Beekeping 101

Is it always true that if you have no money, you have no honey? We know what's on your mind. It is not that. Don't take it figuratively.

Yes!

It is about the bees.

Yes!

We are starting beekeeping here.

Beekeeping or Apiculture simply refers to the culturing or maintaining colonies of honey bees. Usually, an apiarist (or beekeeper) does not collect beehives but rather makes an artificial habitat for these social insects. These manmade niches could be outdoors especially if they are located in a forested area or could be housed in a confined structure (similar to a greenhouse).

Establishing an apiary or a bee yard is a challenging but fruitful and high yielding investment. The natural byproducts such as honey, beeswax or simply the bee itself (for beekeepers) could give you dollars.

So if you are interested with this venture, you may also need the following equipment.

First is the right clothing to wear. You will need beekeeping veil to protect your face especially your eyes. Beekeeping suits in order to protect your whole body as well. Don't also forget to wear thick gloves and boots. As much as possible don't expose any skin or leave any space wherein bees could enter your clothes. A bee sting should not be taken for granted because this could cause from a simple skin infection or allergy to a more serious one such as paralysis and even death.

Second, we should have a smoker. This will drive away bees so that we can harvest our sweet products.

Third, we need also the extractor and processors if we want to maximize profit.

Yeast Free Pizza Dough

It's not at all impossible to continue eating pizza when you start a yeast free diet. As it all heats down to the dough, a substitute can be used in place of yeast, in the form of baking soda plus lemon juice.

• 2 cup flour
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 1 tsp. lemon juice
• cup warm water (or more)
• 1 tbsp. olive oil
  
• tsp. salt

1. Adding it all in. Start with all the dry ingredients first and put all of it in a big bowl. Then add the wet ingredients with the lemon juice as the last one. The reaction between baking soda and lemon juice is what makes the dough rise. It doesn't compare to the effect of yeast, but does the purpose of preventing your dough to turn into stone.


2. Mixing. Carefully mix it and gauge if its too dry or wet. It's easy to tell. Add water if it's too dry and add flour if it's too wet. Sometimes you may find mixing in less water on a very humid day. Mix until they're all together.


3. Kneading. Ready your work surface by sprinkling some flour on it. Take out the mixture to start kneading the dough. Bring everything together and knead it very well, pushing and pulling until it is smooth and not sticky anymore. The more you knead it, the less likely it will tear when you stretch it later on. There's no need to leave it to rise like you would when using yeast.


4. Preheating. Just in case your oven heats up slow, this might be a good time to start preheating the oven to the ideal temperature (400-425 F). Otherwise, it would be the time when you've finished the dough and already placing the toppings.


5. Shaping. Cutting the dough depends on how thick and large you want your pizza, and of course, how big your oven is. Just imagine your ideal size. Then work each one. Spread your dough using a rolling pin or your hands. If you want thick handles, work on the outer ring first and then press on the middle. Stretch the dough to your desired size.

At this point, your dough is ready for your favorite toppings. Don't forget to preheat your oven before you put it in.

Honeybee Dysentery

A colony is said to have dysentery when they defecate within the hive. It is a disease common during the cold season, but it can happen anytime in the case of severe Nosemosis. When majority of the bees become affected by this condition, it may lead to the death of the colony.

Normally, bees take cleansing flights away from the hive in order to excrete feces. This is part of their OC behavior to home cleanliness. When the temperature drops down, it becomes harder for them to fly as it affects the muscles of their wings, potentially leading to their death if they're unable to return. Instinctively, they wait for a warmer day to take the flight. Without the opportunity though, they are then unable to keep it in.

If you cant digest it, out it goes. Cleansing flights are entirely caused by the need to let it out. Depending on the amount of indigestible matter in their food, it pretty much dictates the need for such flights. Old fermenting honey and honeydew collected from plant sap-sucking insects contains indigestible matter. Common practice during a cold season is to replace frames and/or fill empty combs with corn syrup which has almost no indigestible matter.

Nosemosis, caused by Nosema microbes, is a disease that infects the intestinal tract of adult bees causing diarrhea. The spore nature of the microbe makes it easy to be transmitted merely by contact; contaminated food, feces, and even clean up of dead bees. This makes it exceptionally fatal in regions with long and rainy winter where dysentery further increases the transmission within the hive.

Generally, its good practice to replace old frames as it may have accumulated a harmful amount of microbes. If you notice a large amount of dark honey, replace it with a healthier feed. Honeydews don't contain enough protein required by bees to maintain their health.

Food to Avoid while on Yeast Free Diet

Why do we need to live a yeast free life? Not all people may know about a yeast free diet but all people should have at least a little information about such topics. A yeast free diet is a diet which highlights in reducing foods or wholly abolished foods that will cause escalation of natural yeasts in our body.

There are quite a few reasons why some people decide to turn to a yeast free diet. One such reason is because they already have a yeast infection and it is hard to heal when they would still intake many yeast carrying or yeast causing foods. Another good reason is when they have weak immune system. One more reason to practice yeast free diet is simply to lose weight. However other people may use the yeast free diet as a technique to battle symptoms of autism.

There are many foods to avoid while on a yeast free diet such as breads, cookies, pastries, fermented foods, processed meats, cheese, canned tomatoes, processed sugar, soft drinks, chocolate and many more.

Why these foods? Yeasts love to feed on glucose that is why anything and everything sweet must be avoided. Dairy products contained yeasts especially cheese because they are purposely added with mold. Many people who suffer chronic yeast infection are inclined to have gluten allergies. It is therefore recommended that wheat be avoided too. Processed meats are treated with chemicals in order to withstand consumable time and to manufacture different types such as ham, bacon and sausages.

Honeybee Pests

Varroa Mites

Varroa mites are external parasitic mites that suck on the blood of honey bees. They resemble red spots attached to larval, pupal or adult bees, and they are big enough to be easily spotted. They accumulate in number until the host dies. Its potential for higher risk lies on the spreading of other viruses when they bite. This may cause other diseases.

If not treated right, it may turn to a heavy infestation that may render the end of the colony. Treatments include miticides, natural occurring chemicals, as well as non-chemical methods like comb trapping and bottom screen boarding.

Acarine Mites

Smaller than the varroa mites, these pests make their way inside the bees trachea, thereby earning its other name as Tracheal mites. Drawn by carbon dioxide, they enter the spiracles of a bee and reproduce inside its airways where they propagate and suck blood. Bees with infestations stop working at some point and eventually die.

They are easily controlled by vegetable shortening mixed with sugar. As the bees consume the sugar, they get partly coated with the shortening and this affects the mites instincts from transferring to other bees.

Small Hive Beetle

Aethina tumida is a dark-colored beetle that infests the combs itself. They start their lives outside the hive but later finds their way inside by tunneling through the combs to feed on the honey. This makes the comb unusable, disrupting the life-cycle of the bees.

Late discovery leading to heavy infestation may cause the bees to abscond. It is best to maintain a strong colony by setting the proper environment and population. Oil traps can also be used to suffocate the beetles while avoiding toxic contamination of the hive.

Wax Moths

Wax moths feed on the wax that the bees use in making their combs. Not a general threat to a healthy colony but could still affect the colonies' productivity as they fend of foreign insects. They are almost never a problem during winter as the eggs does not survive the temperature.