Caring For Bees In The Warm Period Of The Year

Caring for bees is an activity that will suit those who are not afraid of these insects. This is outdoor work that can be done in good weather or during the weekend, thus combining with the main one. With the right approach to this matter, it is possible to fully provide for the needs of the family that will keep the apiary, and to be able to sell surplus honey and other bee products.

If you are just trying to do this business, it is best to start in the spring. At the same time, you can buy a bee package - around the end of May. They start, as a rule, with one or two hives . They are generally single- and multi-body, the latter can be delivered vertically with stores or whole bodies upwards. In two-body hives , the frames are placed on the same level. The expansion of the nest occurs due to moving the collateral board to the side and adding new frames. The beehive must meet the following requirements: be warm, dense, light, made in compliance with all internal dimensions, convenient to use, with sufficient internal volume, which makes it possible to increase the strength of the family, and it is desirable that it be suitable for migration.

The package contains a sufficient number of bees , two frames with brood and food for bees . The hive is pre-disinfected and properly prepared. The package is placed in the place where the hive will be placed later . When moving the family to the hive , a small amount of smoke is used. The bees are gently swept from the lid of the box into the hive , then the frames are carefully placed in the new hive and the bees that remained in the beehive are filled. After they calm down, the uterus is planted. At first, bees need to be fed. Near the beehivethere should be two drinking bowls - with fresh and salt water. 

Those who already had bees and successfully overwintered in the second half of March clean the hives , check the general condition of the family. Families with little food are given frames with honey , the presence of a queen is determined by the behavior of bees . If during the inspection of the family no bee queen was found and there is no open brood, you need to put a control frame. If a new queen does not appear on the control frame within two days, this indicates that the queen is in the hiveis. It's just that it was not discovered by chance and temporarily does not work. Otherwise, if the motherless family is strong, it is necessary to give it a spare uterus. Weak families are united by pulling out a partition between them, if there is a motherless family of medium strength, then the layers are connected to it together with the mother.

Gradually, as the family grows, it is necessary to deliver frames to the hive and increase the volume of the nest. It is necessary to add free frames in such a way that, in addition to frames with brood, there are 4 free ones in the nest. Before delivery, they are cleaned of last year's hard skin. Even if they are slightly damaged, it is easier for the bees   to complete them than to dig out the perga.

In beehives of average strength, the wax is delivered from the side of the frames with closed brood, in strong ones it is possible through one between the frames with honey , since in the latter case the bees will begin to rebuild them not as needed, but immediately, for which a sufficient number of young bees is needed .

From the beginning of May, it is necessary to review the frames for the presence of drone brood. It should be removed, leaving a certain amount, and replaced with working wax. 

Also, starting from mid-May, it is necessary to apply anti-swarm methods. In the warm period, one of these methods can be the keeping of non-spawning bees in large hives . New frames need to be delivered on time. If there is little space in the hive , you can pump out the honey . 

Every 5 days, you need to check the family for the presence of extra queen cells and cut them, if they are available. A simpler method will be to isolate the uterus on 1-3 frames. 

Also, a strong family can be divided without waiting before it swarms and flies in an unknown direction. At the same time, you can deliver hives or sell layers. This can be done as early as the 20th of May. 

The easiest way to take layers is this way: frames with queen cells, open and closed brood and bees are transferred to a new hive . Old bees will return to their hive , young ones that have not yet flown will remain. During the first 3 days, a honey frame and water in a feeder are placed in the hive for the young layers. A new queen, which will emerge in such a hive , does not have brood for two weeks.

When she begins to lay eggs, layers are reinforced with several frames of closed brood, selected from other main families, if there is a lot of brood. This accelerates their development into full-fledged families. During the development of families, they are given frames with artificial wax to rebuild, as it is rebuilt by young bees . 

Auxiliary families are bred in early summer and used in the same season or, if the graft is early, left to winter for use in the following year. Keeping families apart until bridging prevents swarming, but small families may not survive the winter. 

At the time of a strong honey collection, families can be united by taking from one uterus and first sprinkling them with mint, after which they are strengthened with frames with closed brood. Or if it is done in a hive with a partition for two families, they are taken from one queen and after 1-2 days, the partition is barely lifted to let the smell pass, and then they are combined. As a result, there are a lot of worker bees in one hive , the queen almost does not worm, because everything is busy with honey . At the end of the honey collection, honey is pumped out and the families are separated, adding the queen from the nucleus hive ; it is possible not to separate, if after that the two families are weak or of medium strength.

In the non-fertile period, it is better to limit egg laying by the uterus, using a 1-3-frame insulator.

It is best to pump honey from sealed and brood-free hives. Before that, remove the wax caps. Many beekeepers pump honey from hives that have some brood on them, but this should be done carefully. Frames are taken with a small amount of only closed brood and pumped out at low revolutions of the honey extractor. During the period of intensive honey collection, it happens that there is a lot of nectar on the frames; it is better to pump honey in such a period in the morning or after waiting for bad weather.