Beekeeping for medicinal use

Mother Earth News has a very useful article on their website right now, "Keeping Bees Using the Top-bar Beekeeping Method." With this method, author Phil Chandler says, you can build simple, inexpensive hives now and start keeping bees as soon as next spring.

Unlike more conventional hives, with this method, Chandler explains, "you build simple box hives with slats (bars) of wood laid across the top, to which the bees attach their wax comb." The benefits of which include: less expense, increased pollination and improved yield of fruits and veggies, and production of both honey and beeswax in a rural OR urban setting.

Chandler's one caution, however: "If your goal is to obtain the absolute maximum amount of honey regardless of all other considerations, top-bar beekeeping is not for you. This style of beekeeping can produce adequate amounts of honey, but the emphasis is on sustainability and keeping healthy bees rather than maximizing honey crops."

>> For detailed instructions about how to build top-bar hives and the medicinal benefits of small-scale beekeeping, visit the Mother Earth News website: http://www.motherearthnews.com/Sustainable-Farming/Top-Bar-Beekeeping-Method.aspx?page=2

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