Daily Management Techniques for Beekeeping (Part Two)

Yesterday we introduced the preliminary preparations for keeping bees; today we will continue with the feeding of bee colonies and the management methods for different seasons during the beekeeping process.

Beekeeping must have scientific management methods:

I. Feeding of Bees

1. Supplementary feeding:This refers to artificial feeding carried out when nectar sources are scarce. The methods are:

① Supplementary feeding of honey.Honey can be diluted with warm water at a ratio of two parts water (for crystallized honey, add a little water and heat to dissolve). The diluted honey can be fed to bees by pouring it into the comb cells or pouring it into a frame-type feeder.

② Supplementary feeding of syrup.Syrup is made by adding white sugar to water at a ratio of five parts water, heating until fully dissolved, then cooling to lukewarm. It is best to add 0.1% citric acid to the syrup to aid digestion and absorption. Brown sugar should not be used at this time.

2. Stimulative feeding:Artificial feeding carried out during the colony's brood-rearing period and the bees' production period. Generally, a small amount of 60% honey solution or 50% syrup is given. In early spring, feed once every other day; as consumption increases later, feed once daily. This starts 40 days before the nectar flow period and continues until large amounts of nectar and pollen are being collected from outside. Each frame of bees can be given 50-100 grams of syrup per feeding.

3. Feeding pollen:The purpose is to supplement protein feed. In the late overwintering period and early spring, feed pollen saved from the previous autumn, or use soybean powder as a substitute. The feeding methods are as follows:

① Liquid feeding.Add pollen to syrup at 10 times the amount, boil, and after cooling, place in a feeder to feed.

② Cake feeding.Add an equal amount of honey or syrup to pollen or pollen substitute, stir thoroughly and evenly, form into cakes, wrap in plastic film with both ends open, and place on the frame top bars for the bees to feed on. This method is often used when cold spells occur.

4. Feeding water and salts:

① Water.Generally, each colony needs to collect 200-300 millilitersof water per day. Place water in a feeder or put a wet towel on the screen cover for the bees to collect water on their own.

② Salts.Add to the syrupl％of table salt is sufficient.

II. Management of Bees

1. Spring management:

① Promote bees to fly and defecate.Raise the temperature at the center of the nest to 33-35°C. There must be sufficient nectar and pollen sources or stimulative feeding. Open the hive cover and insulation materials in time to allow the bees to leave the hive for defecation flights.

② Insulation of the hive.After defecation, the colony enters the brood-rearing period, and artificial insulation must be adopted. Compress the nest, concentrate the colony strength. Keep multiple colonies in the same hive, insulate both inside and outside the hive. In the north, this continues until April-May.

2. Management during the nectar flow period:

① In the early stage, adjust and organize the honey-collecting colonies well.

② Maintain strong colonies for honey collection.Control the queen's egg-laying; a queen excluder can be used to confine the queen to one section of the brood box or in the brood box. For brood interruption honey harvesting, 5 days before the main nectar flow, remove the queen and 1-2 frames of bees from the honey-collecting colony to form a small nucleus colony separately. The next day, introduce a mature queen cell to the honey-collecting colony, which can greatly increase honey production.

Pay attention to the management of small colonies. For those weak colonies that cannot collect honey, conditions should be created to promote rapid development of colony strength. On the premise of appropriate honey collection, focus on brood rearing to supplement colony strength.

3. Autumn management:

① Rear new queens, replace old and inferior queens.

② Rear overwintering bees of the appropriate age.Overwintering bees of the appropriate age refer to young bees that emerge before overwintering, have only made two or three defecation flights, have not performed nursing or foraging work, and have not secreted royal jelly. To ensure that overwintering bees can overwinter safely, it is necessary to control the emergence of young bees born after the nectar flow period, so as to maintain colony strength. The control method is to force the queen to stop laying eggs at a certain time during the nectar flow period.

③ Stop brood rearing early at the appropriate time.In the later stage of rearing overwintering bees, first compress the combs with honey and pollen, pouring honey over them 2-3 times, so that the queen will stop laying. At the same time, move the colony to a shady and cold place, double the bee space, remove pollen combs from the nest, and remove insulation materials, so that brood rearing can be stopped earlier.

4. Winter management:

① Adjust the entrance.The entrance should be 6-7 millimeters high and 60-70 millimeters wide.

② Prevent honey crystallization.Strengthen insulation, or stuff some wet cotton balls into the hive through the entrance to reduce ventilation.

③ Indoor overwintering in the north.Bees should be moved indoors before the water freezes and before the ground is covered with snow. When moving indoors, the hives should be 20 cm from the wall, and the first layer should be 40 cm above the ground. The room temperature should be kept at 0-2°C, and the humidity should be kept between 75-80%.