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The right equipment is needed for raising honey bees, and producing honey and wax for sale or hobby. Visit the Equipment & Maintenance section for a listing and description of basic beekeeping equipment.
Healthy honey bee hives require constant monitoring, cleaning, and an easily accessible food source. Setting and following a consistent hive inspection schedule is important to recognizing changes or threats to your honey bee colonies, so that you can take action to keep your colonies thriving.
Alaux C., F. Ducloz, D. Crauser, Y. Le Conte. 2010. Diet effects on honeybee immuno-competence. Biology Letters 6 (4): 562565. Arien, Y., A. Dag, S. Zarchin, T. Masci, and S. Shafir. 2015. Omega-3 deficiency impairs honey bee learning. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
In adherence to California State regulation (FAC 29040-29056), if you are keeping honey bees in any part of San Diego County, it is required that you register the location of all apiaries as well as the number of hives with the San Diego Department of Agriculture, Weights and Measures.
Ideally, beehives should be located on firm dry land with good drainage nearby a fresh water source. Level the hive so that the front of the hive is slightly lower than the back, so that any rainwater drains out of the hive.
American foulbrood is a highly contagious bacterial disease which can kill entire colonies of bees. It is caused by Paenibacillus larvae ssp. larvae, a pathogen that infects the mid-gut of honey bee larvae (Sammataro and Avitabile, 2011).
Honey bees are known to defend their colonies by stinging anyone or anything that may threaten their safety and their resources (honey and young bees). A foraging bee, a bee flying from flower to flower, is not a threat.
