Techniques for promoting and controlling bee reproduction: master these key points

Correctly handling the "promotion" and "control" in the bee reproduction process is the key to improving the economic benefits of beekeeping.

Bees produce royal jelly and honey, and this is seasonal. During the production season when pollen is abundant, a large number of worker bees of the right age are needed for foraging and brood-rearing, so bee reproduction must be promoted; when pollen decreases or is absent, bee reproduction must be controlled to reduce "loafing bees."

To handle the "promotion" and "control" of bee reproduction well, one must correctly grasp the relationship between the standard honey flow period and bee age. Bees generally divide labor and cooperate reasonably according to bee age. Roughly, from egg to emergence of a new bee takes 21 days; after emergence, bees 1 to 3 days old do not work, those 4 to 13 days old mainly do internal brood-rearing, processing and hive cleaning, and only after 14 days of age do they go out to collect nectar, pollen and water. For this reason, one must determine fairly accurately when and during which flowering period the major honey flow begins, and how many days bees need from brood-rearing to becoming foragers of collection age, so as to grasp the timing for "promoting" and "controlling" bee reproduction. Generally, "promotion" of reproduction starts 35 days before the major honey flow, to ensure that after entering the major honey flow there are more worker bees of the right age to produce honey. When the major honey flow has passed and other nectar sources cannot take over, "control" generally starts 20 days before the nectar source ends, to prevent letting the bees reproduce on their own, which causes the following: the greater the honey flow, the more brood the bees produce, the heavier the internal workload, the less foraging, so that after the major honey flow ends, a large number of new bees emerge with no nectar to collect, producing large numbers of "loafing bees" and affecting beekeeping benefits.

The "promotion" and "control" of bee reproduction should be handled flexibly. "Promotion" mainly means adding combs, paying attention to insulation, and reward feeding to raise the enthusiasm of the queen for laying and the workers for brood-rearing. "Control" must be adapted to the situation. In summer, when brood-rearing is interrupted for mite treatment, or before overwintering when the nectar source ends, a queen cage can be used to confine the queen and prevent her from laying. When the major nectar source has ended but scattered nectar and pollen sources remain, or mite damage is not serious, excess empty combs can be removed or a divider can be used to confine the queen to a small area, so as to control bee reproduction. In this way, with proper "promotion" and "control," the economic benefits of beekeeping can be greatly increased.