summer management and honey production before - during and after the honey flow

Summer Managementand

Honey Production

before - during and after the honey flow

TOPICS IN THIS LESSON

• 1. Strength of the colony

• 2. Swarming

• 3. Adding supers

• 4. Using the smoker

• 5. Honey extraction

• 6. Hive inspection

A Reminder

Remember from last week

• There are 3 ways of doing things

• 1. The right way

• 2. The wrong way

• 3. Your way

• Why is there a third way ?

BECAUSE

Your the beekeeper

Summer ManagementManagement applies to commercial

beekeepers

Summer Management• And to the hobbyist

Early Spring

Over wintered colonies need to be checked for a laying queen and a supply of honey and pollen( which is protein) --if short of honey a supply of sugar water must be added along with a pollen substitute- re-queen if required.

Early Spring Feeding

Sugar syrup – 1 part sugar to 1 part waterPollen substitute – make a patty using Drivert sugar ( bakers sugar ), Mega Bee , mineral salts and a little bit of essential oil. This goes on the top frame.

Check for disease and strength of the colony

Brood diseases

•American Foulbrood •European Foulbrood •Chalk brood •Varro Mite •Tracheal Mite •Small Hive Beetle •Wax moth

•

•( Brood disease will be covered in a later lesson )

Strength of the colonyThe objective should be to have

the colony reach it’s peak of strength at the time the main honey flow begins---the preparation for this should begin the preceding late summer or early fall. Those 3 requirements—a good queen-plenty of pollen- and plenty of honey !

Package bees or a new queen

• The beekeeper must take into consideration these time periods

• 1. 15 to16 days for a new queen to hatch

• 2. 21 days for a worker bee to hatch

• 3. 24 days for a drone bee to hatch

Mid Spring Management

Hives should be checked for swarm cells-- they may be removed to keep the bees from swarming or if the beekeeper wants to increase the number of hives, then the beekeeper should leave them in and hope to be around when they swarm– it’s best to have extra hive bodies on hand.

Watch for Swarm Cells

Supersedure cells

Summer Management

April/May

FEED- FEED- FEED

Reverse your Hive bodies

Make sure there is food in the brood chamber

Make sure that your queen is laying - look for eggs and larva

Get your Supers Ready

Prepare to SPLIT or Add Hive Body to prevent swarming

Summer ManagementHow to Check your Queen

Presence of Queen• Learn to recognize Eggs, Larva, Capped Brood vs. Capped Honey• Eggs situated in normal position• What a Queen Looks Like

Quantity of Brood• Brood Should be on several frames• Frames should be about 2/3 full of brood – corners have honey

Quality of Brood• Brood pattern should be solid – not a mixture of capped and uncapped

in the same area.• Check on honey and pollen stores as a bad brood result from

lack of food!

Brood Chamber with Food

Brood

Food

Brood Chamber with Food

Brood

Food

Brood Chamber with Food

Brood

Food

Summer ManagementHow to Check your Queen

For a Productive Hive – Queen MUST produce 1500 to 2000 eggs/day

Replace the Queen with a newly mated Queen

Kill the Queen and allow the colony to make a new one (~40 days to Eggs)

If two very weak hives, kill the Queens, combine hives, re-queen

Find Eggs and Larva

Find Eggs and Larva

Finding the Queen

Find the Queen

Find the Queen

Find the Queen

Summer Management

June – July

• Check hives for any signs of robbing, weak colonies, swarming or anything out of the ordinary.

• Add supers as required—if top brood chamber is ¾ full—it’s time to add a super

Summer management

Summer Management

Summer Management

Summer Management

Swarming

• Swarming is a great way to increase the number of your colonies– but not so good for your honey crop that year.

Swarming usually occurs from May thru July—but can vary !

Why do bees swarmWho knows ?

1.Some say it’s due to overcrowding.

2.Some say the old queen is bad—but if she is bad how can she start a new colony ?

3.Other reasons are improper ventilation, starvation or supersedure impulse.

4.Swarming is the bee’s natural way of dividing colonies to create new ones.

Preventing a swarm

Swarm Control

One method of swarm control is to

remove the swarm cell located on the

bottom of the frame

The Demaree method separates the queen from the brood which relieves congestion in the brood chamber. A queen excluder is placed between the two hive

bodies .

Catching a swarm

• The old queen leaves the hive with a number of worker bees. They usually gorge themselves with honey ( except for the queen - she has to stay slim and trim)

• Scout bees look for a new home– now it’s up to the beekeeper to give them that new home.

Whatever works

Whatever works

Honey Extraction

• August-Sept

• When the first super is 2/3 capped over it’s time to take it off and replace it with another super—providing that the bees are still bring in nectar.

Removal of frames

1. Use a smoker

2. Shake or use a brush

3. Bee Go or other chemicals

4. Use a leaf blower

Remember– you’re the beekeeper– what works best for you !

Using a smoker

• The smoker was featured last week –but remember– the type of fuel used in a smoker contains pollutants and toxic gases – use fuels that are derived from natural sources ( wood shavings , dried grass , pine cones etc.)

• A few puffs of smoke at the entrance and under the top cover are sufficient

• (as a precaution–carry a fire extinguisher)

Wear protective clothing• How fast can you run ?

Shaking the frame

• Once the frame is removed give it a few good shakes to dislodge the bees

• OR

• Use your brush Gently brush the bees off the frame

( I do this in front of the hive )

Honey ExtractionChemicals

BeeGo/Honey Robber (n-butyric anhydride)

Sprinkle on Cloth and place over super

Nasty smell drives bees down out of super

Risk of contaminating Honey!

Honey ExtractionBee Blower

Leaf blower will workworks well and is convenient

Honey ExtractionCapped Honey Indicates It’s Ripe

Honey extraction

• Place frames in an empty super after bees are cleaned off. When all hives have been emptied of capped frames you are ready to begin extraction.

• When all of the frames have been extracted you can put them back on the hive and let the bees clean them out.

Honey ExtractionDe-capping the Comb

Hot Knife Uncapping Fork

Honey ExtractionDrain the Cappings/save the wax

Honey ExtractionExtractor

Homemade extractor

Honey ExtractionChunk Honey/Cut Comb Honey

Wax ProductionA valuable by-product of beekeeping!

DO NOT USE OLD Brood Comb!

Uses of bee’s wax

• 1. cosmetics

• 2. candles for churches

• 3. wax for beekeeper products

Hive inspection

How and When to Check Your Hives

Is too much Inspection a Bad Thing?

Hive InspectionNothing Short of a “Home Invasion”

Beginning Beekeepers Inspect their Hives TOO MUCH !

Goal is to get familiar with “outside” to tell you whatis happening on the “inside”

How does the colony behave?Are there a lot of bees coming and going?Are there dead bees/larva on the landing board?Is there a strange smell?

How much does your hive weigh?

Hive InspectionNothing Short of a “Home Invasion”

IF YOU SEE

• # of Bees seems to be decreasing• Dead Bees, larva, or pupae on the landing board• Detect a strange or foul odor• Bees that are unusually temperamental• Robbers, predators, or leaking honey• Lethargic, aimless, or deformed bees• ANYTHING out of the Ordinary

OPEN IT UP!

Hive InspectionNothing Short of a “Home Invasion”

Visually Inspect your Hives Exterior Often

BUT Removing Frames:

• Disrupts Hive activity for 4-8 hours• Agitates the Bees• Breaks Propolis Seals• Damages comb and disrupts Honey• Risks Heating or Chilling Brood• Changes the Hive Humidity – harm larva• Invites Predators into the Hive• RISKS HARMING THE QUEEN

Routine MaintenanceBe Non-Invasive!

Lift Lid and Slide Inner Cover Slightly to the Side To:

Add sugar water to the feedersAdd Pollen patties or mite treatments

Weigh Hive To: Determine Hive Health (Honey, Comb, Bees are heavy)

Look for Swarm Cells by Lifting Hive Body and Inspecting all Frame Bottoms at the same time

Look of Mites by use of Sticky Board

Summary• What we have covered

• 1. strength of the colony

• 2. swarming

• 3. adding supers

• 4. using the smoker

• 5. honey extraction

• 6. hive inspection

• Remember-you’re the beekeeper