A detailed guide to native bee keeping techniques: easily master bee management methods

Everyone knows that honey is extremely rich in nutrients and is highly favored in the market, and at present quite a few people are keeping native bees. So, what are native bee keeping techniques?

1. What are native bee keeping techniques?

First, choose a site for keeping bees, suitable for rearing in adobe beehives or bee barrels. Next comes selecting the bee species; generally it is best to choose a local variety. In winter when nectar is scarce, or at night, carry out artificial feeding with honey, sugar water, pollen, and so on. Finally, do a good job of routine management such as cleaning the hives and inspecting the colonies, as well as special management such as swarm division, queen replacement, and colony merging.

2. Points to note when choosing bee species

1. Determine your own bee keeping region

Different regions keep different bee species, mainly because of differences among bee species in cold tolerance, reproduction, nectar collection, royal jelly secretion, and so on. Generally speaking, in North China it is best to use black bee species; this bee species has relatively strong cold tolerance, but by comparison its heat tolerance is poorer than that of the Chinese bee (Apis cerana cerana) suited to growth and rearing in South China (subtropical). For example, in many parts of South China what is kept is the Chinese bee. In other plains and low mountain areas rich in nectar sources, it is suitable to keep Italian bees (Apis mellifera ligustica). By choosing the bee species suited to your own region, you can give full play to the fine qualities of each bee species.

2. The number of bee colonies to buy for the first time

As mentioned above, first determine your own bee keeping region, and next determine the number of bee colonies to buy according to your own needs. If you are a beginner, it is best not to buy more than 10 colonies; 5-10 colonies is good. You can advance or retreat, exploring and learning step by step, and when your bee keeping skills have matured it is not too late to buy or breed a large number of colonies yourself, so as to avoid uncontrollable losses.

3. Determine where to buy bee colonies

The best method is to look for other bee keepers nearby; bee keepers should by nature help one another and learn from one another. Communicate and learn more with professional bee keepers: first, it adds to your own skills, and second, it saves you the worry of choosing a bee species. You can also buy from the local bee industry management station or the academy of agricultural sciences and similar places; bee colonies bought from these places are also more reassuring.

4. The time to buy bee colonies and inspecting the colonies

Late spring and early summer is exactly the season when bee colonies reproduce vigorously, with plenty of nectar and pollen sources outside, so it is suitable to buy at this time. However, in fact it is not easy to buy bee colonies at this time, because this season is also when bee farms have income, and generally bee farms will not sell colonies.

Keeping bees is a rather special undertaking; before rearing, everyone should best receive professional training to prevent being stung.