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Equalizing Bee colonies |
Having and
Care of packaged Bees |
how do Bees make honey |
The
prevention of beeswax combs from wax moth damage |
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The aim of
equalizing bee colonies is to make weak and strong colonies in the apiary of
the same strength before the nectar flow, and to boost the weak colony by
giving it either some brood or extra bees.
Weak
colonies have a low bee population and a few frames of brood. This may be
because the queen is poor and not laying many eggs. However, there are many
factors that may contribute to weakening of a colony. Weak colonies make
little honey and are slow to build up and do not develop into strong units
if were left alone.
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The package of bees usually
contains bees shaken from two or more colonies, and the
queen supplied with the package is bred from selected
colonies to be sent in the package. The queen is kept in a
separate small wooden or plastic cage with one screened side
and candy release plug. The caged queen in the package is
well protected and fed through the screen during
transportation, and usually accepted by the bees within 12 –
24 hours.More |
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The honeybees are
social insects living together in large group or family called a
colony. The bees' nest inside the hive consists of several wax
combs each containing many cells in which bees use for rearing
their baby bees and to store food. The bees organize their
affairs so well in their dwelling and devote themselves to the
welfare and survival of their colony.More |
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The wax moth is a highly destructive insect that
attacks and destroys beeswax combs especially those in storage. The
moth itself is not a problem; it is the larvae that do the
destruction. The moth loves old combs and visits stored combs which
are unprotected and could reduce them to a mass of webbing very
rapidly. Combs in storage are ideal grounds for the breeding of wax
moths. A beekeeper should take preventive action to protect his
unused combs against wax moth attack during storage in winter to
avoid losing valuable combs.More |
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Bumblebees
Bumblebees are social insects, live in organized colonies in
nests typically built in a small hole in the ground or under a
clump of grass. They are robust, hairy, black with yellow bands
and make a buzzing sound while flying. There are about 250
different species of bumblebee in the world. They are most
common in temperate climates, and fly from March to October.More
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Dividing Bee Colonies for Making
Nuclei
Honeybees naturally reproduce or increase by
swarming, a process in which a new colony is created by division
of the original colony. In the process, the worker bees make
queen cells to raise a new queen. Nine days after the eggs have
been laid, the colony divides where a large group of bees
approximately third of the hive population (20,000 bees) leave
the hive on a fine day with the mother queen and look for a new
home. The beekeeper captures the swarm, hives it, and so doing
he has an additional bee unit in his holdings. This natural
reproduction occurs mainly in the spring and early summer when
the weather becomes warmer and abundant flowers in bloom are
available in nature.More
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BeeColony
Activities Throughout The Year
Honeybees live compatibly in a large family in a common nest or
colony and work collectively in a remarkable cooperation to
ensure their survival. Without each other, they can’t survive.
Their goal is to raise young bees and make honey for their
immediate needs and to lay down stores to carry them through
times when there is none available, as in the winter.
A colony of honeybees includes a queen, worker bees and drones
(male bees). Each member has a specific function to do in the
colony. The job of the queen is to lay eggs to produce offspring
and multiply the numbers in her colony so the numbers of bees
are optimal for the main flowering and nectar and pollen
gathering season. A good queen can lay around1000 –1500 eggs per
day during the active breeding season.
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It’s the
clustering or hanging of older bees out at the front of the hive
during very hot weather. When bees do that it looks like the
hive has a beard. This behaviour coincides with the onset of the
hot humid days and nights (mid-June to August). Bearding begins
when the summer temperatures reach 38°C (100°F) or more.
On hot
and humid evening, many bees will loiter through the night and
even during the day outside the hive clinging to the front of
the hive or on the landing board doing nothing.
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Judging The Quality Of Bee
Queen
The bee queen is the most valuable
female in the bee colony. A colony without a queen cannot get along
and will die off. The queen is the mother of the colony, and her
major task is to lay eggs from which the bees develop. A queen can
lay 1,500 eggs or more per day under favourable conditions during
the active season (spring and midsummer).
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The life stages of a
honeybee are egg, larva, pupa and adult. Development from egg to
adult takes 21 days. The length of these stages is set out in the
table below.
Egg
The queen bee lays an egg in
a cell of the honeycomb. The egg of the honeybee is cylindrical,
about 1.6 mm long and 0.4 mm in diameter. When first laid, it stands
vertically, on the second day it bends over, on the third day it
lays on its side. On the fourth day it hatches into a white legless
larva.More |
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There
are two female castes in the honeybee colony: the queen and the
worker bee. Although both hatch from a fertilized egg, the two
females differ in their structure, appearance and behaviour. The
difference is brought about by the variation in feeding and type
of cell in which each caste is raised.
Queens
are raised in special large cells, which hang vertically and are
about the size and shape of a peanut shell, which allows them to
grow their ovaries in longer abdomens. Worker bees develop in
small hexagonal cells that have a diameter of about 5.3 mm (1/5
in) and are 10-12 mm (5/8 in) deep.More |
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