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Beehives and their components are investments that cost beekeepers considerable amounts of money. Many beekeepers have had cases of theft of their beehives and have resorted to making some markings on their beehives and other methods of deterring and tracking thieves. The technology minded beekeepers may go for RFID and NFC tags embedded within beehives and beehive parts. More visible marking involves the use of paint, embedded name and plate tags, and branding. Hot branding leaves a permanent mark on the beehive and parts you choose. It is not easy to remove and requires too much work to obscure; work that beehive thieves are not very willing to do. In this article, we take you through the best beehive branding irons you can use to mark your beehives.
Reasons for Branding Beehives
There are many reasons for branding beehives, but chief among them is to improve the traceability of stolen beehives and their parts. A big visible brand on a beehive also acts as a deterrent to possible thieves. Branding a beehive gives a thief work to do once they have stolen the beehive. They have to paint it over or scratch it out. The best beehive branding irons leave a very permanent mark on the wood of the beehive that is difficult to remove. Eventually, the thief has to throw away the stolen beehive or part that is branded or risk being caught. Of course, you would have to be able to physically access the beehive to inspect it for your brand mark.
Beekeepers also brand their beehives for identity purposes. The beehive can be branded as part of the brand identity within the broader marketing strategy of beehive products. A nicely styled and done brand on a beehive is beautiful to look at. It contributes to improve the aesthetics of the apiary and the general appearance of the beehives.
3. Differentiate Beehives
Two or more beekeepers may have their beehives in one apiary. To identify the beehives that belong to respective beekeepers, branding can be done to the beehives. The brands differ and each beekeeper knows their brand. This also applies to beehives in an apiary that is set up as a community project. The branding helps members of the community and stakeholders in the beekeeping project to know their beehives. It also creates a feeling of ownership among the members of the project.
Overview of the Best Beehive Branding Irons
5. SuperFindings Bee Pattern Brass Branding Iron
The SuperFindings Bee Pattern Brass Branding Iron is a high-quality beehive branding iron. It is durable and will be a valuable asset in your beekeeping operation. The branding iron works very well on wood. It is easy to use and safe for bees. This branding iron comes complete with a stamp and a handle. The stamp is made using brass and measures 30mm in diameter. Brass does not get rusted even with exposure to heat, air, and moisture. It has an iron handle that is 29.6 cm long.
This beehive branding iron is light in weight and very practical. It works on wood, paper, leather, and plastics. A bee pattern on the head of this branding iron makes it a perfect fit for use in beekeeping. The bee pattern is clear and is framed in a floral semi-circle. If you have other uses for a branding iron in your beekeeping operation, it is easy to remove the stamp of this branding iron and replace it with another stamp suited for your use.
Using this branding iron is easy for both beginner and experienced beekeepers. You only need a source of heat such as a fire or an electric hot plate. Heat the stamp heat using your source of heat and then place the stamp over the beehive that you want to brand. You may try branding a discarded piece of material as a test to learn how long you need to heat the stamp, and how long you should leave the stamp on the material for best results.
- The SuperFindings Bee Pattern Brass Branding Iron is made by a company based in the USA. The company is committed to manufacturing comprehensive and efficient products. It is excellently crafted and easy to use. This branding iron is thus of high quality and works as promised.
- Brass used in the hot stamp of this branding iron gets hot quickly and retains heat for a long time. It works well in branding many different materials including wood.
- This branding iron is not internally heated. You need a second set of equipment to provide you with a source of heat. This causes you to have two hot areas or surfaces that you are working with. It not only increases the risk of burns and fires but also reduces energy efficiency due to loss of heat during the transfer of heat from your source to the stamp of the branding iron.
4. Arokimi Branding Iron for Wood
This branding iron for wood is made and sold by Arokimi. It has a durable branding iron stamp. You can use the branding iron on many materials including wood, leather, and paper. This branding iron features a handle and a brass branding stamp. The brass stamp separates from the surface that you are branding to give you clean and vivid branding results. Arokimi avails this branding iron in various sizes of the branding stamp head. The available sizes range from 1” x 1” to 10” x 10”. Among the options are some electric branding irons that are energy efficient. The electric branding irons also reduce the risk of fires and burns.
Using this Arokimi Branding Iron for Wood is easy. Both beginner and experienced beekeepers can use it to brand their beehives. To brand your beehive, heat the brass stamp over a fire or use a hot plate. Next, place the stamp onto the surface that you want to brand and leave it on for a few seconds. Remove the stamp from the surface once it has burnt the design onto the beehive surface. With the electric version of this branding iron, you do not need a fire or source of heat – only a source of electric power.
You are not stuck with one or stock branding designs when you use this Arokimi Branding Iron for Wood. Arokimi accepts your requests for customization. This allows you to get the branding design that you want and which matches your other branding efforts. Provide Arokimi with an image of your custom design and get the customized stamp to use in branding your beehives. Delivery of the custom design is also timely. This makes the Arokimi Branding Iron for Wood very suitable for use in beekeeping.
- You can get customizations with this branding iron. This allows you to keep in line with your brand identity when branding your beehives. The option to get a custom branding stamp also makes Arokimi Branding Iron for Wood a great gift item for beekeepers and woodworkers.
- Electric branding iron options available from Arokimi make this branding iron efficient in its use of energy and time-saving. They are also safe and easy to use by both beginner and experienced beekeepers.
- Beekeepers that want to carry out branding using customized branding stamps have to wait a bit longer than stock design users. This is because the manufacturer needs more time to produce the customized stamps and ship them to you.
3. Arokimi Custom Logo Branding Iron for Wood
This is an Arokimi branding iron with its head with different size customizations from 1.5-inches x 1.5-inches, to 5-inches x 5-inches. It gives you a large branding result than many other branding irons available to beekeepers. Additionally, you have options for electric and non-electric beehive branding irons with Arokimi. The options free you from the burden of carrying beehives to places where there is an electricity supply or having to light fires where you might not want to light one.
The Arokimi Custom Logo Branding Iron for Wood allows for easy customization. You can send an image of your logo or other desired design in JPG format to Arokimi when placing your order for this beehive branding iron. The company produces the custom branding stamp in a short period of time and ships it to you. This makes it easy for you to stay in tandem with the established branding for your beehive products and services. Among other options, Arokimi accepts customizations for not only logos but words in handwriting too.
Using this Arokimi beehive branding iron is easy for both beginner and experienced beekeepers. It only needs some heating and then applying the branding stamp onto the beehive. The source of heat can be a fire, hot plate, or electric power for the electric branding irons. Keep the branding stamp on the beehive surface, for as long as is needed to leave good results, depending on the type of wood that you have used in making your beehives. Hardwoods often require more time to get heat branded than softwoods.
- This branding iron has a wide and long stamp. It allows you to burn a clearer and bigger image on your beehives during branding. The bigger image can be seen from far off and works well in marking your beehives as a deterrent from theft and other problems.
- Arokimi is a reliable company and manufacturer of durable branding irons. This gives beekeepers assurance that they will get top-notch results in their beehive branding efforts.
- Getting customizations with this branding iron takes more time than when you do not have additional customizations. This is due to the more time needed to process the custom designs as per your preferences. Beekeepers that are in a hurry to brand their beehives are thus not suited to get a customized Arokimi Custom Logo Branding Iron for Wood.
2. Arokimi Custom Logo Branding Iron for Wood (Electric or Manual)
The Arokimi Custom Logo Branding Iron for Wood is a reliable and high-quality branding iron for beekeepers. It comes complete and ready to use with its wooden handle, a length of iron holding the branding stamp and a brass stamp. The combination of these materials in the various components allows for insulation, ease of handling, and a branding stamp that does not rust easily. Additionally, the brass stamp of this beehive branding iron retains heat for a long time. Reinforcements of the wooden handle and the branding stamp keep everything tightly in place.
This branding iron is made with excellent craftsmanship. Its wooden handle is shaped to fit ergonomically into your hand. It allows for excellent grip during your use of the beehive branding iron. The wooden part measures 3.9 inches in length. It connects to an iron shaft that separates the branding iron and the handle. This iron shaft is 8 inches long. It keeps the heat away from the handle of the branding iron while allowing for great control of the branding stamp. At the tip of the iron shaft is a brass stamp for carrying out the actual branding work. Arokimi makes it using brass and can customize the stamp to your preferred design.
Beekeepers can use this Arokimi branding iron with ease. It only needs heating using an external source of heat such as a fire, or plugging it into an electrical outlet when the branding iron is electric. Arokimi gives you these options to suit your varying needs and availability of resources for branding beehives. The manufacturer is a company based in the USA and gives you assurance of quality and timely delivery of the beehive branding iron.
- This Arokimi Custom Logo Branding Iron for Wood is made by a reliable manufacturer of quality products. It is durable and works as promised. The branding iron is easy to use by both beginner and experienced beekeepers.
- This branding iron comes in both electric and non-electric options. This allows you to go for the most suitable branding iron for your beekeeping operation depending on the availability or non-availability of electric power in the working area where you will be branding your beehives.
- The non-electric option of this Arokimi Custom Logo Branding Iron for Wood requires you to have a source of heat such as a fire. It thus adds to the risk of fires starting and the beekeeper sustaining burns to their body.
1. Arokimi Custom Logo Electric Wood Branding Iron
This is an internally heated branding iron by Arokimi. The branding iron features an electrically heated element. It eliminates the need for a fire or hot plate during beehive branding. The Arokimi Custom Logo Electric Wood Branding Iron comes complete and ready to use. It saves you time and you can easily brand many beehives at a time. With this branding iron, you can get a custom stamp for your beekeeping operation. You can also change out the branding stamp for different brand designs.
The Arokimi Custom Logo Electric Wood Branding Iron is made using high-quality materials. It is also assembled with excellent craftsmanship. The branding iron is durable and works as promised. It features materials such as brass on the branding iron, wood on the handle, and a high-quality electricity cord. This enables you to project your beekeeping operation’s branding onto your beehive and beehive products’ packaging with ease. Make use of the Arokimi customization option to get your logo on the branding stamp. Arokimi’s experienced graphic designers optimize your logo image to ensure that you always get a clear, readable and durable mark from the custom branding stamp.
The stamp on the Arokimi Custom Logo Electric Wood Branding Iron is dual-purpose. You can remove the stamp from the branding iron and use it to emboss the design by hammering it onto leather, or use it with heat to brand wood, paper, and other materials. For heat branding, plug in the branding iron and leave it to warm up for 10-15 minutes. Next, press the stamp on the wood for 1-2 seconds for the best results. You can also use a hot stamp foil during pressing if you want to.
- Precision manufacturing techniques by Arokimi give you a clear and readable mark from the customized stamp of this branding iron. The manufacturer accurately translates your branding design into a clear and durable branding iron stamp.
- The Arokimi Custom Logo Electric Wood Branding Iron is designed with the comfort of the user in mind. It is ergonomic and easy to use during beehive branding. The branding iron is also durable so it is a valuable asset in your beekeeping operation.
- This branding iron is electric. You cannot use it to brand your beehives if you are carrying out the branding in a place where there is no electricity. This might require you to move heavy beehive boxes and other components from your apiary to a place where there is an electricity supply.
Recovering Stolen Beehives
A stolen beehive is a loss of invested capital for the beekeeper. The thief will always try to obscure any markings on the beehive and remove trackers such as chips if they can find them. Recovering stolen beehives and their parts requires the beekeeper to physically access the stolen beehive, so they can check it for their markings that prove ownership. This is not easy but can be achieved through a combination of methods. The police have to be involved in every step of the process so that everything is done lawfully.
1. Involve the Police
Notifying the police, fellow beekeepers and agricultural authorities of the theft of your beehives is an important first step towards recovery. If you have trackers installed in the beehives, use them to trace the location of the beehives. Go to the beehives with the police so they can make arrests if possible.
2. Inform Nearby Beekeepers and Re-sellers
Letting fellow beekeepers know that your beehives have been stolen helps you get information that might be useful to the eventual recovery of the beehives. The beekeepers will let you know if anyone is found selling beehives or their parts. Other beekeepers will also be aware that there is a beehive thief in the area. They can then beef up the security measures they use to keep their beehives from being stolen too.
If you can, talk to pawnbrokers and other buyers and sellers of second-hand items in the area. Let them know that you have had beehives stolen and that you are committed to recovering them. They will either not buy the stolen beehives or even let you know that the beehives are in the market. If they do it well, it leads to the arrest of the thief and recovery of the stolen beehives and their parts.
3. Set a Trap
You can also set up a trap by circulating information that you are buying beehives and their parts. This can be done by the beekeeper themselves or someone else close to them. A friendly beginner beekeeper can circulate the information so that it seems true they need more equipment for their beekeeping operation. The thief is tempted to sell the items if they hear of the opportunity so that they get the stolen beehives and parts off their hands. If you are lucky, you will get the thief trying to sell your stolen beehives and have them arrested.
Securing Your Beehives
By making it difficult to sell off stolen beehives, you render them useless to the thief. You should also employ more than one measure to secure beehives. Strapping them down, using embedded electronic chips, fencing and using various types of security cameras are recommended. Beekeepers can also use screws and bolts of sizes that are not common to prevent theft of their beehives. Use a combination of these beehive security measures to prevent the theft of beehives and to make recovery of easier in the event they are stolen.
Ultimately, you should aim to prevent the theft of your beehives. Recovering already stolen beehives and their parts is a tiring exercise. It drains you of resources you had not even planned to use. Additionally, you encounter delays in production. You might successfully recover all the stolen beehives and their parts, only to have them held by the police as evidence while a case drags its way through the courts!
The relatively high cost of buying beehives and their parts makes them valuable. Thieves can easily target beehives as an item to steal. The location of apiaries is often away from traffic and areas frequently visited by people other than the beekeeper and owner of the beehives. These factors make beehive theft an occurrence that many beekeepers have had to deal with. Take measures to prevent the theft of your beehives, and to ease tracking in case the beehives are stolen. Use the best beehive branding irons to keep your beehives looking beautiful, unappealing to steal, and easy to recover in case a thief steals them one day.
Have you ever used any of the beehive branding irons discussed above? Leave a comment below and let us know your thoughts on it.
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