start by putting the inspection tray under the Beehaus when you inspect your bees. Leave the tray in www.omlet.co.uk... -
Page 48: Varroa Treatment
Open mesh floor tray and the ledge underneath at The open mesh floor on the Beehaus is a useful all year round way of both ends of the beehaus. ensuring that any mites that are knocked off the adult bees fall out of the hive and can’t get back in. - Page 49 Note 2 - Not authorised in any EU Member State, but tolerated in many countries. Contact the Defra Veterinary Medicines Directorate for up-to-date information on which varroacides are authorised for use in the UK. www.omlet.co.uk Page 49...
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Page 50: Tracheal Mites
The beekeeper may also see a significant decline in colony productivity. In the final phase of decline, secondary diseases frequently appear, including chalk brood and American foul brood. Eventually Wax moth cocoons on top of some frames. Page 50 www.omlet.co.uk... -
Page 51: Sacbrood
Do not remove any hives, bees or equipment from the site until the disease (if confirmed) has been controlled. This is a self imposed ‘Standstill’ which is a requirement under the legislation. Chalkbrood. Picture credit Crown copyright. www.omlet.co.uk Page 51... -
Page 52: American Foul Brood (Afb)
The most common method of transmission from infected hive to healthy hive is the beekeeper. The spores can easily be transferred, if frames The Beehaus can be cleaned with a solution of washing soda, made up as of honey or brood are moved between hives, or if other contaminated directed by the manufacturer. -
Page 53: Honey
Remember wasps fly later than bees and can be a real nuisance . You should use the entrance adapter placed in the wasp position in the beehaus from August onwards to prevent robbing. -
Page 54: Using The Wax
Using a spoon crush all the cells Leave overnight to let the honey walls to release the honey. drain out. The fruits of your, well mainly the Make sure the lid is screwed on tight. bees labour. Page 54 www.omlet.co.uk... - Page 55 Place the wicks in the centre of into moulds. the moulds. You will need to filter the The wax floats to the top and cools melted wax. into a solid wax disc. Scrape any debris away. Rinse the wax disc. Happy valentines day! www.omlet.co.uk Page 55...
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Page 56: Trouble Shooting
If what looks like a beard of bees has formed on the outside of your Beehaus and it’s a hot day it could just be the nest has got too hot and the If you are thinking of starting to keep bees, we highly recommend that bees are trying to cool it. -
Page 57: Bee Glossary
Capped brood - As the larvae cells develop, they are capped with wax Larvae - The stage when an egg undergoes metamorphosis into a bee. allowing them to spin cocoons and turn into pupae and eventually a bee. www.omlet.co.uk Page 57... - Page 58 Scout bee - A worker bee who looks out for sources of pollen, nectar, water or a new site for the colony. Skep - A traditional simple beehive made from straw. It resembles an upturned waste paper basket. Page 58 www.omlet.co.uk...
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