The yield of an apiary directly depends on the work of the bees and their care. Like any other insects and animals that are kept in a private or industrial farm, bees need proper handling and ensure favorable living and working conditions. This, of course, lies on the shoulders of the beekeeper. The most conservative approach to insect care is the timely disassembly and objective examination of the state in which the bees are.
Care for bees is recommended in an amount not more than six times in one season, while each inspection should be performed to the maximum, in order to avoid unnecessary anxiety of families.
Basic Bee Care Criteria
The main thing that you need to pay attention to when keeping the apiary is how comfortable the bee families feel and when it is necessary to help them and provide proper care. At the same time, its fundamental points are the following:
- Identification of the general condition of bees, their ability to collect flower dust in a high-quality manner, brood characteristics, as well as sanitary conditions.
- Regular provision of feed reserves.
- Systematic monitoring of the necessary thermal conditions.
- Proportional distribution of nest volumes relative to family growth rate.
- Change of uterus and the formation of new bee colonies.
- Taking measures for the uninterrupted collection of nectar by the bees.
- Preparing for the season change.
The main factors for caring for bees in the winter
Wintering is a decisive factor both for the successful development of bee colonies and for their productive work in subsequent seasons. To minimize the possible risks associated with the loss of a profitable crop, you must carefully prepare your own apiary for the winter cold. In order to avoid weakening and death of bee colonies, it is necessary to ensure perfect care for bees in winter with high-quality fodder reserves. Even with the complete absence of empty cells, as well as with a sufficient amount of food, it is possible to lose a significant part of the bees if their food is of poor quality. During the wintering period, there are several factors that can disturb the hives, these include:
- temperature differences;
- excessive humidity in the hives;
- extraneous noise;
- bright sunshine;
- various smells;
- unwanted rodents.
With the onset of cold weather, and especially frost, the hives must be covered with plenty of snow, but as soon as the ambient temperature reaches +8 degrees, it must be eliminated.
The necessary temperature in the winter hut for bees
Optimal winter care for bees implies the creation of special winter houses, especially for the northern and middle regions. In this case, the temperature regime in the winter hut for bees should be from +1 to -2 degrees, but 0 degrees are still considered the most optimal temperature. Warming the hives should be done with cotton pads or straw mats, thin reed mats are also allowed. Too cold temperature for bees threatens increased consumption of feed, and this entails the rapid filling of the intestines with excrement, which is extremely undesirable. Too warm temperature conditions entail the development of nosematosis, which dramatically reduces the viability of bee colonies.
The necessary level of humidity in the winter hut for bees
The most favorable air humidity in the winter hut for bees should fluctuate around 80-85%. A great help in regularly maintaining and checking the temperature and humidity is the psychrometer. Care for bees in winter should be carried out with a frequency of not more than 1-2 times a month, as this can adversely affect insects, because at this moment they experience extreme anxiety. In winter, it is very important to protect the bees from unwanted rodents, as they can damage the wood of the frames and gnaw the honeycombs. Particular attention should be paid to all aspects of caring for bees in the winter in the second half of the season, as brood appears in the nests. During this period, more frequent visits to Omshanik are allowed in order to regularly establish the recommended temperature and humidity levels, as well as in order to objectively assess the condition of the bees and provide them with timely assistance in order to avoid their death.
Spring Bee Care
With the arrival of seasonal heat, when the thermometer every day shows that the ambient temperature is getting higher and higher, beekeepers begin to actively prepare their inventory and make the necessary efforts to exhibit bees from the winter hive. After it, insects begin their first flyby, according to which it is possible to objectively assess the condition of bee families and their readiness for the upcoming work season to collect pollen and honey. The first thing that needs to be done to ensure full care for bees in the spring is to carry out cleaning work on bee houses.
Cleaning work after wintering
When cleaning hives, first of all, it is necessary to remove visible impurities from the inner surfaces of the houses, after which the bottom is cleaned of various debris. When the bees make their first flyby, the outside of the houses may be contaminated with bee excrement, which must also be removed. After cleaning work, it is necessary to assess the general condition of the hives for the presence of any holes and possible rotten elements. If any, carry out repairs together with updating the tightness of all joints and covers of the hives. After such work, not only the beekeeper will be confident in the profitability of his harvest, but the bees will also feel comfortable. Care for bees and their houses during this period should be done as quickly and responsibly as possible.
Hive preparation
It is recommended that you engage in the preparation of the hives themselves directly precisely during the period of the first bee flight, since later in the very high season there is a high probability that the beekeeper simply does not have enough free time for these works. First of all, it is necessary to do the burning of the inner perimeter of the wooden houses in which the bees live. Care for bees using this procedure eliminates the appearance of possible diseases of bee families. Firing is a disinfection that helps eliminate various pathogens from the walls and joints of hives. Next, you need to start painting the bee houses from the outside, this contributes to a longer operation of the hives, as the wood protected by paint or drying oil becomes more resistant to external influences.
The principles of technology for caring for bees according to V. G. Kashkovsky
Caring for bees is a very complex and time-consuming process, but it brings the corresponding fruits. Excellent productivity in the apiary can be achieved through a simplified system of care for bees in order to obtain the highest possible profitability indicators, which Kashkovsky developed. The technology for caring for bees, based on his many years of research in the apiary, implies the following:
- Facilitation of work through minimally applied efforts during transplantation of bee colonies from the winter house.
- Reducing the necessary operations for the care of bees from 4 basic to 2 necessary, which saves time and money.
- Reduced number of seasonal hive inspections required.
- No need to strengthen weak bee colonies, as they are easier to reject.
- The desire for the formation of sloppy apiaries.
- Instead of taking honey from bees, it is planned to create its stocks.
- The increase in the amount of feed.
- Self-growing bees instead of creating artificial ones.
Today, Kashkovsky’s technology for caring for bees has advantages over many others that have peculiar disadvantages, for example, when a beekeeper has difficulty working in an apiary, which reduces profitability and bees suffer. Caring for bees using this technology implies the rational use of various resources in order to achieve high productivity in the apiary and maximize the simplification of the work of beekeepers.