At what times during beekeeping is it necessary to cage the queen?
In the process of beekeeping, caging the queen is a forced measure to make the queen stop laying eggs and rest and recover, allowing her to conserve strength and build up enough vitality for spring reproduction the following year. So at what times is it necessary to cage the queen? When the queen has been caged for a long time, how can she be successfully released without causing balling of the queen?
1. Key points of beekeeping techniques: at what times is it necessary to cage the queen?
The overwintering period is when temperatures are low, nectar and pollen sources are scarce, and the cost of brood rearing is too high, so the queen needs to be caged. There are also times in normal periods when the queen needs to be caged.
Caging the queen for summer. In the Hubei region, after the chaste tree flowers finish in early July, temperatures rise, which is unfavorable for brood rearing. At this time, after the nectar flow period, mites are very likely to be multiplying, so the queen must be caged again. In the Hunan-Hubei region, summer temperatures are higher than in the Guangdong-Guangxi region. Once temperatures exceed 35°C, the colony must cool the hive and maintain a suitable temperature, and humidity also needs to be regulated, which consumes a lot of feed and harms the bees. If temperature and humidity are unsuitable, young bees will not grow well. With high temperatures, young bees develop curled wings and become disabled bees unable to fly. Too much moisture leads to sacbrood disease, while too little leads to dry brood disease. So unsuitable temperatures make it difficult to raise bees healthily. Consider caging the queen!
More importantly, mite damage is a year-round threat to Italian bees. After a major nectar flow period ends, mites will be present. If prevention and treatment are not carried out in advance, an outbreak will cause heavy losses. Small mites mainly parasitize larvae. Drugs cannot kill mites inside capped cells, so only by stopping egg laying and having no capped brood can mites be thoroughly killed. Of course, even 100 percent is not guaranteed, because even if they are all temporarily killed, the colony will still become infected outside.
Caging the queen at the start of summer can save feed. In summer, if the colony is strong and there is no nectar source, feeding them is frightening. It can make the colony healthier and can eliminate mites and treat diseases. Many bee diseases require breaking the brood cycle before they can be treated. Finally, another important point is that we can use the time when the queen is caged to rear autumn queens. When the queen is caged, we begin arranging queen cells, transferring larvae to rear queens, so that we can rear queens in large numbers with a higher success rate and can select more excellent queens. By the time the new queens succeed, it is almost time for autumn reproduction. Young queens lay more eggs, have a higher overwintering survival rate, and develop quickly during spring reproduction. There are truly too many advantages.
2. When the queen has been caged for a long time, how can she be successfully released without causing balling of the queen?
According to conventional practices of the past, releasing the queen was done together with compressing combs and treating mites. If the following method is used to release the queen, the occurrence of balling of the queen will be greatly reduced. Check the colony 5 days before starting reproduction. First adjust the feed, treat mites, do not compress combs, feed a small amount of pollen first, and do not release the queen. At the same time, it is best to give the colony appropriate stimulative feeding 1 to 2 days beforehand to excite the worker bees. The purpose of feeding an appropriate amount of pollen is to give the worker bees a brood-rearing mood. After 3 to 5 days, treat mites. Once the mites have basically disappeared, release the queen. The previous evening, give another appropriate stimulative feeding, but choose good weather. When the next morning, before the worker bees leave to forage, release the queen and she will not be balled. Do not compress combs. Wait until 9 days after the queen lays eggs, when there is a small amount of capped brood in the nest, then compress combs and formally begin reproduction.
3. Colony management measures
1. Seize several good opportunities to cage the queen in production colonies, use large colonies to rear new queens, and use new queens of the current year for overwintering.
2. Use a bamboo-plastic queen cage that worker bees can freely enter and exit to cage the queen. Hang the queen cage in the center of the colony, and try to make the queen substance spread quickly and evenly.
3. When low winter temperatures arrive late, try to lower the temperature inside the colony and expand the space inside the hive, such as adding an empty super, widening the bee space to 1.2 cm or even wider, and reducing worker bee density to facilitate heat dissipation.
4. Shade the hive to avoid direct sunlight on the hive, or gradually move it to a cool place to lower the hive body temperature.
5. Turn the hive entrance from facing the sun to facing away from the sun, avoiding direct light and preventing sunlight from stimulating the colony.