Key Techniques and Management Methods for Beekeeping in Spring

Bees rely on collecting nectar to grow. But not every season has pollen. Also, bees are afraid of cold, so if it is a cold day you must keep the bees warm. In spring, the temperature is relatively low and pollen is relatively scarce, so how should bees be kept?

Spring beekeeping techniques

1. Shaking bees and tightening combs

In early spring or during late-spring cold spells, bees are vulnerable to low temperatures or cold waves, and the egg-laying circle is often frozen and difficult to rest, which is very unfavorable for bees to lay eggs. During spring reproduction, place every 2 hives side by side. On a windless evening, feed each colony sugar water (sucrose to water at 1:1) or honey mixed with water, 250-300 ml. After 2 hours, once the bees are excited and the cluster disperses and the temperature inside the hive rises, you can shake the bees and tighten the combs. When tightening the combs, keep only 1 comb and remove all the extra combs, which encourages the queen bee to lay eggs quickly. Generally, the queen bee will lay eggs 1-3 days after the combs are tightened.

2. Sealing the hive for insulation

Place the 1 comb after tightening in the center of the hive; at this point the bees are enough to protect the comb. Put a partition on one side near the neighboring hive, and a partition on the other side, then place insulation material outside the boards. The method for insulating the outside of the hive is: spread straw under the hive bottom, fill weeds between the two hives, use plastic sheeting to prevent moisture and keep warmth. On rainy days or relatively cold evenings, cover the entire hive with plastic sheeting, but be very careful not to block the entrance. In the evening, depending on the temperature, the entrance may be closed.

3. Supplementary feeding

After tightening the combs, carry out supplementary feeding from the bottom of the hive every night. Put sugar water or honey water into the feeder at the bottom of the hive. The first feeding can be a bit more, generally 350-400 ml per colony, and afterward adjust according to the number of bees and the size of the egg-laying circle, with a small amount of corner honey on the comb being suitable. Feeding should be frequent, once every night, without interruption, and the feeding amount should not be too much.

4. Adding pollen combs

In the early part of spring, natural pollen is scarce. When most queen bees begin to lay eggs, in order to ensure the pollen supply within the colony and expand the egg-laying circle, artificial pollen combs should be added (natural pollen combs are even better if available). Each comb added should have empty brood cells on one side and pollen cells on the other. The method of adding combs depends on the relationship between bees and combs: for colonies with many bees, face the pollen side inward; for colonies with a moderate number of bees, face the empty brood cell side inward. Once the queen bee has laid eggs in the empty brood cells of the artificial pollen comb, and when half of the artificial pollen on the first pollen comb has been eaten, immediately add a second, third…… comb next to the first pollen comb. In this way the colony strength develops rapidly, and a strong colony can be obtained in time to put into production.

Matters to note when keeping bees in spring

1. Sun protection: At noon, the top of the hive must also be covered with a wet cloth.

2. Disinfection: To control mites, use acaricide for 2-3 consecutive treatments. On sunny days with a temperature above 14°C, remove dead bees, wax residue, mold and other dirt from the bottom of the hive, and keep the hive bottom clean.

3. Insulation: In the low-temperature season of early spring, cover the left, right and back of the hive with straw curtains, and place dry grass under the hive bottom for insulation. In summer, use measures such as shading and sprinkling water to create suitable temperature and humidity for colony production and reproduction.

4. Honey extraction: When keeping bees, carefully choose the environment to prevent bees from pesticide poisoning and other issues that affect honey quality. Extract honey in time; during the season when flowers are in full bloom, honey can be extracted once every 3-4 days.

Organizing bee colonies for overwintering

1. Organizing overwintering colonies: After Frost's Descent, use 6 large honey combs with two-thirds capped honey drawn out to replace the colony strength of 12 combs of overwintering bees. Place 2 below and 4 above, with a bee space of 25 mm, and place the queen bees to be stored in the super. For the 4 honey combs in the super, use an iron mesh queen cage in the middle comb to store the queen bee, and place 2 large honey combs in the brood box, 1 queen per comb, so that each comb has two layers of bees; after the colony clusters, the cluster occupies two-thirds of the comb. Overwintering bees do not brew or process overwintering feed, reducing the wear on overwintering bees and preserving strength; overwintering bees have a longer lifespan and overwinter safely.

2. Freezing the bees: After the Start of Winter, the colony begins to cluster. Lay plastic sheeting on the hive bottom and then place 10 cm thick chopped dry grass on it. To prevent rodent damage, nail the entrance with iron sheet into a low entrance 5 mm high and 3.5 cm long, and replace all cover cloths with screen covers. Turn the hive body around so the entrance faces backward; generally after turning the hive body, the entrance should face northwest. To prevent sunlight from raising the nest temperature, use straw curtains to shade the back wall of the hive. From the Start of Winter to the Winter Solstice is the bee-freezing stage, with warm days and cool nights; the nest temperature should be controlled below 25°C. The overwintering bee cluster is between the brood box and the super, ventilated and dry, relatively quiet, with the entrance facing northwest, not stimulated by sunlight, and worker bees rarely come out, so they can smoothly pass through the bee-freezing stage.

3. Colony overwintering: From the Winter Solstice to the Start of Spring is the overwintering stage of the colony. After the Winter Solstice, when the maximum temperature is below 6°C, the screen cover should be replaced with a cover cloth, with the two rear corners folded up for ventilation. A partition should be added to the side comb of the super. When the minimum temperature reaches minus 5°C, add a cotton pad on top of the cover cloth of the super, and pack the outside of the hive, using straw curtains and plastic sheeting to wrap the top, back, left and right sides of the hive body. Packing the hive body slows temperature rise during the day and provides insulation at night and in low temperatures, greatly reducing the fluctuation of brood box temperature and colony activity, keeping the bee cluster stable, saving feed, extending the lifespan of worker bees, reducing deaths, and making colony overwintering safe.

What role do bees play

Bees are one of the important insects that improve the human environment and are also important partners on which humans depend for survival. They pollinate crops, fruit trees, vegetables, forage grass, oil-tea crops and medicinal plants, and yields can increase several times to several dozen times. The honey they produce has high medicinal value and nutritional value, and is a commonly used health care and tonic product. The bee pollen they produce is also hailed by people as a “miniature nutrition bank.” The royal jelly they produce is even more of a high-grade nutritional product for humans; it can not only strengthen the constitution and prolong life, but also treat chronic diseases such as neurasthenia, anemia and gastric ulcers; its venom has therapeutic effects on rheumatism and neuritis; beeswax and propolis are both raw materials for light industry. Therefore, bees are indispensable important partners for human survival.

In spring, artificial pollen combs should be added to the bees, and sugar water or honey water should also be added. This is because after the beginning of spring the bees begin to lay eggs. The feeding amount must be guaranteed. Bees are very important to plants, and the honey they produce is also very nutritious for everyone. Bees are one of the important insects that improve the human environment and are also indispensable.