Inspection Of Bees. The Kingdom Of The Bees - Part Three

2024 Author: Gavin MacAdam | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 13:38

Photo: elesi / Rusmediabank.ru

We continue to get acquainted with the bee family and its orders.

Spring work with bees

With the onset of springtime, and exhibitions of bees from winter huts (when exhibiting bees, take care of fodder honey for them), an active period of bees' life begins. The queens are activated, begin to lay eggs intensively, which is why the size of the family is growing. The future honey collection depends on this clutch, as well as on how strong the family is. During this period of time, you should devote as much time as possible to your insects. You should try your best to provide the most comfortable conditions in the spring. For the family to begin its development, there must be arrays of flowering honey harvests nearby. Prepare everything you need to work in the apiary in advance.

We have already said that "houses" are not placed on the ground, columns 20 cm long are driven into the ground (see previous articles). Otherwise, the bottom will become damp, the bees will begin to freeze. Think about drinking bowls, place containers in different places in the apiary, observe what interest is shown the most, leave that one, remove the rest. It is necessary that the water be clean, it is best if it drips quietly from the tap. You will not have a drinker and your bees will use water from muddy ponds or puddles. You will also need a scale for control weighing of the hive. For this purpose, small scale scales are taken. A hive with a strong bee colony is installed on them, weighing the hive in the late evening, after the end of the work of the bees. By the increased or decreased mass of the "house" they recognize the beginning or end of honey collection.

Inspection of bee colonies

Remember that when working with bees, you need comfortable and tight clothing. An important element is the front mesh, which prevents bee stings. Prepare a smoker, it consists of two cylinders, a lid and a fur. When lighting a smoker, put in it, for a start, an easily burning material (for example, shavings), then put a material that smolders, does not burn, but gives a lot of smoke (rotten, tinder fungus). It is believed that bees fall asleep from smoke, but this is not so. Yes, they sting less, but due to the fact that when smoke enters the hive, they collect honey in the goiter. In such a way, it is difficult for them to sting anyone, because with a filled goiter it is difficult to tighten the abdomen.

Choose a warm day for inspection, when the air temperature is at least 15 degrees. When smoking evidence, remember that only two or three puffs of smoke are enough. When opening the evidence and trying to remove the frame, be aware that it can be glued to the evidence with wax, do not pull, but move it in different directions. You need to keep the frame straight. Do not pull, do not try to chicken out the bees, do not crush the bees, even by accident - these are unacceptable actions when examining bee colonies, you will incur trouble in the form of a cloud of angry insects. Taking the frame for inspection, distribute the rest in an empty place, if there is no space, then you will need a portable box. The frames are temporarily placed there. If the bees begin to show aggression, then let another couple of balls of smoke along the frames. After inspecting the frame, return it to its place. The honeycombs are examined strictly above the nest, without taking away the frames anywhere. You need to turn the frame strictly vertically, clockwise, smoothly by 180 degrees, if you put the frame, then the liquid part of the honey will flow out. There is often no point in examining bees, these actions will only harm the family, reduce the productivity and life cycle of the insect. In general, inspections are carried out as a last resort if the number of bees has dropped, for example.

The hives should have enough combs for laying and forage honey. If you decide to inspect your family, call an experienced beekeeper, let him help you, tell you and show you what to do. And it will be easier for you, and the work will go faster. It is necessary to determine whether your family is strong, how many “streets” are occupied by bees, how many frames with brood and how much forage honey they have. In the event that there is little honey in the hive (sealed honeycombs), then take out the empty honeycombs and put a frame with honey from the reserves, or sugar syrup, if there is no such supply. If there is no brood in the nest, the concern of the bees indicates that the queen has died in the family. Then the hive is disbanded, the remaining bees are distributed into hives with a strong family.

Usually in the spring there are slight cold snaps, so the hives should be insulated from the sides, and on top you need to put mattresses or pillows with a thickness of at least 10 cm. The main thing is that the insulating material is not blown by the winds and has no cracks.

Bee theft

Bees begin to steal when they have no honey collection, there are no flowering fields nearby. They fly all over the apiary, hoping to steal honey from other clues. These bees can be seen from afar. They are unsure of themselves, do not fly into the entrance, but try to get through the cover. A fight may start and the thief will be killed, strong families protect their nests well. If you find a thief bee in a particular hive, then you should reduce the entrance to 1 cm, and put a rag dipped in kerosene along it, if such a measure does not help and the theft continues, you should close the hive for a couple of days.

To be continued