How do beginner beekeepers master rapid bee reproduction techniques?

In today's life, people are paying more and more attention to health preservation, so honey is increasingly loved by everyone. People all enjoy drinking honey and treat it as a delicacy, because it not only beautifies and nourishes the skin but also helps with weight loss and boosts immunity. More and more people love it, not only drinking it every day but also using it as an excellent gift. So now more and more people are raising honeybees.

What beginner beekeepers should do

First, of course, is to choose a good site, then purchase beekeeping tools including: beehives, hive frames, honey extractors, foundation, bee brushes, uncapping knives, hive tools, grafting needles, bee hats, smokers, etc. Then there is the technical knowledge. As for climate, it is best to choose spring and autumn, and when the temperature is between 20—30°C, when the outside climate is mild, the bee colony has strong activity ability, and abundant nectar source plants are blooming; at this time, buying bee colonies results in faster reproduction. Beginner beekeepers start from here, learning while practicing, so that knowledge is gradually consolidated through practice, the bee colony gradually increases through reproduction, and a firm foundation is laid for expanding beekeeping in the future.

Rapid bee reproduction techniques

1. Rapid reproduction by splitting the same colony in the same hive. In spring and summer, when the colony strength reaches 6-8 frames, if you want to reproduce the colony, first introduce an egg-laying queen or introduce a virgin queen, prepare the egg-laying queen and determine the time when the virgin queen will emerge, then open another entrance one week before splitting. After the newly opened entrance has bees going in and out, according to the internal conditions of the colony, adjust the brood frames and honey-pollen frames on both sides evenly, and use a middle partition board to divide it into two from the center, so that the bees on both sides cannot communicate. After 1 day, introduce 1 egg-laying queen or virgin queen cell on the queenless side.

2. Rapid reproduction by splitting the brood box and super. In summer and autumn, when the colony strength reaches 8-12 frames, if you want to split and reproduce, first prepare the egg-laying queen and determine the emergence time of the virgin queen, then place the brood box well and place the super on the flat box. Then take out 2-3 frames with bees and brood from the colony and put them into the prepared brood box or super. Note that the super and brood box should be separated, and the bees above and below cannot communicate. The brood frames taken out are best capped brood frames with a large number of bees emerging. After 1 day, introduce 1 egg-laying queen or virgin queen cell. The disadvantage of this method is that the forager bees taken out will fly back to the original colony, and the split colony may have a colony strength that does not match the number of bees and frames, so the bees taken out should be young bees as much as possible. There should also be a certain amount of sugar frames; if there are no sugar frames, then on the second day be sure to supplement feeding (1:1).

3. Rapid reproduction by splitting at a relocation site. In summer and autumn, if the apiary wants to split and reproduce, likewise before the apiary is relocated, first prepare the egg-laying queen and determine the emergence time of the virgin queen. Then after relocating to the site, before the bees have made orientation flights, take 2-3 frames with bees and brood into a prepared empty beehive, at least 2-3 frames. The next day, introduce 1 egg-laying queen or virgin queen cell. With this splitting reproduction method, the bees taken out will not fly back to the colony, the colony strength of the taken-out colony will also not weaken relatively, and the split colony is easier to keep. Using the same principle, you can also take out the split colony in the morning or evening and move the split colony to a place 3 kilometers in diameter away from the original apiary, so that the forager bees cannot fly back to the original colony, and the split colony is also easier to keep.

4. Rapid reproduction by splitting during the queen replacement season. When the apiary replaces queens, if you want to split and reproduce, likewise after determining the emergence time of the virgin queen, 2-3 days before the queen cell emerges, take out the original queen together with 2-3 frames of bees and brood as a reproduction colony to continue reproducing, and introduce 1 virgin queen into the original colony to let her mate. The split colony as a reproduction colony can be moved away from the original apiary or placed at the original apiary. If conditions permit, move it away from the original apiary as much as possible, so that future reproduction and keeping are easier to manage. Because the forager bees taken out will also not fly back to the original colony, the reproduction speed is fast.

Selection of bee breeding sites

1. Abundant nectar sources. Within 2 kilometers, there should be at least two or more main nectar sources throughout the year. In addition, there should be some auxiliary nectar sources with staggered flowering periods. For nectar source sites with short flowering periods and surging nectar flow, the bee colony is best placed in a downwind position slightly lower than the large expanse of nectar sources, which helps bees fly against the wind on an empty stomach and return downwind downhill fully loaded. It is also good for the apiary to be located in the center of the nectar source.

2. Sufficient water sources. Bees cannot be placed near three-waste pollution, toilets, livestock sheds, pigsties, etc. Rivers, lakes, and ponds must not separate the nectar source and the apiary, to avoid bees being unable to return to the hive before rain during collection and drowning in them.

3. Flat, high, and dry terrain. Convenient transportation. Suitable environment. Bees are quiet by nature, so no apiary should be set up around schools, factories, enterprises, etc.

The process of bees collecting honey

1. Finding nectar sources. Honey collection by bees starts with finding nectar sources. Before a large number of worker bees go out to collect, a small number of “scout bees” always go out first to search. Once the “scout bees” find a flowering nectar source, they descend into the flowers and use their tube-like mouthparts (proboscis) to suck the nectar into the honey sac (stomach). After filling the honey sac, they fly back to the hive and first distribute the brought-back nectar little by little to the surrounding companions, letting them taste and become familiar with the nectar and sweet fragrance.

2. Colony honey collection. When the fully loaded forager bees return to the hive, as soon as they enter, they pass the nectar from their honey sacs mouth to mouth to the house bees like passing a baton in a relay race, or temporarily unload it in empty comb cells, and then immediately go out for a second collection.

3. Brewing honey. Most of the honey brewing work is completed by house bees. When brewing honey, these house bees turn their own honey sacs and mouthparts into little “processing workshops.” They continuously suck in and spit out the nectar received from the field bees, letting airflow pass quickly through the hive to carry away a large amount of water in the nectar and concentrate it.

4. Honey brewing work. When the outside weather is good, the nectar source is good, nectar comes in quickly, and the nectar juice is thin, the house bees keep brewing honey on the one hand and accelerate storage on the other. They divide the nectar juice into small drops and hang them separately on the tops of many comb cells, with the purpose of increasing surface area to speed up water evaporation. In this way, forager bees shuttle back and forth busily, and honey-brewing bees process and brew without rest day or night.

More and more people like to drink honey, so more and more people are raising honeybees. Therefore, choosing the quality of honey is also a necessary skill for everyone, so all kinds of honey are sold on the market. There are good ones and bad ones, and the prices are also very different. But we generally buy according to our own needs and understanding. Choose the good honey you like best.