Beginners Course COLONY MANAGEMENT MIKE PETT

Transcription

1 Beginners Course COLONY MANAGEMENT MIKE PETT

2 EQUIPMENT Ò Smoker Ò Hive Tool Ò Gloves Marigolds are fine Ò Good quality full length Bee Suit. Ò 1 and preferably 2 complete Bee Hives with 2 Supers plus frames and foundation. Ò A Frame feeder and a ½ gallon contact feeder Ò Other items such as Queen Marking Pens, etc can be obtained at a later date.

3 INSPECTIONS Ò A golden rule should be only open colonies with a clear plan in mind Ò Too frequent inspections will have a disruptive effect on the colony and may even prompt the bees to swarm.

4 HOW TO TRANSFER A NUC TO A HIVE Ò There is no need to transfer the colony into your hive straight away but your nucleus hive should be placed where you intend putting your hive. Ò Make your first inspection. Ò You are looking for the Queen - make sure she is laying Ò How big is the brood area? Ò Do they have sufficient food stores?

5 HOW TO TRANSFER A NUC TO A HIVE Ò When you have at least four seams of bees and a good amount of brood transfer the colony into a full hive. Ò Inspect weekly until mid July when the swarming impulse should have passed, then inspections can reduce.

6 QUESTION FOR THE GROUP. Q. What points should I look for when inspecting. Ò Is the Queen Laying? Ò Have they got enough stores? Ò Have they got enough Room? Ò Are there signs of swarming? Ò How much Varroa do they have and should I treat? Ò Does everything look and Feel OK!!!

7 EGGS AND LARVAE

8 LAYING WORKERS

9 COLONY Date HIVE RECORDS Queen(Q) Eggs (E), Larvae(L), Sealed Brood (B) Bees (Frames) LOCATION Brood (Frames) Stores (Frames) Temper Notes

10 SPRING BUILD-UP Ò Colonies build up very quickly in the spring so give your colonies lots of room. Ò When the colony is up to 7 frames of bees place a super on top of the queen excluder Ò As you see the comb drawn out add a second super above the first.

11 DIFFERENT TYPES OF QUEEN CELLS Play Cells Ò Lots of empty cups

12 DIFFERENT TYPES OF QUEEN CELLS Swarm Cells Stand proud of comb Positioned all over frames in particular edges of frames Usually many can be seen

13 DIFFERENT TYPES OF QUEEN CELLS Supercedure Cells Very large Stand proud of the frame on a stalk

14 DIFFERENT TYPES OF QUEEN CELLS Emergency Cell Made from a worker cell. Always with brood

15 SWARM CONTROL Ò Swarming is a natural impulse of the bees Ò Lose a swarm lose your Honey Crop Ò Weekly inspection look for signs of swarming Ò Multiple unsealed Queen cells hanging down on the face of the comb Immediate Action Ò Simplest action is split the colony in two

16 SWARM CONTROL

17 PRINCIPLES BEHIND SWARM CONTROL Ò The earlier the better before queen cells are fully formed. Ò Swarming can be delayed by destroying queen cells but only for a while. If you destroy queen cells, make sure there are eggs present Ò The old queen will want to leave the hive with some of the bees Ò If you remove the queen, the remaining bees will make queen cells (if there are eggs or larvae less than 3 days old present) Ò If you remove the queen and queen cells and there are no eggs or young larvae, the colony will die out Ò If you move a hive, the flying bees will try to return to the original site Ò nurse bees (the ones looking after the larvae) will stay with the brood they are on, even if you move them away from the original site

18 SPLITTING A COLONY Ò You will need a second hive or a nuc box. Extra frames of foundation. Ò First find comb with the queen on. Ò Leave this comb plus two combs of brood and two combs of stores in the original hive. Ò Remove all the queen cells in the original colony. Ò Put all the remaining combs into your second hive or nuc. Ò Leave 2 good queen cells in this hive. One open and one closed.

19 SPLITTING A COLONY CONT. Ò Shake the nurse bees into the new hive. Ò Fill up the spaces in both colonies with new frames. Ò Move the new colony to the opposite side of the apiary. Ò All the flying bees return to the original hive. the colony is weakened and are discouraged from swarming. Ò The new colony will hatch a new queen and when mated will build up quickly.

20 SPLITTING A COLONY CONT.

21 CAN T FIND THE QUEEN Ò Split the colony as described Ò Destroy all the queen cells in both hives. Ò Make sure you have frames with eggs in both colonies. Ò Inspect in seven days Ò One of the colonies has queen cells - destroy all but 2 as before and proceed Ò The other will have no queen cells but will have eggs.

22 REALLY IMPORTANT BEFORE REMOVING QUEEN CELLS: Think, do I have a failed or dead queen? Has a swarm left? if you knock off all the queen cells you may find yourself with a queenless colony and no ability to rectify the situation.

23 SUPER REMOVAL AND CLEARING BEES Ò Honey is removed from hives in August for most beekeepers. Ò Beekeepers in areas with Himalayan Balsam take off honey in September Ò The Bees will be in the Supers with the honey so they need to be removed or cleared before the supers are removed. Ò Use a one way valve to clear the bees.

24 USING PORTER BEE ESCAPES Ò There are many types of valves on the market but the most commonly used is The Porter Bee Escape Ò Fits into the oval slots on the crown board. Ò It is best to use 2 Escapes. Ò Test the escapes before fitting. Ò Fit onto the crown board which is then placed on top of the brood box.

25 USING PORTER BEE ESCAPES

26 TAKING OFF THE SUPERS Ò Twenty four hours later the bees will have cleared from the supers. Ò It is important to ensure the Escapes are fitted correctly or else you will end up with supers full of bees!! Ò Once the supers have been removed store them in an area that the bees cannot access. Ò Extract your honey.

27 WINTER PREPARATION Ò You need to ensure that the colony has plenty of stores. Ò Personally I try and leave a full super on each hive. Ò If the colony is light feed it sugar syrup by means of rapid feeders. Learn to Heft and record weight. Ò The correct solution is a 1 kg bag of sugar dissolved in ½ litre of water or alternately you can use Ambrosia. Ò Empty supers should be removed and placed in store with sheets of newspaper between to prevent access by wax moths. Ò Entrance blocks should be placed in the entrance or use mouse guards.

28 WINTER MANAGEMENT Ò Secure hives in windy areas. Ò Keep a check for pests such as Woodpeckers Ò Starvation is one of the major causes of loss over winter especially in warm wet winters Ò Feed if necessary with fondant or commercial feed not syrup Ò Treat colonies with Oxalic acid around Christmas time. Ò Make up frames and prepare for the season

29 FINALLY Remember one simple maxim Bees don t do complicated but beekeepers do!! So try and keep things as simple as you can and that way you are more likely to succeed as a beekeeper And don t be afraid to ask!