Secrets of onboard beekeeping

Among experienced beekeepers it has become very popular to engage in cosmicry.

What are the features of this method and the benefits of the resulting honey - described below.

Features of onboard beekeeping

Side beekeeping is an ancient method. Its peculiarity is that the abode of the bees is not a habitual hive, but a hollow. Bort is a space formed in a certain way in a tree or deck that serves as a beehive for bees. One tree trunk can have several such "buildings". But at the same time the tree remains as healthy and visually unharmed.

Conifers and hardwoods, such as oaks or ash, are taken for the construction of boards, and the period of operation is an incredible three hundred years.

Nowadays, wild bees that live directly in the beech trees can only be found in the Bashkir reserve.

To create a board with modern capabilities takes no more than one day. This helps both modern tools and accessories used in ancient times.

Development of onboard beekeeping

In ancient times, the construction of the board took far more than one day, and beekeepers, basically, acted as poachers - in the autumn all the honey was collected, and the bees left without food simply died. In the spring, the borteviki prepared the sides for the new settlements, and having ruined the bee houses in one place, they found suitable trees in another.

This method was practiced in the nineteenth century. It also had its advantages - the cells were renewed every year, and the trees rot much more slowly.

The bees themselves succumbed to a lesser degree of disease, retained their usual size, and also prevented the crossing of related individuals.

But over time, the bortevik realized that it’s wiser to share their honey with the bees.And formed the onboard beekeeping in its present form.

Characteristics of the onboard beekeeping

At the first stages, the beekeepers had a specific problem - the swarming of bees, which was almost impossible to somehow stop due to the non-collapsible design. The problem was solved by sawing the deck.

A circle was left above to collect the accumulated product, a kind of natural point of issue. Observations made it clear that swarming is a property of shallow decks, and the expansion of places followed.

With the help of decks it turns out to carry out artificial swarming, with the organization of cutting, selection of insects and the strengthening of weak families.

In frosty regions, omshanik is used for warming, in others it is not used, especially in the presence of strong families. Sometimes airbags are made under cut honeycombs.

The value of onboard honey

Honey produced by wild bees, referred to as onboard, has a unique and high value, for which it has gained popularity in alternative medicine. There is an opinion that this is a very effective remedy against various diseases. In addition, honey has a positive effect on human immunity.

This type of honey has a tart taste and a dark brown hue, an extremely thick texture and fragrant aroma. It is also rich in vitamins and valuable microelements. In the composition of the onboard honey a large number of nutrients and nutrients.

The body absorbs it well, which improves digestive processes. Anti-inflammatory property is another plus of this product. He also perfectly kills bacteria and various pathogens of infectious diseases, which underlines its effectiveness in combating colds and flu. It is used to treat pneumonia, bronchitis and coronary heart disease. The storage requirement for this product is simple, but very important: use natural materials - cedar barrels or clay pots.

Conditions for onboard beekeeping

Cold beekeeping requires the presence of large wild forests with various melliferous plants.Due to the difficulty of mastering the board, it is better to have preliminary experience with bees.

It is also dangerous to overcome certain tree heights and extract honey from a hollow tree. Be sure to use masks and protective clothing.

Creating a bead for bees

Creating a board involves the use of old methods with the help of modern tools and devices, and below is an instruction on how to make a deck for bees with your own hands.

Tools and materials

For the preparation of the boards, an adze, a ring-shaped knife, a chisel, a scrape, an ax, a drill with brushes nozzles, a sandpaper, steel feathers for making holes, a hammer, nails, and a hacksaw are used.

Making the board (deck). Step-by-step instruction

To make a deck for bees with your own hands, it is necessary, after cutting a part of the trunk, to gently empty its inside, freeing up space for the future bee house.

Cleaning the inner surface of the deck is made by steel brushes. First processing is done with a small diameter brush, because it can penetrate into all the fossa and the backwoods. Then a bigger brush is taken.Brushes must be steel, not copper, to properly level the surface of the hollow with the projections.

After rough treatment, the inside is polished with special skins. Moreover, the skins are also of different sizes. First, the surface is cleaned with a large-sized sandpaper, and then shallow, as a result of which the inside of the hollow turns out to be just perfect.

Before making the entrance, the question arises: where exactly will it be located (above, in the middle or below). Every beekeeper should know that opposite to the entrance area there is always brood, therefore, if it is necessary to cut the tongues from below, the entrance should be at the top.

If you want to get brood, the location is chosen lower. In order to make the entrance, you need 2 feathers: 40 mm and 25 mm. First, a recess is made up to half of the body, and then with the help of a smaller pen a through hole is made.

All experienced beekeepers know that bees are reluctant to go into new traps, and also settle in a completely new hive. Although the hive, which has already been in work, they settle more successfully.

Therefore, it is necessary to rub the walls of the new trap with wax in order to bring its condition closer to the used one.

The next step will be the manufacture of guides along which the bees will build honeycombs. They must be located at a distance of 3-7 mm from each other. If the bars are nailed directly to the end of the deck, then when transporting the bees will completely clog the gaps between them. Therefore, they need to be nailed below the level of the cover, making the above-frame space.

On one side of the deck, it is necessary to make 10 mm holes in the holes, into which the edges of the bars, sharpened like a pencil, will be inserted, and opposite to the hacksaw, into which neatly opposite ends of the guides will be inserted and fixed.

It is recommended that the top and bottom sides be tied up with soft wire (3 mm in cross section) so that the crust does not lag behind or cracks appear. In addition, it will be convenient for the wire to tie and fix the trap on the tree. The knot is desirable to do from the back side.

The important point is that the bees successfully enter the traps, where 6-8 small streets are installed, as if responding to the volume - with less or more numbers, the results are worse. This amount is relevant for the height of the board at 70 cm - the optimal size for convenient transportation.

Side beekeeping is definitely a very complicated craft, but still having the right to exist and has several advantages.