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Summer Managementand
Honey Production
before - during and after the honey flow
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TOPICS IN THIS LESSON
• 1. Strength of the colony
• 2. Swarming
• 3. Adding supers
• 4. Using the smoker
• 5. Honey extraction
• 6. Hive inspection
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A Reminder
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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 ?
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BECAUSE
Your the beekeeper
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Summer ManagementManagement applies to commercial
beekeepers
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Summer Management• And to the hobbyist
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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.
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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.
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Check for disease and strength of the colony
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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 )
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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 !
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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
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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.
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Watch for Swarm Cells
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Supersedure cells
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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
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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!
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Brood Chamber with Food
Brood
Food
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Brood Chamber with Food
Brood
Food
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Brood Chamber with Food
Brood
Food
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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
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Find Eggs and Larva
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Find Eggs and Larva
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Finding the Queen
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Find the Queen
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Find the Queen
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Find the Queen
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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
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Summer management
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Summer Management
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Summer Management
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Summer Management
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Swarming
• Swarming is a great way to increase the number of your colonies– but not so good for your honey crop that year.
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Swarming usually occurs from May thru July—but can vary !
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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.
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Preventing a swarm
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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 .
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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.
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Whatever works
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Whatever works
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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.
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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 !
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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)
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Wear protective clothing• How fast can you run ?
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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 )
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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!
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Honey ExtractionBee Blower
Leaf blower will workworks well and is convenient
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Honey ExtractionCapped Honey Indicates It’s Ripe
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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.
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Honey ExtractionDe-capping the Comb
Hot Knife Uncapping Fork
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Honey ExtractionDrain the Cappings/save the wax
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Honey ExtractionExtractor
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Homemade extractor
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Honey ExtractionChunk Honey/Cut Comb Honey
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Wax ProductionA valuable by-product of beekeeping!
DO NOT USE OLD Brood Comb!
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Uses of bee’s wax
• 1. cosmetics
• 2. candles for churches
• 3. wax for beekeeper products
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Hive inspection
How and When to Check Your Hives
Is too much Inspection a Bad Thing?
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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?
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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!
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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
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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
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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