How to Manage Bees Well When the Nectar Flow Is Heavy in the North in Summer

    In summer, when May and June arrive, the north is in the peak season for jujube flowers, vitex flowers, chestnut flowers and other flowers. A heavy nectar flow makes this a key period for capturing economic returns. Therefore, organizing strong colonies to gather nectar, weak colonies to reproduce, and carrying out appropriate artificial colony division are the key points of summer bee colony management.

Bee Keeping

    1. Strong colonies gather nectar.During the nectar flow period, one should fully grasp the principles of "strong colonies gather nectar, weak colonies reproduce," "new queen colonies gather nectar, old queen colonies reproduce," "main colonies gather nectar, secondary colonies reproduce," and "single-queen colonies gather nectar, double-queen colonies reproduce," properly resolving the contradiction between nectar gathering and reproduction.

    2. Properly control swarming fever.During the colony growth period, properly control colony strength, reinforce the weak with the strong so that they develop in a balanced way, add frames at the right time, expand the hive, open the hive entrance wider, and pay attention to ventilation and shading, so that the bees remain in a state suitable for life and active in nectar gathering.

    3. Extract honey in good time.Extracting the stored honey from the hive in good time will stimulate the worker bees to gather nectar and make honey actively. When extracting honey, follow the principle of taking two-thirds of the honey to prevent the impact of sudden weather changes on the bees' nectar gathering.

    4. Prevent enemies and pests.In summer, one should capture and kill enemies and pests such as hornets, wasps and toads at any time, to avoid colony absconding caused by their disturbance.

    5. Take good heat-relief measures.When the temperature is too high, shade the beehives well; besides shading, one can also sprinkle water on and around the beehives to lower the temperature, and provide water for the bees to drink.