What to feed Apis cerana for fast reproduction? The best methods for controlling wax moth
We all know that Apis cerana has strong adaptability and agile flight speed, and can quickly evade enemies. Apis cerana is the signature bee breed unique to China. Apis cerana is mainly a pollinating insect centered on mixed wood trees, and Apis cerana has strong foraging ability, a relatively high utilization rate, a long honey-gathering period, and strong adaptability and resistance to mites and diseases. So friends who want to raise Apis cerana will ask, what should Apis cerana eat for fast reproduction?
What to feed Apis cerana for fast reproduction
1. Letting Apis cerana eat more fresh nectar can improve the reproductive capacity of Apis cerana. If you want Apis cerana to have plenty of fresh nectar to eat, you must ensure that the external nectar sources are sufficient. If the external nectar sources are poor, you can move the apiary in time and move it to a place with abundant nectar sources.
2. When external nectar sources are insufficient, if you want to improve the reproductive capacity of Apis cerana, you also need to carry out artificial feeding. It is best to feed a mixture of pollen and honey produced by your own apiary. This kind of feed is both safe and high in nutritional content and is easily accepted by the bees in the colony. As long as they can eat it and their nutrition can keep up, it can provide a large amount of food for the Apis cerana queen, and the egg-laying capacity of the Apis cerana queen will also be strengthened. What follows is an acceleration in the reproduction speed of the colony.
The best methods for controlling wax moth in Apis cerana hives
1. If you want the colony to be free of wax moth, you must keep strong colonies all year round and enhance disease resistance. In the colony, there should be more bees than comb so that the greater wax moth cannot enter the comb to lay eggs. As nectar sources decrease and the seasons change, excess combs should be removed. Once there are many empty combs, Apis cerana has weak hive-cleaning ability, and wax moth is very likely to breed, causing absconding.
2. In the long-term practice of raising Apis cerana, it has been found that starting with new combs develops very well. As time goes on, the combs become older and older, and the older the combs, the more wax moth breeds, creating conditions for Apis cerana to abscond. Therefore, when raising Apis cerana, replace the combs once every 2 years, and it is best to replace them every year.
3. Seal the cracks in the beehive so that moths have nowhere to lay eggs. Frequently sweep the bottom of the hive, often remove wax scraps and debris, keep the inside of the hive clean, and put an end to wax moth parasitism. Washing the beehive with strong soapy water can keep wax moth from appearing for 30 days. Disinfect once each time you change the hive, and expose it to the sun for several hours to kill wax moth eggs, larvae, and pupae.
Selecting and breeding superior varieties of Apis cerana
1. To raise Apis cerana well, you must first work hard on selecting and breeding bee species. Apis cerana has complex species characteristics, so you should choose bee species with strong foraging ability and strong resistance to pests and diseases for breeding. Eliminate poor varieties as quickly as possible and carry out optimization.
2. Red species: The queen's abdominal segments have obvious dark red rings or orange-red rings, commonly known as: horsewhip queen. Worker bees have yellow body color, and young bees are light yellow and appear pale. Red species queens have extremely strong egg-laying rates and can maintain large colonies; they have weak swarming tendency and a mild temperament; the disadvantage is that their disease resistance and mite resistance are relatively poor, and they can be selected as parent stock for crossbreeding.
3. Brown species: Queens and worker bees are brown or brownish yellow. The queen has a high egg-laying rate, and the colony's foraging ability and resistance to pests and diseases are both very strong. Excellent brown species queens have obvious abdominal segment layers and calm behavior, and worker bees have strong comb-protecting ability. After slight vibration they can quickly calm down. They are the preferred breeding material for Apis cerana.
How to prepare an Apis cerana beehive
1. The making of an Apis cerana beehive must pay attention to sealing; do not open a bottom window; for movable hives, a wire saw can be used to cut front and rear windows, and the cut wooden boards should be put back in the original place and connected with hinges. The entrance should be opened to about 5mm, and it is best to make a movable entrance that can be adjusted in size at any time to prevent mice, cockroaches, and wax moths (adults of the greater wax moth). Apis cerana has weak resistance to wax moth (larvae of the greater wax moth), so the bottom of the hive and the surrounding cracks should be firmly repaired with cow dung, lime, and tung oil so as to facilitate cleaning and prevent wax moth breeding. Wooden strips should be nailed around the hive body.
2. The author has used 10-frame, 14-frame, tall-narrow, and Conghua-style beehives to raise Apis cerana, and feels that the tall-narrow type is not very convenient to use, and its honey yield is not high. The 10-frame and 14-frame hives are suitable for raising strong colonies and have relatively high honey yields, and the Conghua-style hive is also good.
Friends who have raised Apis cerana all know that Apis cerana is the most industrious bee among bees. Apis cerana not only has a keen sense of smell, but is also very good at using scattered honey. And friends who want to raise Apis cerana in large numbers can raise them with confidence, because Apis cerana rarely gets sick, and some minor problems can heal on their own.