Polyhive - Beehives

Are you based in , namely ? Join our group and find out more about and in Melbourne.

https://www.wvnews.com/beekeeping-can-be-rewarding-and-helps-the-food-chain/article_a05ba0d0-be8a-11ed-bc91-bb929ae8397d.html

Beekeeping can be rewarding and helps the food chain KINGWOOD — According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) three-fourths of the world’s flowering plants and about 35% of the world’s food crops depend on pollinators like honeybees to

Strong Polyurethane Beehives Made in Australia direct from the Manufacturer to you! Located at our Polyhive Warehouse in 1 Margaret St, Oakleigh South North Melbourne open to the public Sunday between 9am and 2pm.

Call Valeri on 0451503262, to find out just how strong our Australian-made Polyurethane beehives are. Our Beehives are super strong, more durable, and can are known to last up to 5 times longer than wooden hives.

They are less impacted by the tough Australian weather conditions than other beehives and are resistant to rot, mould, and pests. Polyurethane beehives are lightweight and easy to handle and have excellent insulation properties.

The hive will maintain a more constant temperature and reduce the workload for bees to regulate temperature and conserve energy.
Made in Australia by Valeri on 0451503262, call, come in and have a chat and inspect how tough our beehives are!

Attention Melbourne & Victorian beekeepers! Direct from Polyhive, New technology beehives from $50! Pickup from 1 Margaret St, Oakleigh South VIC 3167 Sundays 9am-2pm.

The advantages of a Brand new Polyhive beehive:

* Polyurethane is an excellent insulator and can regulate the temperature inside the hive. Beneficial for the colder months when the bees need to maintain a constant temperature.

* Polyurethane is strong and durable, and can withstand the elements. Less likely to crack, warp or break over time, which makes Polyhive a long-term investment!

* A lightweight material makes it easier to move and transport hives. They are 10 frame, but the box is so light there is no need to go to 8 frames.

Limited stock available, so first come first served!

Attention Melbourne beekeepers! Direct from the Melbourne manufacturer, New technology tough Polyurethane beehives suitable for both beginner and professional beekeepers

Made from durable, weather-resistant materials, this beehive is designed to provide a safe and comfortable home for your bees. They won't crack, split, or rot, and will last for years! Your bees will be better insulated from the heat and cold.

With Polyurethane, you will never have to paint your beehive again! Perfect for those looking to start their own apiary, or for the professional beekeeper who wish to reduce their costs by not needing to paint every year.

Features of our Melbourne-made Beehive:

• Lightweight and easy to handle and move around
• Simple to setup
• Insulated to regulate temperature and protect against harsh weather
• Requires minimal maintenance
• Great after-sales service!

Limited stock available, so first come first served! Pick up from Polyhive in Oakleigh, 1 Margaret St, Oakleigh South VIC 3167 Open hours: Sundays 9am-2pm.

Australia has a healthy honey bee population and there are things that every beekeeper can do to keep it that way.Implementing honey bee biosecurity is essential for a beekeeper’s business.

If an exotic or endemic pest establishes in an apiary, business costs will increase (for monitoring, cultural practices, additional chemical use and labour), productivity will decrease (yield and/or colony performance) and markets may be lost.

The health of the honey bee industry also ensures the continued success of many other plant industries that rely on honey bees for pollination. Early detection and immediate reporting increases the chance of an effective and efficient eradication.

This video was produced to let you know how you can help and the ways in which government, research organisations, plant industries, private companies and organisations with an interest in honey bees are all contributing to preparing for an incursion of varroa.

The Code has been developed to incorporate fundamental biosecurity principles into the practices of all Australian beekeepers.
• Training and planning
• Reducing exposure of bees to pests and diseases
• Controlling pests and diseases
• Controlling the spread of undetected disease in an apiary
• Keeping accurate records
• Hive and equipment maintenance

Some sections of the Code are already mandatory under existing state and territory legislation. Some parts of the Code apply to all beekeepers; others apply only to beekeepers with 50 or more hives.



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YIg4qjJ8cH4&feature=youtu.be

What is honey bee biosecurity? BeeAware: Bee Biosecurity Video Series. Video 1. What is honey bee biosecurity? Honey bee biosecurity is a set of six measures to assist beekeepers in knowin...

A guide to small scale beekeeping

If you are new to keeping bees, this information will help answer some of the most important questions before you start, a start-up guide, with questions answered not found in standard beekeeping books.

These include how to get your first bees, where to locate a hive, what are the equipment requirements, where to source it and how much does it cost.

Beekeing is governed in NSW by the Apiaries Act 1985. The Beekeeping Code of Practice (2003) for NSW codifies the provisions for urban beekeepers, below is a copy.

Aims:
To allow the keeping bees in a manner compatible to the area in which they are located to encourage the keeping of bees in such a way as to be acceptable to the general public.

Objectives:
• Ensure public safety and social amenity
• to encourage good beekeeping practice
• to maintain public and neighbourhood relations.
A hive is a colony headed by a queen bee.

A guide to the number of permanent hives:
• Small block = 2 hive
• Average block up to 1000 sq m = 4 hives
• Area up to 2000 sq m = 8 hives
• Rural = No limit.

NOTE: The number of hives is a guide only and circumstances may allow more or fewer hives to be kept, or in some circumstances, the keeping of bees may be inappropriate in the location, as determined by an appropriate regulatory authority.

Contact your local council to see if they have any specific requirements for keeping honeybee hives.

Achieving the Aims and Objectives

• Flight paths should be above 2m when crossing property boundaries This may he achieved by using screens, shrubs, walls, hedges, fences, etc, so setting specific distances between hives and buildings is unnecessary.
• Site hives in a warm sunny location to enhance the health of bees.
• Keep only docile strains of bees.
• Provide water for the bees.
• Consider others when manipulating hives and plan work to cause the least impact.
• Use escape boards to remove honey rather than shaking, brushing or blowing methods.
• Control swarming - options include: requeening, population control, splitting into smaller hives (temporarily).
• Keep the apiary neat & tidy.
• Talk to your neighbours about beekeeping - discuss any problems they may have with it.
• Beehives should not be positioned in the front yard of suburban houses. Where possible, beehives should be positioned out of sight of the public. Hives should not be located within the vicinity of schools, childcare centres, hospitals or other public facilities.
• Take care when mowing around hives. Try to mow when hives are not active, but if the hives are active, use a smoker. Do not bump the hives with the lawnmower.
• Beekeepers must be registered with NSW Agriculture and must comply with the Apiaries Act, 1985. Beekeepers are encouraged to increase and update their knowledge by attending field days and study courses and/or belonging to a beekeeping association

Top 3 Causes of Winter Deadouts in Bees

• Extreme Cold Temps
• Starvation of the colony
• Condensation inside the hive

#1 Extreme Cold Temperatures Kill Bees

Honey bees are cold blooded insects. If their body temperature drops too low they become sluggish and unable to move. Unless the bees become warm quickly they will die.

#2 Starvation Is A Common Cause of a Winter Deadout

More colonies die from starvation in Winter than any other cause. Did the bees not have enough honey to last during the season? Yes, that is often true.

As the temperature drops, the bees inside the colony cluster closely together. The outer edge of the cluster is always in contact with cells of honey.

#3 Condensation Kills Winter Bees

Some regions have more problems with hive condensation than others. This is another instance when your climate plays a role in your honey bee management.

A cluster of live bees, eating honey and generating heat, gives off moisture. The warm moisture rises to the top of the hive. If the temperature is very cold outside, moisture can condensate on the underside of the hive top.

This causes water to drip down on the bees. Most of the time bees can cope with cold temperatures. But wet, cold bees are dead bees.

Some beekeepers use quilt boxes and other strategies to absorb excess hive moisture. It may be something to consider for your hives depending on where you live.

Not all beekeepers need to wrap up hives during Winter. If you live in an area that benefits from hive wrapping, be sure to allow for good ventilation. Even a Popsicle stick on the top box will raise the outer cover up just enough.

Honey bees are adaptable and can thrive from the equator all the way to Alaska in both sunny and shady areas, so there is no need for a hive to be placed in direct sunlight. Honey bees often select homes in very shady areas, including forests, behind barns, under bridges, and in homes that get no direct sunlight.

Commercial beekeepers prefer sunny locations because it forces the bees to start foraging earlier in the day and work longer hours, which means they produce more honey. However commercial decisions, such as sunny placement, are chosen for the beekeeper’s benefit, not for the bees’ benefit. Bees, like humans, are most comfortable with a mild exposure.

If your goal it to teach people about bees rather than achieve maximum honey production, a hive out of the direct sun is probably more humane, especially in a warm climate like Australia. Seek out the shadiest place I could find.

Forego the reflector because it might intimidate the bees to have bright light directed toward them, and it also might interfere with their ability to navigate to and from their home. Bee navigation is based on the position of the sun, and a bright light might confuse them.

Where are the Beekeeping associations in Australia? This week - South Australia.

The South Australian Apiarists’ Association Inc. was formed in 1945, and are an Association of members from both the commercial and hobby beekeeping sectors. Their members represent many facets of the industry including honey production, pollination, queen breeding, propolis and pollen collection.

The SA Apiarists’ Association invites all beekeepers to become further involved in their industry by joining their Association at https://saaa.org.au/membership/join-online .

They encourage membership to anyone who is interested in expanding and/or sharing their knowledge or just getting together with like-minded people to discuss issues, and currently have members ranging from 1 hive up to large apiaries with over 1000 hives.

If you are interested in becoming a member please contact our Secretary or any member of the Executive Council for further information. The South Australian Apiarists’ Association is a not-for-profit organisation and does not sell honey or other bee products.

The bee buzz is growing nationally and commercially

Urban beekeeping is a major trend around Australia, with cooperatives, associations, social enterprises & start-ups multiplying in the space. In Melbourne, City Rooftop Honey has grown to a total of 25 hives in the CBD and 120 around the Melbourne fringe and suburbs.

Buildings including Emporium Melbourne, Sebel Flinders Lane, Pullman Albert park and Sea Life Aquarium are among those hosting hives. There are now more than 400 business and individuals wanting to adopt or sponsor a hive.

In Sydney, The Urban Beehive works with businesses, community gardens & individuals to install hives around the city. It also sells honey collected from the hives, runs beekeeping courses & has a shopfront in Matraville that retails beekeeping supplies.

There’s a Sydney Bee Club too, which is also associated with the growing NSW Amateur Beekeepers Association.Some local councils are also promoting beekeeping as part of a broader sustainability agenda.

A beekeeping enterprise based in Brisbane, Bee One Third, is finding there are many businesses looking to bees as a practical sustainability measure. Founder and apiarist Jack Stone says hotels, precincts, banks and investment firms in particular are keen to add some hives to their property.

“Bees can have a tangible outcome in the building [for people],” he says.

The enterprise supplies four hives on a purpose-built platform, and regular maintenance. The building does not need to have a roof garden, as bee will travel up to five kilometres to forage.

Stone says the roofs of many Brisbane buildings are not engineered to support the weight of a garden – but sometimes, once the bees are in place building owners do start to think about how they can turn grey space to green space and gain added value and also thermal benefits from roof gardens.

Where are the Beekeeping associations in Australia? This week: Queensland?

The Queensland Beekeepers’ Association (QBA) was founded in 1886 and is made up of professional apiarists and amateur beekeepers in Queensland, Australia.

The QBA is committed to ensuring the future of the beekeeping industry in Queensland. The Board of the QBA represents its membership in liaison with the general community, media and government.

Annual conferences and regular newsletters provide a forum for members. “The Queensland Beekeepers Association Inc provides a means by which apiarists may be represented through a common organisation for the welfare of the industry, to watch over and protect the interests of members in particular and the industry in general and to ensure an adequate return to the apiarist for their labour and capital in the industry”.

Become a Member of the Qld Beekeepers Association @ qbabees.org.au

Here at Polyhive we are sourcing podcasts from around the world. Contact us if you have any questions about beekeeping and beehives too!!!!

Is Honey Good for Kids from Gary and Margaret from kiwimana. (At 20 mins into the podcast)

https://www.kiwimana.co.nz/is-honey-good-for-kids-km155/

Although honey has amazing medicinal properties, it is not meant for babies who are less than a year old.

It is natural, but your baby is not yet ready for it, because honey has something called dormant endospores of a bacterial species known as Clostridium botulism, which can be toxic and cause problems to an infant.

There are different varieties of honey, such as manuka honey, which is found in New Zealand. Although it has many benefits, it is best to keep all kinds of honey away from children below one year of age.

Health Benefits of Honey for Kids
Honey has many amazing benefits for growth and evelopment of kids.

1. Vitamins and Minerals
Honey has quite a few minerals that are extremely helpful for children. It can be used in various recipes or also be given to children directly.

2. Protects Liver
Honey has properties that actually help the liver control blood sugar level.

3. Healing Properties
Honey has many amazing healing properties, like it helps cough and cold, blood sugar, and even in healing wounds and burns.

4. Helps Sore Throat
Honey is one of the most common natural medicines for a sore throat. It has been used in ayurveda and other natural medicines in different forms to heal a sore throat. Honey for kid's coughs is something that is followed in many Indian homes, as it works wonders.

Bee-hive yourself rare beekeeping lessons come to Ballarat

BEE enthusiasts had a rare chance to get up close and personal with the critically important species during the weekend through unique experiences in central .

Saturday's 'Open Hive' event gave those in attendance an opportunity to look behind the hive into the short life of bees, which spend most of their existence tending to the queen and preparing hives for the next generation.

On Sunday, participants were offered a chance to learn about keeping their own hives, teaching important foundational skills and knowledge required to keep the endangered species thriving.

The weekend's events were coordinated by Backyard Beekeeping Ballarat and local Beekeepers Scott Denno and Amanda Collins.

Thanks to the Courier for this article: https://www.thecourier.com.au/story/6586478/bee-hive-yourself-as-rare-beekeeping-lessons-come-to-ballarat/

10 ways to support Australian bees in your backyard after the bushfire season is over.

When the busfire season has ended, it is critical that all of us do as much as possible to help save the bees in Australia.

Here is an image suggesting plants that are available ( check with your local plant nursery their availability).

Here are some other suggestions too, and if you have any other suggestions, list them below too ......

1. Get to know the different types of Australian bees. ...
2. Avoid using pesticides. ...
3. Plant some of the flowers mentioned above in the image (where the types of plants are available)
4. Provide year round pollen of at least four species at any one time. ...
5. Include native and exotic species of plants.
6. Ensure you provide flowers in late winter/early spring
7. Provide Access to water
8. Participate in public bee surveys

Selecting a site for your New Apiary

Selecting for sites for your apiary can make a difference to honeybee health, and your hive’s honey harvest too. Here’s some suggestions to consider when choosing a site.

Beekeeping is about managing honeybee colonies in place, in a bee-centric way, so the idea is that you place your hive well, and place it once.

The day you come home with your bees, either purchased, caught or split the colony from, is not the time to decide where they should go. Decide this beforehand – your site, the stand that the hive will rest on, and the access to it.

Ideally, a North East facing site is suggested. They are likely to get the morning sun, and will fly out to go foraging, first thing. So if your hive is somewhere that gets morning sun, out they will go.

The longer the day a bee has to forage and to bring back pollen and nectar, the better that day for the entire hive’s health. So get out your compass, and figure out your options.

Shady in the afternoon:
Protect your bees from the hot afternoon sun if you possibly can, especially in Summer. As we’ve discussed before, a honeybee colony is a warmth organism, which means that the colony actively regulates it’s core temperature, both night and day.

A hive doesn’t want to be too hot, anymore than it wants to be too cold. And a hive in the full Summer sun, after midday, is going to get hotter than it wants to be.

Protected from cold + hot winds:
Your hive will strive to maintain a stable internal temperature, for optimal colony health.

Choose an apiary site that is protected from hot summer and cold winter winds – get to know where the winds come from in your area, and do a site analysis of your property to define where is and isn’t a good idea to site your hives.

Easy access:
Access to your hive is important. Situate your bees close to somewhere you go every day. This will ensure you make a natural habit of checking on your bees regularly, just by passing them and observing entrance behaviour.

The easier your bees are to get to, the more you will spend time with them, observing, and learning the craft of hands-off beekeeping.

Fun Bee Facts to Share. Follow our ongoing post about 103 facts you may not have known about honey bees:

Humans and honey bees have been interacting for a very long time. Yet, the honey bee still has some mysteries of the hive that we don’t understand. Here are some bee facts.

1.Honey bees are social insects that live together in large colonies. The survival of the colony over time depends on the work of many individuals.

2. A honey bee colony is a social organism. Individual bees work and die in a relatively short time. But they are replaced by new bees. The honey bee colony itself can live from year to year.

The honey bee colony has a well-developed system of communication that allows individuals to work together effectively.

4. Worker bees change jobs over the course of their lives. From nurse bees that feed young, to house bees who make honey and foragers who gather food.

5. Bee Colonies can grow very large. A Summer beehive may have 40,000 – 80,000 bees.

3. Inside a beehive you will find 3 kinds of bees: a Queen, Workers and Drones. The colony is a balance of individuals with 1 queen, a few hundred drones (in Summer) and thousands of Worker bees.

6. Bees communicate with chemical messengers called pheromones – external hormones.

7. These pheromones are transferred from bee to bee throughout the colony. This is done by mutual grooming and antenna touching.

8. Each bee colony has a distinctive scent that allows members to recognize each other. Guard bees at the entrance of the hive can recognize intruders and prevent them from entering the hive.

9. Cold blooded insects, the honey bees survive winter by consuming honey and vibrating their wing muscles to product heat.

10. An average colony of honey bees collects 50-60 pounds of pollen each year.

We will publish more facts about Honey Bees very soon ...

With special thanks to the president of the Amateur beekeepers association of NSW, Len Verrenkamp on how we can help affected keepers

“I KNOW OF OVER 200 hives burnt in a single day recently that belonged to two mid north coast beekeepers. Who knows how many more have been lost during the unprecedented bushfire emergency in NSW and south east Queensland.

The Australian spirit comes to the fore in these tough times. Complete strangers turn up to lend a hand when backs are to the wall, often neglecting their own properties to ensure a neighbour is safe before returning to protect their own.

With now over a million hectares of bush burnt, the smoke haze we’ve been seeing almost every day reminds us many areas will be active for weeks due to stumps and logs still burning. The bush fire season has only just officially started and, even with no sign of any substantial rain on the horizon, the clean-up where possible must begin.

Possibly the biggest contribution we can make as beekeepers is to offer alternative apiary sites for beekeepers in fire affected areas. That million plus hectares of bush will not produce any pollen or nectar for around three to five years. With some of the fire fronts stretching many kilometres, even some urban areas will have very limited forage for bees in the immediate years to come – and without rain over the summer, possibly even longer.

If your club has members in fire-affected areas and your site or sites are okay then think about offering them an apiary site until conditions improve. Maybe you can come to an arrangement where the keeper provides some help with your hives. (Personally, I reckon the lawn mower could be front and centre of that discussion.)

Short term, this will give relocated hives a reasonable chance of survival. Longer term, all hives need a close eye kept on them. As the drought digs its fingers deeper into the landscape, even traditionally productive beekeeping areas will begin to struggle.

We’re already seeing this via the commercial guys who are predicting a truncated honey crop for this season, and honey packers predicting price increases due to the low supply. Consider also a thought for all of our native pollinators who likely didn’t have the benefit of a responsible beekeeper moving them to a safe place as fire fronts approached.

The dry sclerophyll forests of eastern Australia are home to many native pollinators. The drought and bushfires will have a lasting effect on them also. “

To read this article:https://static1.squarespace.com/static/55c74594e4b03257969fb17a/t/5de6f794639be22007e8166a/1575417882032/AmBeeDecJan20.pdf

Polyhive are sourcing beekeeping podcasts from across the world. This week is from New Zealand, which we feel is as close to the Australian climate as you can get ......

This podcast is from Kiwimama and is about setting up a BeeHive, and preparing for different season including winter and dealing with Nasty Bees.

https://www.kiwimana.co.nz/qanda-setting-up-a-hive-km147/

if you are keen to find out about setting up a beehive in Australia with brand new Australian made Polyhives, send a message to Polyhive through the messanger.

Feel free to contact us if you have any questions about beekeeping and beehives too!!!!

How do I know if my bees Are too hot? How do bees stay cool?

Here are Polyhive, we will continue with this series over summer how to keep bees cool over the coming summer in Australia … alternatively, contact us about our Polyhives which will be cooler over the summer months …...

Bees have a natural instinct to keep their hives at about 35 degrees at all times. During the winter, the bees huddle together in the hive, seal any cracks with propolis, and beat their wings to keep the hive temperature around 35 degrees.

During the winter, the bees huddle together in the hive, seal any cracks with propolis, and beat their wings to keep the hive temperature around 35 degrees.

During the summer, regardless of the outside temperatures, bees try to keep their hives at the same 35 degree temperatures. The forager bees are out of the hive looking for pollen, nectar, and water during the day which helps keep the temperature down.

Some of the bees that stay in the hive will be put on wing beating duty. They’ll beat their wings to circulate air through the hive and reduce the temperature. When the forager bees bring water into the hive, the wing beating and water work together like an evaporative cooler to reduce the temperature.
Although bees do a great job of naturally managing their hive temperatures, there are some things you can do to help protect bees from the summer heat.

When you’re setting up your honey bee farming operation, try to choose an area that will get some shade during the summer. You do want to be careful not to put your hives in an area where their flight will be obstructed or in a densely wooded area. However, if you can find an area that will get afternoon shade or dappled shade it will help the bees keep their hives from overheating.

For more information about keeping bees cooler over summer contact Polyhive below …..

https://www.unilad.co.uk/science/bees-have-been-declared-the-most-important-living-thing-on-earth/?fbclid=IwAR3-4SM5wl-MywtM1gYsazCO7F_657ZfZtoDQNG3j2lDLg-bFqUE93-TLSo

Bees Have Been Declared The Most Important Living Thing On Earth Bees were declared the most important living being on the planet at the last meeting of the Royal Geographical Society of London