Detailed Explanation of Key Points of Scientific Beekeeping Techniques to Help You Keep Your Colonies Well
Nowadays, whatever we do, we want to pay attention to science. Science today is more and more advanced, and only by believing in science can you keep up with the pace of modern times. Beekeeping has been practiced since very early times. In the past, beekeeping used only traditional methods, and honey yields were not very high. With today's scientific beekeeping, honey yields have become much higher. Below, let us learn about scientific beekeeping together.
Scientific Beekeeping Techniques
1. Site Selection
Within a radius of 2.5 km around the site there should be sufficient main nectar and pollen sources and auxiliary nectar and pollen sources, and the main and auxiliary nectar and pollen sources should be suitably matched. The site should preferably be a south-facing slope near a hillside, with plenty of sunlight, a high mountain at the back as a screen, natural shade above, southerly winds in summer, blocking of northerly winds in winter, and fertile soil, vigorous growth of nectar plants, a long flowering period, sufficient water, and relatively convenient transportation.
2. Purchasing Bee Colonies
1. Purchase time: In the north, it is best in April to May, when the colony is in its reproduction period; choose relatively stable colonies, and with a good external environment, rearing is likely to succeed.
2. Selection method: Observe at the entrance of the hive. If worker bees go in and out diligently and the foragers carry a relatively large proportion of pollen, it is generally a vigorous and good colony. Then open the hive for inspection. If the worker bees are quiet and not panicked, it shows they are docile in temperament; if the queen bee has a large body, thick legs, tall body, broad thorax, a long and plump abdomen, is densely covered with down all over, and lays eggs nimbly and quickly without panic, it shows the queen is young and robust, with strong egg-laying ability.
3. Arrangement of bee colonies: It depends on the size of the site, the number of colonies kept, and the season. There are four arrangement methods: single-hive arrangement, double-hive arrangement, staggered arrangement, and three-hive arrangement.
3. Feeding
1. Supplementary feeding: That is, artificial feeding carried out when nectar sources are lacking. The methods are: (1) Supplementary feeding of honey. Honey can be diluted with warm water at 20 percent (for crystallized honey, add a little water and heat until dissolved). The diluted honey can be fed to bees by pouring it into combs or pouring it into a frame-type feeder. (2) Supplementary feeding of syrup. Syrup is made by adding white sugar to water at 50 percent, heating until fully dissolved, then cooling to lukewarm. It is best to add 0.1% citric acid to the syrup to aid digestion and absorption. Brown sugar should not be used at this time.
2. Stimulative feeding: Artificial feeding carried out during the colony's reproduction period and the bees' production period. Generally, a small amount of 60% honey liquid or 50% syrup is given. In early spring, once every other day; later, as consumption increases, once a day. The time starts 40 days before the honey flow period and continues until a large amount of nectar and pollen is collected from the outside. Each frame of bees can be given 50-100 grams of syrup per stimulative feeding.
3. Feeding pollen: The purpose is to supplement protein feed. In the late overwintering period and early spring, pollen preserved from the previous autumn can be supplied, and soybean powder can also be used as a substitute. The feeding methods are as follows: (1) Liquid feeding. Add pollen to syrup at 10 times the amount, boil, and after cooling place it in a feeder for feeding. (2) Cake feeding. Add an equal amount of honey or syrup to pollen or substitute pollen, stir thoroughly and evenly, make it into a cake shape, wrap it with plastic paper, leave both ends open, and place it on the frame top bar for bees to feed on. This method is often used when cold waves occur.
4. Feeding water and salts: Generally, each colony needs to collect 200-300 ml of water per day. Place water in a feeder or put a wet towel on the screen cover for them to collect water on their own, and add 1% table salt to the syrup.
4. Management
1. Spring management: (1) Promote bees' flight and excretion. Raise the temperature in the center of the nest to 33-35°C, provide sufficient nectar and pollen sources or stimulative feeding, and open the hive cover and insulation materials in time so that they leave the hive to fly and excrete. (2) Insulation of the hive. After excretion, they enter the reproduction period, and artificial insulation is required, the nest should be tightened, and the colony strength should be concentrated. For keeping multiple colonies in the same hive, provide insulation inside and outside the hive, until April to May in the north.
2. Management during the honey flow period: (1) In the early stage, adjust and organize the honey-collecting colonies well. (2) Maintain strong colonies for honey collection. To control the queen's egg laying, a queen excluder can be used to restrict the queen to one area of the brood box or to the brood box. For brood break honey harvesting, 5 days before the main honey flow period, take the queen and 1-2 combs with bees from the honey-collecting colony to form a small colony separately, and the next day introduce a mature queen cell into the honey-collecting colony, which can greatly increase honey production. Pay attention to the management of small colonies. For those weak colonies that cannot collect honey, create conditions to promote rapid development of colony strength. On the premise of appropriate honey collection, do a good job in reproduction so as to supplement colony strength.
3. Autumn management: (1) Raise new queens and replace old and inferior queens. (2) Raise overwintering bees of the right age. Overwintering bees of the right age refer to young bees that emerge before overwintering, have only performed two or three excretion flights, have not done nursing and foraging work, and have not secreted royal jelly. To enable overwintering bees to overwinter safely, it is necessary to control the birth of young bees born after the honey flow period, so as to preserve the colony strength. The control method is to force the queen to stop laying eggs at a certain time during the honey flow period. (3) Stop brood rearing early at the right time. In the later stage of raising overwintering bees, first press the combs with honey and pollen, and pour honey over them 2-3 times, so that the queen will stop laying. At the same time, move the colony to a cool and cold place, slightly expand the bee cluster by 1 time, take out the pollen combs from the hive, and remove the insulation materials, so as to stop brood rearing earlier.
4. Winter management: (1) Adjust the hive entrance. The hive entrance should preferably be 6-7 mm high and 60-70 mm wide. (2) Prevent honey crystallization. Strengthen insulation, or plug some wet cotton balls into the hive from the entrance to reduce ventilation. (3) Indoor overwintering in the north. They should be moved indoors before the water freezes and before the ground is covered with snow. When moving indoors, the beehive should be 20 cm away from the wall, and the first layer should be 40 cm above the ground. The room temperature should be kept at 0-2°C, and the humidity should be kept between 75% and 80%.
Why Bees Do Not Sting Beekeepers
Bees will sting no matter who it is. The reason they do not sting beekeepers is that beekeepers have long-term contact with bees and have adapted to the beekeeper's smell, so they do not sting beekeepers. If the beekeeper eats spicy foods such as scallions and garlic, bees will also sting him. If the beekeeper washes his face with scented soap or ordinary soap, bees will also sting him.
How to Prevent Bee Stings
Bee stinging is a self-defense instinct of bees. When management actions are rough, or when standing in front of the hive and blocking the bees' path, or when the beekeeper has an unusual odor, bee stings will be triggered. Bee stings are not harmful to people. If stung accidentally, do not nervously slap with your hands. Calmly scrape off the sting with your fingernail. Do not pull out the sting with your hands, so as to avoid letting more venom enter the skin. The stung area can be washed with water. Then apply a little ammonia water or soapy water.
How to Harvest Honey
1. Suitable containers. Honey is a weakly acidic liquid, so non-metal containers should be used, such as wooden barrels or vats for storage. The containers must be clean and sanitary, thoroughly washed and wiped dry, and free of unusual odors. Honey should not be stored too full, especially during transportation, where 25%-30% empty space should be left to prevent honey from fermenting and overflowing or from bursting the container due to heating and vibration, causing losses. Honey should be placed in a dry, clean, ventilated room free of unusual odors, with room temperature kept at 5-10°C.
2. Store by variety. There are different kinds of honey, such as milk vetch honey, rapeseed honey, citrus honey, loquat honey, jujube honey, etc. Each kind of honey has its own characteristics and flavor, suitable for the needs of various consumers. Therefore, it should be stored by variety to maintain its characteristics and prevent mixing.
3. Keep it clean. The method for cleanliness is to put the honey in a relatively tall large bucket and let it settle quietly in a relatively warm, dry room. The settling time depends on the temperature. Generally, at 20°C it takes 3 days, and at 35°C it takes only 10 hours. At this time, the heavier impurities sink, and the pure honey floats on the upper layer, so the pure honey can be scooped out and stored separately.
4. Prevent fermentation. Yeast often exists in honey, and immature honey contains a large amount of it, which is most suitable for yeast growth. Therefore, it needs to be treated before storage. That is, put the honey into a wide-mouthed container, leave it open in a dry, ventilated room at a temperature above 25°C, and let it stand for several days. This can evaporate excess water, and it can be stored after it is fully mature.
5. Prevent moisture absorption and odor absorption. Honey has a very strong moisture-absorbing capacity. Even mature honey will absorb moisture and ferment, so the storage container should be sealed and placed in a dry, ventilated room at 5-10°C. Items with strong odors should not be placed in the room, to prevent honey from absorbing unusual odors.
6. Crystallization of honey. Crystallized honey is beneficial for storage and transportation. To speed up crystallization, about 0.5% old honey can be stirred into the honey. However, honey supplied to the market must maintain a transparent appearance and liquid state. To thaw crystallized honey, a double boiler can be used for heating treatment, that is, water in the outer layer and honey in the inner layer. When the temperature reaches 71°C, keep it for a few minutes, then remove from heat, let it stand for 1 day, skim off the surface foam, put it into sterilized glass bottles, seal the lids tightly, and sell.
7. The current shelf life of honey is stipulated by the state as 18 months for bottled honey. However, honey with sealed caps and high maturity concentration can also be kept for many years.
Scientific beekeeping has certain requirements for site selection, and the feeding requirements are also higher, with more complete management. If every step is done more carefully, a lot of trouble will be saved later. Bees generally do not sting beekeepers, but if the beekeeper blocks the bees, they will still sting.