Apiculture

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An apiary in Isère in autumn.

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A traditional covered 
apiary in the Val 
d’Abondance 
protects the hives 
from bad weather.

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A beekeeper 
opens the hive 
to gather cells 
built by the bees 
outside the frame.

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A queen-breeding apiary in springtime.

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To impress crowds, some beekeepers will wear an impressive bee beard. There is a trick. The apiculturist places a cage containing a queen around his neck. Bees will naturally flock to protect her. They are in swarming conditions hence totally harmless…

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To impress crowds, some beekeepers will wear an impressive bee beard. There is a trick. The apiculturist places a cage containing a queen around his neck. Bees will naturally flock to protect her. They are in swarming conditions hence totally harmless…

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To impress crowds, some beekeepers will wear an impressive bee beard. There is a trick. The apiculturist places a cage containing a queen around his neck. Bees will naturally flock to protect her. They are in swarming conditions hence totally harmless…

LAPI008

Loading the hives for the transhumance takes place at dusk. 
Beekeepers also prefer rainy days because the bees remain in their hives.

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Loading the hives for the transhumance takes place at dusk. 
Beekeepers also prefer rainy days because the bees remain in their hives.

LAPI010

Charles, apiculturist 
and swarm hunter 
climbs on a tall oak 
as bees form a swarm 
around their queen 
to protect her. 
Loaded will honey 
for the trip, they are 
not dangerous. 
The beekeeper 
focuses on the queen. 
If he does not catch her, 
the bees will escape 
the basket to rejoin her 
and the operation 
will have been useless.

LAPI011

Chestnut trees flower in late June and early July over a two-week period.

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Chestnut trees flower in late June and early July over a two-week period.

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A beekeeper of the Marais Poitevin area inspects his beehives in a sunflower field spreading to the horizon. This rich sedimentary, clayish water retaining soil is perfect for this crop. On good years, sunflower honey production can yield up to 80 kilograms per beehive.

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An apiculturist 
shakes a frame to check 
the amount of nectar 
collected by the bees 
during their days 
on a sunflower field. 
Droplets of nectar falls off 
the frame, a sign there 
will be a lot of honey.

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The sky is filled with a continuous buzz. 
The never-ending toing-and-froing of the bees, a veritable air-lift between the sunflower fields and the apiary seems to announce abundant honey production and so do the many supers.

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A swarm’s scout bees 
locate an empty hive 
on a beekeeper’s site 
and the bees arrive 
by the thousands 
to take possession of it.

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An apiary in the Pyrenees. 
The hives are taken into the mountains in May, and brought down to the lower elevations again in September. Rhododendron and heather are the principal sources for mono-floral honeys.

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Loading the hives for the transhumance takes place at dusk. 
Beekeepers also prefer rainy days because the bees remain in their hives.

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Loading the hives for the transhumance takes place at dusk. 
Beekeepers also prefer rainy days because the bees remain in their hives.

LAPI020

Loading the hives 
for the transhumance 
takes place at dusk. 
Beekeepers also prefer 
rainy days because 
the bees remain 
in their hives.

LAPI021

Loading the hives for the transhumance takes place at dusk. 
Beekeepers also prefer rainy days because the bees remain in their hives.

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A queen-breeding apiary.

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A queen-breeding apiary.

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A queen-breeding apiary.

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Queen cage.

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Test to check on the development of royal nymphs.

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Test to check on the development of royal nymphs.

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Test to check on the development of royal nymphs.

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Test to check on the development of royal nymphs.

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Queen-rearing frame.

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Queen-rearing hives are fed regularly.

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Queen-rearing hives 
are fed regularly.

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A woman beekeeper taps a hive to move the queen away from the frames being tapped, which then allows her to remove the frames.

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A queen-breeding apiary.

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A queen-breeding apiary.

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A beekeeper 
shakes a frame 
to gather the bees 
and form a swarm.

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Weighing a swarm.

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Weighing a swarm.

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Transfer of a hive.

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In a queen-breeding laboratory, the beekeeper takes eggs from the brood frames.

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In a queen-breeding 
laboratory, the beekeeper 
takes eggs from 
the brood frames.

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In a queen-breeding 
laboratory, the beekeeper 
takes eggs from 
the brood frames.

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In a queen-breeding 
laboratory, the beekeeper 
takes eggs from 
the brood frames.

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In a queen-breeding laboratory, the beekeeper takes eggs from the brood frames.

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Caging a queen.

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Preparing queen-rearing cells.

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Cleaning test.

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Cleaning test.

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Cleaning test.

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A frame of 
queen-rearing cells.

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Bees on queen-rearing cells.

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Bees on queen-rearing cells.

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Bees on queen-rearing cells.

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Bees on queen-rearing cells.

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Some beekeepers 
cut one wing off the queen 
to avoid swarming.

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Marking a queen.

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Marking a queen.

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A hive seen from above. The opening of a hive is always a magic moment.

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An at apiary facing the Mediterranean near Hyeres, France, Jacky Darras tends to his bee hives without protective net or beekeeping gear. This scene has more meaning than it seems. Jacky has had multiple sclerosis for 25 years. He owes his remission to apitherapy.

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In Valenton, Val de Marne, France, a garderner-apiculturist in the garden of association Le Jardin du Cheminot opens a beehive, a cliché of traditional beekeeping.

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Against a Mont Blanc backdrop. Through daily contact with bees, nature and the weather, the beekeeper is particularly knowledgeable about the environment. High in the mountains the flowering period is short but rhododendron, white clover, epilobium, bramble and raspberry will produce excellent honey.

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Against a Mont Blanc backdrop. Through daily contact with bees, nature and the weather, the beekeeper is particularly knowledgeable about the environment. High in the mountains the flowering period is short but rhododendron, white clover, epilobium, bramble and raspberry will produce excellent honey.

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A bee egg collected by a beekeeper for rearing queens.

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A bee egg collected by a beekeeper for rearing queens.

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Standing before a queen-rearing hive, a Gersois beekeeper checks a frame. Rearing queens requires careful planning and constant care.

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The smoker
and its use in the art
of smoking bees 
is one of the secrets 
of beekeeping. 
It makes it possible 
to control the behavior 
of bees.

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Scattering bees from a frame after a change of hive.

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Harvesting honey.

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In Megève, just steps away from the village center, an old Savoyard covered apiary is still in use today.

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An old beekeeper
at his hive in Valensole. 
He has seen the evolution 
and adaptation 
of beekeeping 
over the last sixty years.

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Thannwiller in Alsace.
This splendid covered apiary has forty hives that are still in active use.

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Hive transhumance on the Albion plateau