DCP 2102: AGROFORESTRY AND BEE

KEEPING presentation for

GROUP C, STREAM DCP 2A
QUESTION:
DISCUSS MODERN BEE KEEPING EQUIPMENT
IN FOUR (4) DIFFERENT CATEGORIES;
 Bee hives (transitional and modern)
 Protective gear
 Harvesting equipment
 Processing equipment.
 1. BEE HIVES
A bee hives is an enclosed artificial or man-made
structure/container in which a colony of bees lives. Bee
hives are categorized into;

a) Traditional or donor bee hives (fixed comb hives) e.g.

• Wooden basket hives (Kigezi bee hives) i.e. twigs,
reeds, grass, etc.
• Log type hive
• Clay pots
• Guards and calabashes
 BEE HIVES
b) Transitional bee hives e.g.
• KTB (Kenyan top bar) hives
• The KTB catcher box
• Johnson’s hive
• Tanzanian transitional hive
• The Dadant bee hives

c) Modern bee hives: Frames arranged vertically right on top of

the brood chamber (super) e.g.
• Langtroths
• Brick frame hive
• The feeder box.
 THE JOHNSON’S HIVE

• Made from well-seasoned timber of Musizi, Nkago,

Nkuzanyana and Muvule
• Measuring 12 x 1 inches.
• Doors measure 30 X 30 cm
• Sides measure 91 cm X 30 cm
• Top board measures 97 cm X 30 cm with iron sheet cover
• Bottom measures 91 cm X 26 cm
• With a queen excluder in the middle
• With entrances on either side of the excluder
• Wire loops for hanging
The Johnson's bee hive.
 Advantages of the Johnson’s bee hive
• Separates honey from brood
• High wax production

Disadvantages of the Johnson’s bee hive

• There may be two colonies in the hive creating
confusion
• A colony may seal off the queen excluder with propolis
and remain on one side of the hive.
• Combs break when transported over long distances
• Production is limited since hive cannot be extended
• Swarming and absconding are common
 THE DADANT BEE HIVES
Similar in construction and design to the
Langstroth, the Dadant hive was introduced in
1917 by Dadant & Sons, the American
manufactures of bee keeping equipment. Charles
Dadant favoured the large brood chamber, deeper
frames with a slightly wider spacing. The modified
Dadant hive is one of the biggest hives in use today
with a brood area of almost 4000 sq. ins which
makes it very popular with commercial bee
keepers.
 THE DADANT BEE HIVES
Hive Type Dimensions Brood Bee Space Full Super No of
Chamber Brood Comb Weight Frames in
 
cells area of both (Approx) the Brood
sides Chamber
   
(Brood
 
Frame size)

Dadant 20” x 16 1/4” 85000 Top 340 sq. in 40lbs 11 (17 5/8”
x 11 1/4”)
 THE DADANT BEE HIVES
Frames sizes.
• Top Bars – 19” long
• Bottom bars – 17 9/16” long
• Deep side bars – 11 ¼” long
• Shallow side bars – 6 ¼” long
Modified Dadant
(1917)
THE KENYAN TOP BAR (KTB) HIVES. (Movable
top bar hives)
The KTB has got the following features;
• The bottom board-Is the underlying piece of wood where
the rest of the hive body rest upon
• On the bottom board are two parallel pieces of wood each
fitted at an angle of about 650 i.e. the sides are slanting
• At the short opposite sides, there are two trapezoid-shaped
pieces of wood. One of these sides is made of drilled holes
to serve as hive entrances for bees
• Top bars-These are a series of small movable pieces of
wood on the top, exactly 32mm wide
THE KENYAN TOP BAR (KTB) HIVES. (Movable
top bar hives)
• Each bar is provided with a strip of beeswax or other
baiting material to attract bees and guide them during
comb construction
• The lid. The top of the hive is covered with a lid made up of
flat iron sheets that protects the KTB hive body from rain.
• Queen excluder-The KTB hive is divided into two
parts/chambers using the queen excluder. The queen
excluder limits the movement of the queen to only one
part of the hive.
 
THE KENYAN TOP BAR (KTB) HIVES
THE KENYAN TOP BAR (KTB) HIVES
NB:
1. All top bar hives should have top bars with
dimension of width of 3.2 cm and a length of
approximately 48cm.
2. Kenya top bar hive can be made out of bricks,
timber, bamboo, papyrus, basket and clay.
3. The cover can be fabricated provided it is
waterproof material e.g. Plastic sheets, grass,
banana fibers, and mats
Advantages and Disadvantages of the KTB hive

Advantages of the KTB hive.  

• Materials for construction are Disadvantages of the KTB hive
available • Requires high skills and
• High colonization rate when technology to
baited manufacture/construct
• It is durable • It is expensive for an ordinary
• Colony splitting and person to afford
multiplication is easy • Production is limited since its
• It is easy to control honey bee size cannot be expanded
enemies • Combs can easily break while
• It is easy to inspect to in transit 
determine the condition of the
colony
• Harvesting is also easy and it
 THE KTB CATCHER BOX
• The catcher box is an alternative way to capture/trap a swarm of bees or
subdivide bees from one hive for stocking empty ones. It is built in the same
way with the top-bar hive but is only large enough to hold four(4)
bars/combs. (The KTB catcher box is usually a quarter of the actual KTB hive)
• Catcher boxes are used to secure bees in areas of high bee population and
transport them to established apiaries.
• Once a swarm has entered a catcher box, it should be left alone and allowed
to settle for one week. During this time, bees will become established and
begin to build new combs. The top screen is fastened down securely and the
entrance is covered with a piece of tape for transportation. The screen
provides the bees with ventilation, and it is important to check for openings
through which bees may pass before transporting the box. The catcher box
is then placed on top of the already sited top bar hive with the entrances
facing in the same direction. One week later, the swarm may be transferred.
 THE KTB CATCHER BOX
• The swarm can also be transferred by
removing the top bars with the combs from
the catcher box and transferring them into the
top bar hive, once moved with the queen, the
rest of the worker bees will follow. The other
alternative will be pouring the colony from the
catcher box into the top bar hive. 
THE KTB CATCHER BOX
 THE LANGSTROTH BEE HIVES. (Movable
frame bee hives)
The Langstroths consist of the following parts and respective functions;
Parts Functions
i. Floor Completes the main section of the hive. Typically the wide entrance of the floor will accommodate an adequate
  entrance for the hive

i. Brood box/chamber Holds the brood frames where the colony, in effect, lives. The queen lays her eggs here, and the new brood are
reared

i. Frames These have foundation made of beeswax (starter combs). The frames are needed to support combs being built

i. Queen excluder This is the mesh which does not allow the queen to pass through, but allows the workers. This means that only
honey is stored in the combs above

i. Honey super (super chamber) This contains the shallow frames in which the bees construct the honey combs. When full of honey, can be
removed so that only honey is harvested

i. Roof This keeps rain off the hive, thus avoiding dump conditions in the hive. A crown board is fixed under the roof. It
makes a bee-proof seal with the top box.

i. Crown board It is important for containing the bee colony in the brood box and preventing the colony from building wild comb
in the roof void.
THE LANGSTROTH BEE HIVES
Left: Catcher box for a Langstroth hive

Right: Langstroth hive- brood chamber, empty frame, honey

chamber, combed frame, queen
excluder, cover
Merits and demerits of Langstroths
Merits of the Langstroths

 They are transportable

 Gives high honey yields
Demerits of the Langstroths
 It is easy to inspect and harvest
 They are very expensive to buy
 It is also easy to control swarming
and make
 The hives are long lasting   Some of the materials for construction
need to be imported
 A lot of technical skills and
technology is required in
manufacturing
 Production of other hive products
(such as wax and propolis) is very
 THE FEEDER BOX
This is a water-tight trough made of cardboard
and fixed to a top bar. it is used to feed bees
during the dry season.
 BRICK FRAME HIVE
• The main body of a frame brick hive is made
of bricks with 2 sides, a front with holes for
bees to enter and a back.
• 28 frames
• A cover for protection against rain
Frame brick hive with Standardized dimensions
 BRICK FRAME HIVE
Advantages Disadvantages

 High honey productivity • The frames require high

 Easy to manage, inspect and level of skills to construct
harvest • Not transportable
 Long lasting • More prone to pests,
 Breeding of bees possible diseases and floods
 Not expensive
 Materials for making are
locally available
• t Having natural insulation
properties
 2.PROTECTIVE GEAR
a)Bee smokers
This is a device used to produce cool smoke to calm down bees during operations. The
cool smoke breaks the smell of the bee substance, pheromones and this cuts
communication, thus making the bees feel drowsy.
• The body consists of a galvanized metallic sheet of gauge 28 canon and pumping
bellow.
• The canon has a chamber with 2 holes- one for incoming air and the other one to let
out smoke.
• Inside the chamber is placed a sieve to protect the inlet from being blocked with ash.
• The pumping bellow consists of 2 pieces of wood of size 12 cm X 20 cm, returnable
spring, leather or canvas material.

It is stuffed with dry grass, leaves or old sacks which are lit to produce the cool smoke
required.
 2.PROTECTIVE GEAR
Recommended materials for smoking
 Dry cow dung
 Lemon grass
 Pine straws
 Wood shavings
 Coffee husks
 Millet husks
 Semi-dry grass, etc.
 Recommended procedures in lighting
a bee smoker

 Half-fill the smoker with any of the above dry materials

 Put glowing piece(s) of charcoal or use matches to light the material
 Add more material, filling the fire chamber three-quarter way
 Before closing the smoker, fill the canopy i.e. the last quarter with
fresh green grass or leaves
 Close it and start puffing gently using the bellows, to quickly
produce smoke
 For effective use, always carry enough material .
 b) The bee suit
 This consists of an overall and a head veil

Bee overall
• A white or yellow khaki overall made from heavy duty cloth, with
a head veil attached to it by a strong zipper is very ideal. It should
have pockets for holding a match box and any other equipment, at
least 4 pockets - 2 at the chest and 2 around the thighs.
• There should be elastic of code 16 at the wrist and ankles.
• Its bottom should have a rubber lining.
• Avoid using blue color and woolen clothing. Bees hate them!
 Bee veil
• This equipment is very essential because it protects the face, head
and the neck from bee stings. It is made from cloth and mosquito
wire. It should be made to fit, not too large nor too tight.
• The net of the head veil is made out of strong black nylon
material in order to have good vision and ventilation. The hat of
the veil consists of the same khaki material of the overall with a
round stretching stiff ring of approximate diameter of 42cm.
• The veil is attached to the overall with double zip and can be
easily detached.
A complete bee suit sample on display
c) Bee gloves
Bee gloves are worn on the hands to protect them. They are made from soft
leather with cloth tops. The cloth tops should be long enough to cover the
sleeves of the overall.
• Always keep them clean!

d) Gumboots
• These are worn on the legs to protect them against bee stings and any other
materials that can harm the legs and feet of the operator for example snake
bites, thorns, tree stumps, etc.
 3.HARVESTING EQUIPMENT
a. Hive tool set
Consists of a bee brush, hive opener and stainless steel knife:
 The bee brush should be made of soft natural fibre e.g.
sisal fibre. One can also use bird quill feather or very soft
leaves or grass provided they are clean.
 The hive opener is made out of flat iron bar of 6mm
thickness, width of 25mm and length of 24cm. The hive
opener is sharpened at both ends but curved at one end
and should be painted with rustproof paint to avoid
contamination of honey with corrosion and rusting with
honey.
Bee brushes
Hive openers
Bee Knife
Other modern harvesting equipment used in
bee keeping include;
• Bee smokers • Air-tight buckets
• Bee suit
• Bee gloves
• Gumboots
• A good modern torch
with dry cells or
chargeable.
• Un capping fork
 4.PROCESSING EQUIPMENT
a) Air-tight buckets
They should be white or yellow in color and of
food grade material of capacity not more than
25kgs for ease of transportation.
 b) Food grade drums

The drum must be made of stainless steel, air-

tight and rested on wooden pallets
 c) Refractometer

It is a machine used to determine the

percentage of moisture in honey. It is imported
ready made.
 How to use a Refractometer

• Open the slide cover and put a drop of honey

sample and cover.
• Hold against light, view from the eye piece
and adjust accordingly until you get a dark
border line; where it marks is the percentage
of the water content of that sample.
• Then, clean the slide thereafter.
 d) Weighing scale

It is a device used to weigh honey, beeswax and other bee

products. There are 3 types of weighing scales commonly
used in Uganda, namely:-
(i) Platform Weighing Scale.
It comprises of a platform and a scaled arm.
How to use a platform weighing scale
• Put the container with the bee product in question on
the platform and adjust the scaled arm until it
• balances. The reading where it balances gives you the
weight of the product in the container.
 ii) Clock Face Weighing Scale
It has a scaled clock face with a pointer, 2 hooks and re-
setting nut. These weighing scales vary with maximum
weighing capacity ranging from 25kgs to 200kgs.

How to use a Clock Face Weighing Scale

1. Re-set the pointer to 0’ mark using a re-setting nut.
2. Use upper hook for suspending the scale in a rope tied to a
horizontal bar.
3. Hang the container with the product on to the lower hook.
4. Take the reading from the scale where the pointer ends
and record.
iii) Clock face-with- weighing bowl-and-base weighing scale

It has a scaled clock face with a pointer, a bowl, a base and

re-setting nut. They vary with maximum weighing capacity
ranging from 1 gram to 2kgs.

How to use a Clock face-with- weighing bowl-and-base

weighing scale
1. Re-set the pointer to 0’ mark using a re-setting nut.
2. Put the container with the product on the bowl.
3. Take the reading from the scale where the pointer ends
and record.
4. Used to weigh small quantities
 e) Straining cloth:
Strainers are for removing visible impurities from extracted or dirty honey.

(a): Straining cloth (b) Straining cloth tied around a bucket ready for
straining honey
 f) Centrifuge extractor
It is a machine used to extract honey from combs and framed
combs. It comes ready made.
• Some are made of food grade plastic while others made of
food grade stainless steel.
• They have extracting capacity ranging from 2 frames to 18.
• The combs or frames are arranged either radially, triangularly
or rectangularly in order to extract honey
• There are manual extractors as well as the electrical ones.
• All types have a spout for draining the honey out of the tank.
• The bottom is convex inside to allow all the honey to drain.
• They are fitted on 3 stands.
• The main body is cylindrical.
• They have 2 transparent plastic covers.
Centrifuge extractor
 g) Gravity clarifiers (Honey settling Tanks)
These are tanks which hold extracted honey for the
settlement of any impurities such as wax particles,
insect parts, air bubbles and other debris.
There are 2 types; food grade plastic tanks and
stainless steel tanks.
They vary in capacity from 25, 50, 100, 200 and
then 400kgs. It has a cover and a spout with a
convex bottom inside.
Some come with inbuilt honey strainer while
others come with separate double strainers.
Honey settling tank
 Other processing equipment include;

h) Honey Press: i) Honey jars:

 Other processing equipment include;
j) Heating, filtering or cooling tanks are jacketed tanks which
receive honey for melting, settling, mixing, heating and cooling.
These tanks are provided with a heat exchange system (jacket)
where hot water or cold water is circulated for purposes of heating
or cooling honey.
k) The pumps are used for moving honey from one tank or machine
to another. These pumps are adapted for both viscous and
crystallized honey
l) Capping buckets are the buckets used for holding the pieces of
wax cappings cut from the honey comb in preparation for
extraction.
But the cappings are accompanied with some amount of honey
depending on the method of uncapping employed. The honey
mixed with the wax cappings can be separated by gravity straining.
 thanks for

listening

b ee
j o y !
en g!
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