BY-LAWS

The keeping of bees in the Johannesburg Metropolitan area is controlled by the City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality Public Health By-Laws, (Provincial Gazette Extraordinary No 179 dated 21 May 2004, Notice 830 of 2004).

The General Provisions for the keeping of bees is as follows:

Requirements for keeping of bees

1. No person may keep bees on any premises unless –
   1. that person is the holder of a permit authorizing that activity; and
   2. every bee hive is situated –
      1. a minimum of five metres from any boundary of the premises; and
      2. a minimum of twenty metres from any public place or building used for human habitation or from any place used for the keeping of animals, poultry and birds;
   3. the bees are kept in an approved bee hive; and
   4. the bee hive is –
      1. kept in an area inaccessible to children and animals;
      2. kept in the shade at all times; and
      3. supplied with a source of drinking water within five metres of the hive.
2. No person may dump or deposit any garbage, compost, grass cuttings or manure within five metres of any bee hive.

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Start with a brood chamber, 10 frames with wax foundation, a base and a lid. One can go the whole hog and get the full deal. The complete assembled hive. REMEMBER! This does not include the queen excluder - SOLD SEPARATELY. You can expect to have foundation sheets in both chambers, 10 frames per chamber.

You can use creosote to treat your hives. You can also use Silver Enamel paint. Or do both. Be sure to use the correct creosote as some do contain contaminants. Also leave your hives to dry and air properly before transferring a colony into it.

Frames usually come standard. You can make your own. Do not treat these. You can and iit is recommended that you put wax foundation sheets on the frames. You can also use Pollen traps and feeders with your hives. Feeders are used while wintering your colonies. It is also important that your frames have wire. These offer support to the wax comb when fully built and assists when inspecting hives to stabilise comb.

A queen excluder is necessary as it prevents the queen from moving between the brood and super chambers. Thus you have brood in the bottom chamber and surplus honey in the super chamber. Workers can move easily between the metal wire. The Jackson hive utilises a different approach when it comes to managing the brood and honey storage. The Jackson hive has shown up to 30% more yield however when compared to Langstroth hives. Check the two photos below to see the different styles.