Considering all the possible ideas of small business without serious financial investments, beekeeping is worth noting. Apiary as a business is mainly a seasonal, but quite profitable and honorable business. Natural honey is always in great demand, and its shelf life is long, moreover, beekeeping is not taxed, since bees are extremely useful for crop production, and belongs to the types of entrepreneurial activities supported by the state.

Honey is very good for health, it can be sold or exchanged for other goods. People are quite willing to agree to barter. And everything would be fine, but where to start breeding bees? What do you need to know for the success of this enterprise? About these and other nuances further in the text.

You should always start any business with collecting information, but in this business, first of all, you need to know and consider the following points:

• an apiary is hard work. Bees, like a huge family, need constant care, and they will not wait until you do everything to make them comfortable, so you will have to work a lot during the season, namely as much as you need. This point is worth considering;
• allergy. Such an unpleasant property of our body to respond to external factors. Moreover, this reaction is ambiguous. A bee sting for many people, for example, can be fatal. Bee venom can provoke "Quincke's edema", as a result of which, if you do not provide first aid to the victim, then after 20 minutes death from suffocation may occur. People who do not have an acute reaction to bee stings should not be critically afraid of bee stings, but if on the contrary, it is still better to refuse beekeeping;
• regions favorable for breeding bees as a business are regions with a mild climate without sharp temperature fluctuations and without extremely low temperatures in winter, it is better if they are not below -20. Accordingly, it will be more profitable to engage in this business in the southern regions, especially since the summer lasts longer there, and the bees will have time to collect more honey.

So, given these basic nuances, you can start creating your own bee dynasty, subject to the availability of free time in the summer and a place for wintering evidence with bees. The profit from this case can be comparable to the income from 2-3 stores, if you have about 100 pieces of evidence. You can start, and even better, with two pieces of evidence. Also, for training and practical skills, you should join the local branch of the beekeeping society.

Interesting facts about bees

Bees live in families under the "patronage" of the queen bee. They are amazingly social insects. In their evidence, strict discipline and division of labor. Most of the workers carry nectar, there are those who take care of the offspring, provide ventilation in the evidence. In the morning, scout bees fly around the territory, and only then all the rest go to work. In the hive, there is always a guard at the entrance. The uterus also has personal protection, this is the central figure of the bee colony, without it it will fall apart and join other families.

Diseases of bees and methods of their treatment

Not the last place among the enemies of bees is occupied by birds. Some of them are able to eat a huge number of individuals per day. These birds are called bee-eaters. Small in size with variegated plumage. The diet consists of bees, wasps, bumblebees and ants. They grab their prey on the fly, swallowing the abdomen without a sting, prudently tearing it off along with the poisonous contents.

Beekeeper Safety

Every beekeeper should know the rules of good manners when working in the apiary. Of course, a special suit can protect against bee stings, although not 100%, especially when it comes to precautions when working with honeycombs. "Hardworkers" are fumigated with a special smoker composition and become less aggressive. But if on a hot summer day in the shade +40, then it becomes extremely uncomfortable in a suit, so experienced beekeepers do without it, observing a number of basic rules:

• before working with bees, you should thoroughly wash yourself in the shower with soap accessories without fragrance. Ladies of a secular society do not like strangers and especially pungent odors, including the smell of sweat;
• jerky movements and loud noises are irritants. You should not wave your hands and the like;
• and the most important thing! If a bee stings, then you need to carefully take it at the base of the abdomen closer to the sting, remove it from yourself without crushing the sac with poison in it. Otherwise, the smell of poison will provoke other bees to attack, and then only alcohol will save from death.

As a first aid, as an antidote for bee venom, ethyl alcohol will help, externally and internally. A glass of alcohol for a victim bitten by bees is salvation. Experienced beekeepers always have such a "potion" in stock.

Beekeeping as a business should start with the purchase of the bees themselves. Families are best chosen in the spring, but not too early. It is worth waiting for the trees to fade, so that the bee families have time to get stronger after the winter and prepare enough pollen and nectar, as well as prepare the brood. For the first year of studying the subject, it is worth choosing about three families, this will allow you to study the characters and take a sound look at the prospects of this enterprise.

• the hives themselves;
• honey extractor;
• wax melter;
• smoker;
• foundation;
• swarm;
• chisel.

Bees settle in a hive with frames, where they gradually begin to settle down. When removing frames with honeycombs, it is extremely important not to damage the nest. The nest is the realm of the queen bee, which should be quite young, not older than 2 years.

Breeding bees as a business

In order to understand how profitable this enterprise is, you need to make a few simple calculations. The undoubted advantage is that if the expansion of the apiary is not planned, then the costs are one-time, with the exception of minor costs for consumables.

The main cost items are the purchase of equipment and bee colonies. New hives will cost 1,500 rubles apiece, but for starters, it’s better to buy a used one. Such evidence costs only 600 rubles.

Hives - 600 rubles * 3 pieces = 1800 rubles;

Bee families - 1500 rubles * 3 families = 4500 rubles;

Other inventory - 5000 rubles

Total expenses 11300 rubles

The income part consists of the sale of honey. On average, one family produces about 30 kg of honey per season.

30 kg of honey * 500 rubles = 15,000 rubles * 3 families = 45,000 rubles

TOTAL: 45000 - 11300 = 33700 rubles.

The income from a small amount of evidence is quite small, but if you gain experience and expand your apiary, then bee breeding as a business can become a fairly profitable and profitable enterprise.

In the natural course of development of the strength of the bee colony, the latter reaches its greatest strength in most cases at the end of the flow or even after passing it. As a result, honeybees are not completely used by bees (Fig. 245, solid curve).

The task of the beekeeper is to prepare the largest number of bees for the time of the main flow. To this end, the beekeeper must, depending on local conditions, use the autumn nectar to grow young bees, provide the colonies with enough food in the spring, form spring layering or use helper queens to grow bees to the main nectar.

The development of family strength cannot be left to chance and made dependent on natural, random conditions. It should go according to plan with the calculation of the preparation of the greatest force by the time of the main bribe.

The timeliness of work in beekeeping is of great importance, it solves the issue of profitability of the entire apiary.

On fig. 245 curves represent: the development of colony strength in natural conditions (curve × × ×) and its changes depending on the intervention in the life of the beekeeper's bees (curve × ×). On the bottom side of the drawing, according to the preparation for the development of the strength of the family, work in the apiary is indicated.

1. PREPARATION OF THE BEES FOR THE WINTER

At the end of the main flow, most beekeepers pay little attention to the care of families and often leave the bees to themselves. The result of the lack of autumn care is the loss in the spring of a large percentage of families on the farm. It is not enough to put the bees on the points, you need to be able to maintain the strength and efficiency of colonies in the spring so that the bees can develop normally, make full use of bribes and give a high yield of bee products.

For this, it is necessary that the colonies at the end of the previous summer have: 1) young queens, 2) a good nest of light land with correctly built bee cells, 3) a large number of young bees that came out after the main flow in August - September (for the middle zone of the Union ), and 4) benign food in an amount of at least 18-20 kg, which makes it possible not only to overwinter, but also to develop for bees in the spring before the onset of flow.

Our advanced beekeepers believe that the preparation of bees for a honeybee in areas with a long winter and an early honeybee should not be started in the spring, but carried out during the previous summer. The preparatory work that needs to be done in summer and autumn is: 1) building up nesting combs, 2) replacing old queens, 3) hatching young bees, 4) providing bees with good-quality honey.

THE SIGNIFICANCE OF NESTING LAND

Many apiaries do not pay attention to the quality of nesting land. Not only in spring, but even later in summer, when the main spring revision has already been carried out, with the aim of streamlining the nest, spoiled dry land and honeycombs with drone cells occupying ⅓ of the frame and more can be found in the hives. There are honeycombs stained with feces; completely dark, clogged with old, spoiled bee bread, moldy, etc.

Nesting combs are of great importance in the life of a bee colony, and inattention to them reduces the profitability of apiaries. The honeycomb is incorrectly built, elongated, has cells of irregular shape and size. The uterus does not lay fertilized eggs in such combs. At best, such combs are used to store honey, and at worst, the wombs are seeded with unfertilized eggs. If one such frame falls into the middle of the nest in autumn and is not removed during the spring revision, the colony will lose about 13 thousand worker bees in the middle of summer. Let's back it up with numbers. The Dadan-Blatt frame has an average of about 8,700 cells. There will be 4,350 of them on half of the frame. Knowing the development period of a bee, it is easy to calculate the number of lost bees, assuming that when the queen lays eggs, for example, on May 1, the first hatch will be around May 21, the second around June 16, the third around July 10. 13 thousand bees per day with one flight (with a burden of 72 mg) can bring about ¾ kg; with three departures - about 2.5, and with a 7-day fake bribe -16 kg. Here are the losses caused by just having one badly built frame. It is even worse if the uterus brings such a frame with unfertilized eggs. Not only will drones develop from them, which may be of little value for the economy, but a lot of food will go to their upbringing.

Honeycombs soiled with feces not only reduce the useful area, but also serve as a source of infection of bees with diseases. Moldy perga, reducing the useful area of ​​scarring, creates a difficult job for the bees to clean it from the cells.

Honeycombs with dark dryness, which is not translucent in the sun, are moved to the edges of the nest during periodic inspections and, as soon as possible, are removed for remelting. Instead of useless frames during the summer, a good nest is prepared with the help of artificial foundation for wintering and the future development of bees. It is necessary to deal with the renewal of the nest in such a way that at least ⅓ of the nest is replaced every year. If this rule is followed, there will be no old combs in the apiary, the wintering of bees will improve and, subject to other conditions, the normal development of the strength of the colony in the spring will be ensured.

THE SIGNIFICANCE OF A YOUNG UTERUS

During the period of its intensive activity, the uterus carries a huge number of eggs and therefore wears out quickly, as a result of which it is not advisable to keep it for more than two years. When examining families, attention is always paid to the brood and, in the presence of discontinuous brood, the queen is found and replaced.

Vicious queens need to be replaced in a timely manner. The presence of a young queen in the family at the end of the main flow provides the family with a young, very valuable bee for the winter and creates the best conditions for preserving its strength. Old queens stop laying eggs earlier. A regular change of unusable queens in each apiary is carried out annually, depending on the bribe. The best time for this would be the end of the bribe. With any change of queens, the following condition must be observed: the queens must be bred from the best families of the apiary, who have distinguished themselves over a number of years with their productivity.

THE VALUE OF YOUNG BEES

Work during the main flow requires extreme stress from the bees. Forager bees work from early morning until late at night. Not always bribes happen near the apiary; the bee has to fly far in search of nectar, and this is reflected in her; it is especially difficult for a bee to deal with wind and bad weather. From hard work, the wings of the bees wear out, and the bees themselves age quickly. Old bees die in autumn during flybys and do not tolerate wintering well, they die during it, and those remaining after wintering are lost during the first spring flybys. Families, for one reason or another, left with such a bee for the winter, weaken greatly in the spring, do not develop and do not provide income. In order to prevent the exhaustion of families, it is necessary to provide the families with a young bee for the winter, bred after the main flow.

Young bees endure the difficulties of the winter period more easily, are less susceptible to diseases, live longer and are more efficient in the spring. The queens in the presence of such bees are able to lay more eggs, and thus the further normal development of colonies is ensured.

Therefore, it is necessary to renew and rejuvenate the labor force of colonies in autumn with young bees hatched after the main flow. To do this, families should be given a bribe of young queens at the end, and families with last year's queens should be given incentive feeding for the worm if there is no bribe. But this measure requires a number of precautions.

FEED QUALITY IS IMPORTANT

The preservation of the strength of the bee colony in winter depends largely on the good quality of food supplies. Honey containing an admixture of honeydew is unsuitable for wintering bees. In winter, when feeding on such honey, the intestines of the bee quickly overflow. The bees begin to worry, raise the temperature and die by the thousands. Therefore, it is necessary to replace honeydew honey with good-quality flower honey or sugar syrup in a timely manner. The amount of honey and its distribution have a huge impact on the results of wintering.

AUTUMN WORK IN THE Apiary

Considering the main points of the life of bees and the conditions that affect the preservation of the strength of the colony in winter, we come to the conclusion that immediately after the end of the bribe, it is necessary to start a number of works, the purpose of which is: 1) creating better conditions for a normal wintering of bees, 2) preservation and preparation to the use of bees next year.

Autumn work in the apiary is aimed at preventing theft, determining the state of families after a bribe, correcting problems in families, replacing queens, breeding young bees, reducing nests, providing the family with good-quality honey and assembling nests for the winter.

THEFT PREVENTION

The termination of the flow, especially if the latter is interrupted suddenly, and the selection of honey lead the bees to an excited state. Not finding nectar in the field, the bees attack weak families, penetrate into the beekeeping workshop, into the pantries where honey is stored, etc.

(On the causes of theft and the fight against it, see "Abnormal Phenomena in the Bee Family.")

HANDLING WITH BEEES

The success of the work depends on the behavior of the bees. When the bees are calm, the work proceeds faster and better. The behavior of bees is largely regulated by the actions of the beekeeper himself. Skillful approach, accuracy, calmness, restraint, confidence are necessary conditions in working with bees.

Many people are afraid of bees and think that bees must sting. This is far from true, just as it is not true that the bees get used to the beekeeper.

Many people are amazed to see calm, gentle bees at the work of an experienced beekeeper, but one cannot conclude from this that bees do not sting. You must always be ready for this latter and endure when stung, take it as calmly as possible, quickly remove the sting and continue to work. If the frame is in your hands, in no case should you throw it or twitch. This only irritates the bees more.

How to prevent sting? To do this, first of all, you must have the appropriate clothing and mesh. The beekeeper's hands should always be clean. If they are contaminated with propolis, it is washed either with a solution of ammonia (50-100 cubic cm of ammonia per 0.25 l of water) or in water to which ash is added.

The most important thing is to be calm when working with bees, not to fuss and not irritate them with unnecessary unnecessary movements.

At work smokers are used. The smoker should periodically be shaken out and bred in again, especially if the fuel is rotten-dry. The best materials for a smoker are: dry mullein, dry willow, lime rot, peat powder, old rags, unusable tires soaked in propolis, rags soaked in lubricating oil, etc. When using a smoker, you should never heat it up - the best smoke produced by slow combustion. Small puffs of smoke in the entrance and under the tire are quite enough to start the inspection in 2-3 minutes. During work, you need to operate the bellows in such a way that they work, and the smoker remains motionless. At the end of the work, the rotten smoker is shaken out into a bucket of water, the smoker is removed. It is useful to have a locker or arrange a small shed, under which to store smokers from rain, etc.

The best time to work with bees is the first half of a warm summer day. At this time, most of the old flying, most irritable bees are busy working in the field. You should never inspect bees without a specific purpose.

Most examinations are carried out quickly, smoothly, accurately, without pressing down the bees, without sudden movements and tremors. Opening and closing the hive, the roof is raised and lowered smoothly, quietly, without knocking. When taking out the frames for inspection, you first need to move them from one side with Ruth's chisel from their place and then take them out of the hive a little obliquely, so that the planks do not hit the bees on the walls or on the neighboring frames, since the smell of a crushed bee irritates other bees. To inspect the frame from the other side, it is first placed vertically by lifting one side, then turned over near the upper ruler, now standing vertically, and lowered down by the lower bar. Or the frame is rotated around the side bar, bringing one hand under the other (Fig. 246). Extra frames taken out of the hive are always kept in a portable box.

You should not remove the canvas and ceiling from the entire nest, but keep no more than 1-2 frames open. This, firstly, protects the nest from cooling and, secondly, it partially prevents thieves from attacking the family.

Some beekeepers, dismantling the nest, leave for something, leaving the hive open. This should never be done. You can leave the hive with bees only when it is assembled and closed. Bees, very irritated from inspecting the nest, can sometimes be tamed with the help of a smoker, into which pieces of propolis and wax are thrown. This smoke causes them to intensively collect honey. After examining the frames, the ceiling or canvas is placed so as not to crush the bees, for which the bees are driven from the upper planks into the hive.

FIRST AUTUMN REVISION

The first autumn audit of families after the cleaning of stores is carried out in order to find out the condition of families that may have various shortcomings and troubles. A family may turn out to be queenless, there may be tinders, weak families, families not provided with food, etc. All this must be identified as soon as possible in order to be able to eliminate troubles in a timely manner and, if necessary, replenish stocks. All this takes time not only for the beekeeper, but also for the bees themselves, as the food must be processed and sealed by the bees. Bees can do this work normally only in warm weather. In those areas where warm days quickly give way to cold nights and early autumn sets in, the sooner the first revision is made, the better. In addition, the weather sometimes deteriorates sharply, bad weather begins, and it is not possible to know the condition of families. With an early revision, the bees are not so prone to stealing, they do not interfere with work, and this speeds up the process. It will take several days to inspect a large apiary, at least 100 families.

It is impossible to indicate the exact calendar date for the first revision, since it entirely depends on the bribe and is different for each locality. The audit must be carried out no later than 5 days after the end of the main bribe. When revising, you need a chisel and a knife, a spare canvas and a work box.

When inspecting the frames to remove bees from them, they are shaken off. To do this, the frames are taken under the shoulders with the index and middle fingers. With a sharp push, with the help of fingers and palms, the frames are shaken. (You can not shake the bees from the frames on which there are queen cells, since shaking can damage the larvae and pupae on them.) It is better to brush the bees off the honey frames with a whisk, since when shaking, the honeycomb filled with honey can break off. During inspections in the apiary, sick families can be found; after examining them, when moving to other families, it is necessary to wash their hands thoroughly.

During the audit, her condition is recorded in the family's passport. These records can be kept by an assistant, while the beekeeper himself quickly examines the colonies and reveals abnormalities. All inspections are carried out quickly, but carefully, so as not to crush or spoil the queens and not irritate the bees.

Determination of the quality of the uterus

To verify the presence of the uterus, you do not need to see it. It is enough to find the correct sowing - eggs and a normal bee worm of all ages.

If there are no eggs and brood, it can be assumed that there is no uterus or there is an infertile one. On the day of inspection, such colonies are given control frames, i.e. frames with one-day or 2-day (smallest) larvae, since in the absence of a queen, the bees will lay fistulous queen cells. Further, upon examination, it may turn out that the worm on the frame is not continuous, but with gaps, motley, that is, one where there are larvae in one cell, and there is nothing nearby in 2-3, then again a worm and again a pass. This may be either from the fact that the uterus is bad or from the fact that the honeycombs are bad, or from the fact that the family has a disease of the bee baby - foulbrood (especially in the spring).

Such cells are carefully examined. If there is a disease in the family, there will be either diseased larvae in the cells, or dried larvae - crusts of different shades, various positions - with European foulbrood, or dark flat, similar to diarrhea, the remains of larvae - with American foulbrood. In these last cases, attention is also drawn to the printing worm, whether there are perforated lids and a viscous mass with the smell of carpentry glue or foot sweat. If there are no signs of the disease and the cells are normal, then the fault falls on the uterus. It needs to be examined and changed, which needs to be noted in the diary of urgent work.

Partial nest reduction

At the first inspection, which takes place immediately after the end of the main flow in warm weather, strong and medium colonies still occupy all the frames of the hive. At this time, it is difficult to determine the strength of families in the generally accepted way - by the streets occupied by bees. The determination of strength is made in order to leave the number of frames according to the strength, so you have to reduce the nest. In the hives of Dadan-Blatt, even strong colonies are not left on a full nest for the winter. Proceeding from this, the nest is limited by the diaphragm at 7-9 frames by removing honey frames and frames with a baby to form cores for storing spare queens or moving behind the diaphragm frames that are small in copper with a mature emerging baby.

Behind the diaphragm, first of all, those frames that are subject to rejection are transferred (old honeycombs, incorrect cells, drones, etc.). In addition, low-copper frames are placed on the inside of the diaphragm, with a worm, so that upon exiting it can be removed and replaced with honey ones. If the apiary is fertilizing for the winter with sugar syrup, the work is greatly simplified and comes down to the fact that only combs to be rejected are removed. Low-copper good combs are left in the nest and will subsequently be flooded with food. You should not be afraid that the baby will cool down behind the diaphragm, since at this time there are still warm days and nights; bees do not join the club. The same goes for theft. Thanks to the timely measures taken - the reduction of the notch - theft does not happen. Small-copper frames behind the diaphragm can serve as incentive feeding when printing honey, so that the uterus does not stop laying eggs. This is essential to provide the family with a young bee.

As a rule, weak families should not be left in the apiary. If they are left to preserve the queens in winter, then such families are moved two or three into one hive with a partition between them, either made of wire mesh embedded in the frame, or made of plywood with burnt cuts. Bees usually do not seal such burnt holes, thanks to which the families use the general warmth.

Given the strength of the family, it should be borne in mind that the best wintering is provided by young, not worn out bees, and the more of them and worms, the better wintering and spring development will be. The number of hearts is entered in the family's passport.

Determination of the amount of feed stocks

The amount of honey is usually determined by eye. A normally built-up Dadan-Blatt frame with sealed honey (on both sides) weighs about 4 kg, a Ruth frame about 3 kg. In 100 sq. cm honeycomb contains about 350 g on both sides. To acquire the skill in determining the amount of honey, it is useful to use a spring steelyard. It is easier to determine visually: if the honey is ½ frame, take the weight for 2 kg, ¼ frame - for 1 kg, etc. When determining the reserves left for the winter, one should not exaggerate the reserves of honey, it is better to underestimate, since this will only benefit the bees. Unprinted honey is not taken into account, since part of it will go to raise the baby, and part will be spent on feeding the bees themselves in the fall. When determining the amount of feed, attention is also paid to its quality. Determination of honey reserves is carried out in order to know how much honey is available in the family.

Nucleus formation

3-5 days after the end of the main flow, when the control hive begins to decrease in weight, work begins on the creation of nuclei for the winter to store spare queens by spring and for early spring layering.

At this time, there are many children of all ages in the apiary. Taking in the best families two frames of a mature baby with sitting bees, they form nuclei. In addition, young queens are given to the nuclei, preferably fetal, bred in advance from the best families, and 2 frames with honey. Finally, the bees are shaken into the nuclei from 3-4 frames. The nuclei are arranged in a normal hive, divided by mesh partitions into 2-3 parts. Tapholes in such a hive, when two cores are placed, should be arranged in the front and in one of the sides of the hive, since when they are located on opposite sides, a draft is obtained, which harms development for weak families. To make the nuclei stronger, they are populated at the end of the day. After settling, they are carried away with the uterus for two days to the winter hut. At the same time, families are given water. After the exhibition and flight, many bees remain in the nuclei.

If infertile queens or mature queen cells are given into the nuclei, the formation of the nuclei should be started earlier and made stronger or strengthened after the start of scarring of the queens.

Nuclei can also be formed behind a blind diaphragm in a hive with a normal colony.

SECOND AUTUMN REVISION

Having found out the condition of the families, they immediately begin to correct all the shortcomings that were identified by the first audit. First of all, it is necessary to provide assistance to the motherless families. If they are still strong, that is, they cover tightly 6-8 frames, they are given a spare fetal uterus. Before this, the data are preliminarily examined the day before or 2 days before the control frame. If the bees laid queen cells on them, then they do not have a queen. Such a family can, having selected a frame with a worm and queen cells, give a uterus in a cage in a day. If, on this control frame, the family of queen cells has not been laid, it means that the family has either a drone queen, or an infertile uterus, or drones. Such a family is carefully examined to find the uterus. This requires, however, a certain amount of experience, especially if the family has a fistulous, infertile uterus. Often they are so small that it is difficult to distinguish them from a bee, and besides, they are very mobile. Instead of an infertile uterus, such families are given a fetal one. If the uterus is not found, it can be assumed that there are tinders in the family. Such families are liquidated. The hive is removed from the stand or stakes; the latter are removed immediately, since after shaking off bees can gather on them. Then the hive is moved to the side, and all the bees are shaken off to the ground. This work is best done in the late afternoon.

Replacement and replanting of queens

Queens are replaced at different times of the season. Often they replace old queens with queens bred by chance from the first family that came across. At the same time, the useful economic qualities of bees are not taken into account, as a result of which the quality of the colony may not improve with such a replacement of queens. The case with the replacement of queens is a serious issue, and it needs to be taken more carefully. It is better to replace queens with fetal queens.

Fixing Weak Families

Weak families are corrected by connecting them. Weak families are those that in mid-August in middle lane Soyuz occupy 3-4 streets. It is necessary to ensure that there are no such colonies in our apiaries, since a significant number of bees will die in autumn and winter, and by spring the bees will remain only on 1-2 frames. Such families in the central zone of the Union are not able to independently provide spring development. You can leave them for the winter only as cores. In those places where there is an autumn bribe, small families can be strengthened with caring care and get a normal family.

The main connection methods:

The first method, practiced here and in America, consists in taking the worst queen from one of the families to be joined during the day. The frames with the worm are transferred to the attached hive, and the bee family itself is placed on the hive in the evening of the same day, to which it is attached with the whole nest (without the worm). A sheet of newsprint is placed between the hives, which is pierced in ten places with a pencil-thick stick. The bees from the top floor will move down to the queen during the night. The remaining bees are shaken by the diaphragm, and the hive is removed. To prevent the bees from flying to the notch, a diaphragm is placed obliquely near it. The disadvantage of this method is that you have to do double work when harvesting the top hive, and it is applicable only in apiaries having hives of the same size.

2nd method - by approaching the hive by ½ m after each flight day to the one to which it is attached. After approaching and setting the hives side by side, after two days, the families are united, and on the eve of the worst queen is destroyed. This method is very slow and is not applicable to large apiaries.

The 3rd method is as follows. During the day, the worst queen is selected. In the evening, when the years are over, this colony is brought up to the one to which they are attached, and the whole nest with sitting bees is placed in a normal hive between the diaphragm and the nest, which was pushed back during the day. At the same time, the frames of the attached hive are placed not one at a time, but three or even four frames at once. The frames are taken under the hangers, and a separator is hung between the frames or sticks are placed. Bees usually connect well. Do not just abuse the smoke. If the worm is taken away from the family to be joined during the day and transferred to another family to which they will be attached, then in the evening the family to be joined is placed behind the diaphragm on dry frames, and not inside. When connecting at a free time, it is imperative to feed or sprinkle bees of both families with liquid syrup.

When reinforcing, one should never forget that the connection can be made only if the families are healthy. To strengthen the colonies of small animals, as well as families that, after the first revision, will have few worms, and families with old queens, you can use draining pumped out magazines in the absence of diseases in the apiary. There is still a little left in such stores - up to 1 kg of honey. Shops give in the evening on a nest on which there is one or two empty magazine boxes. Shops can be attached to the light wall. Applying such feeding, they vigilantly monitor that there is no theft.

Each apiary, brought to the complete set, should have by spring about 10-30% of spare queens to replace all families in the apiary. These spare queens will be kept in small colonies sitting 2-3 in large hives or behind a partition in a hive with a normal colony. At the end of the bribe, such families have to be given to strengthen the frame with brood from strong families.

After the elimination of queenless families and putting the weak ones in order, one more work is carried out in the apiary - an inspection of all beehive roofs. All leaking roofs are repaired immediately, so as not to create dampness in the hive, and also to prevent theft, as discussed earlier. At the same time, the hives are insulated. Upper insulation, while the days and nights are still warm, can only be made of straw mats or felt mattresses. With the onset of fresh nights, the insulation increases, and pillows are placed, and after replenishment of supplies and side insulation.

Restocking

Interfering with the life and work of bees throughout the season, the beekeeper violates the natural position of the nest and stocks collected by the bees for the winter. This is especially true for the autumn period. After selecting stores, very often in the nesting department, during the first autumn revision, only 3 to 10 kg of honey are found. In the hives of Langstroth-Root, in which the magazine and nest boxes are the same size, the matter is simplified - the frames with honey from the extensions are rearranged into the nest. In the hives of Dadan-Blatt, there are half-frames in stores, and it is difficult to use them to build a nest without tools. As a result, stocks have to be replenished by giving feed in liquid form.

Reserves have been established from 13 kg in the Crimea to 20 kg in the north and Siberia. In the middle lane, the norm is about 18 kg. In hungry, low-copper years and in the absence of sugar, store frames with honey are placed to replenish the stock, connected in pairs one above the other, and the hangers are sawn off at the bottom.

If there is no comb honey, stocks are replenished with centrifugal honey or sugar syrup. Replenishment of feed stocks is carried out in such a way that the bees have time to process and seal the liquid feed given to them before the onset of cold nights. When cold weather sets in, the bees do not take top dressing or take it so weakly that they create great worries for the beekeeper. In time, this top dressing will enable the bees to arrange the stocks as they need. This will make it easier, if not entirely free, for the beekeeper to build a nest for the winter.

Before giving top dressing, the nest should be left according to strength, that is, one that will go for the winter. Otherwise, the bees will place top dressing on all frames.

With a normal, narrowed nest, top dressing will be located correctly, and the duties of the beekeeper will be reduced to only checking the amount of stocks in the first days of September, since top dressing in the middle zone of the Union should be completed by August 25.

Leaving the norm of stocks for the winter in those areas where the spring bribe is weak, it is advisable to have one more full frame of honey in case of an unfavorable protracted spring. If it is difficult to store honey in combs, then centrifugal honey is left instead, which is stored in a dry, cool place.

Assembling nests for the winter

One of the most important work before wintering is the work of assembling the nest for the winter. We have already seen that some hive designs have a different frame in the nest and magazine, which makes it difficult to place supplies. On the other hand, the beekeeper permanent job violates the nest itself, prepared by bees for wintering. It would seem that the simplest thing is to give the bees more honey and stop there. But in reality this is not so. In winter, bees cannot always move from one frame to another and may die of hunger, even if there was a lot of honey in the nearby combs. Therefore, it is necessary to arrange the nest and arrange food supplies in such a way that there are no frames in the hive that do not have honey.

The collection time depends on the flow, the activity of the bees and the weather. The later the main bribe or the strong autumn one ends, the later the assembly takes place. The earlier the cold nights come, pulling the bees into the club, the earlier the assembly. Accordingly, the assembly time is determined; it should be borne in mind that after assembly, it may be necessary to give liquid feed to some families. We already know that this requires a warm time; therefore, there is no reason to postpone nest assembly.

In the middle lane, where the bribe ends with the flowering of linden, late buckwheat, the second half of August will be the best time - if top dressing is needed, and the beginning of September - if liquid top dressing is not used and there is a large supply of nesting frames with honey. Accordingly, for the northern regions it will be earlier, for the southern regions later.

The method of assembling nests for wintering depends on where the bees will spend the winter: in the wild, in cold random buildings, or in warm, underground winter quarters and cellars.

Wintering in the wild and in random buildings (sheds, barns, puni, cold huts, etc.) will be cold.

Wintering in underground and semi-underground omshaniki, cellars, pits is considered warm.

Cold wintering requires a more compressed nest and therefore fewer frames, but more food.

Wintering warm may have a wider nest, but not too much. It can have frames 2 more than the number that the bees cover after the onset of cold weather.

Practice shows that in the central zone, strong colonies in Dadan-Blatt hives usually overwinter on 8-9 frames (in warm buildings), average ones on 6-7 frames. In Root hives, the number of frames increases accordingly. If the apiary uses the method of replenishment of stocks by feeding liquid feed, then there is no need to worry about the placement of stocks. The bees will arrange their own nest in the way they need and will have a good winter, provided that they do not move the notch after giving food. Depending on the notch, the bees stack honey. In such cases, the beekeeper will only have to check the amount of stocks, since, when feeding in August, the bees can spend up to 4 kg on raising a baby by the beginning of September. Therefore, top dressing is always given 2-3 kg more.

Some beekeepers of our Union do not build nests, but give the missing amount of sugar syrup after a bribe and reduction of nests. The Americans do the same: they do not assemble nests. Those beekeepers who do not feed liquid feed build nests.

There are several ways to store honey in cold drift hives. So, the method proposed by G.P. Kandratiev for Dadan-Blatt hives with cold drift consists in the symmetrical arrangement of frames with honey, i.e., the nest is collected between two diaphragms in the middle of the hive against the entrance. Frames are placed in the center of the hive, on which the sealed honey should occupy up to half or two-thirds of the frame; 4-5 such frames are set. On their sides are placed 1 or 2 frames full of honey. In the middle frame to the front, i.e. to the notch, there is the last remaining worm or dry land (Fig. 247). If the beekeepers strictly followed this placement rule and did not modify the method, there would be no failures, since the club, having gathered against the tap hole in the middle 5-6 streets, would have at least 10 kg of food, which is quite enough for the winter dormancy. The wintering failures of the beekeepers who collected the nest by this method were obtained not because the method was bad, but because the beekeepers themselves made deviations. The main mistake was that they put in the middle frames with stocks less than those indicated, for example, instead of frames for ½ sealed, they put ¼ sealed, that is, not 2 kg each, but 1 kg or less. Then, indeed, there was not enough food for 5-6 frames, and the bees died, but the honey of both sides remained. It must be firmly remembered that bees do not "move", do not "pass" in the sense that we imagine. The bees, as they eat food above them, move after it, and, having reached the upper and rear side bars of the frame, they usually do not move further during the cold wintering of this frame and die of hunger. That is why it is not allowed to leave frames with printed honey less than 2 kg in the center of the nest.

In bad years for honey collection, the need repeatedly forced us to collect nests contrary to the usual rules. There were years when, on average, a family had 9-12 kg. In such cases, we placed the most complete honey frames of 2-3 kg in the center of the nest against the notch, and placed small copper frames on the sides (Fig. 248). We did not notice any negative aspects from such placement of reserves during its repeated repetition. They say that bees do not sit on honey and winter badly. In our practice, with the indicated method of placing honey, we did not notice this. On the contrary, in the Dadan-Blatt hives, which have one lower notch, we placed frames with 2.5 and 3 kg in the center of the nest against the notch and forced the club of bees to be located closer to the notch, in the lower part of the hive. With such a low location of the club of bees, there was always less death, and the apiary wintered without loss.

In hives with a warm drift, the nest is arranged near the notch. Frames with honey are arranged in order of gradual increase in honey towards the back wall.

The last frames are the most complete, a diaphragm is installed behind them, and the void between it and the back wall is filled with insulation. Each frame should have an average of at least 2 kg of honey.

With any of the above methods, the bees will overwinter well if general rules: 1) there is not a single frame with less than 2 kg of honey; 2) the nest strictly corresponds to the strength, i.e., all the frames, with the exception of the two extreme ones, are covered with bees during wintering in a warm winter hut; 3) during cold wintering: expand the frames wider - up to 20 mm between the combs, arrange passages under the tire with the help of planks, have a nest narrowed to 6-8 Dadan-Blatt frames; 4) leave at least 16 kg of good-quality honey in winter quarters and 18-20 in the wild; 5) let families cover at least 5 full streets into the winter; 6) provide good insulation for hives wintering in the wild; 7) create the best ventilation conditions for the hive and the room.

Work in the apiary after collecting bees for the winter

The assembly of nests ends the main work inside the hive. It remains to perform only those works that for some reason have not been done before. These are: a) after the exit, take out the small-copper worms, moved to the diaphragms of the frame; b) remove the feeders; c) wooden shelves slightly push apart or replace with non-glued canvas; you can also leave a wooden ceiling or glued canvas in hives with an upper notch: otherwise, ventilation is disturbed and dampness appears in the hive; d) when wintering in the wild and buildings with temperatures below 0 0, put under the canvas, across the frames, 3-4 sticks of 2 cm thick, e) shorten the entrances and put up barriers from mice; if there are no special ones, you can make it with your own means: strips of old iron, tin, cut teeth in them like a saw so that the bees pass through them; the teeth themselves are slightly bent forward; f) when cold weather sets in, protect the entrances near the beehives with inclined boards, which will winter under the snow; g) carefully insulate the hives with dry material both above and behind the diaphragms.

At the end of autumn, there are usually (especially in the middle zone of the Union) strong cold winds and frosts, and the bees are still free. Warming from above should be about 20 cm, empty spaces, from the sides must be filled with dry moss, foliage, etc. If the hives are well insulated, there will be later overflights, which is very useful in the middle and northern strip, where bees hibernate for 5-6 months .

Observation of the autumn flybys of bees

In autumn there are often warm days when bees can find weak colonies and plunder them. At this time, the families are not examined, as a result of which the robbed families may subsequently die. A family can be plundered in an hour, half an hour. This must be remembered and not left in autumn on warm days without observing the apiary for a single day. An experienced beekeeper at a glance determines the condition of the bees. The beginner should carefully observe the behavior of the bees and their flight.

It is necessary to follow the overflights before the onset of cold weather. If the flight will be in the 2nd decade of October and then cold stable weather will come in the first decade of November, the bees in the middle lane can be removed. If there was no flyby in the 2nd decade of October, it is advisable to wait for a later time.

Spare sushi storage

Since there is still a lot of time before the harvesting of bees in winter quarters, beekeepers during this period switch to other apiary work, namely, they put all inventory and tools in order. Spare frames with sushi are cleaned, sorted into light and dark. Light dry is removed in magazine boxes or cases, which are placed tightly on top of each other so that mice, the main enemies, do not penetrate. The first box is placed on an iron flat roof or bottom, the notch is clogged. Boxes stacked on top of each other form columns of 10-15 pieces each. Such speakers can be stored not only in rooms closed on all sides, but also directly under sheds. The top box is tightly covered either with a wrapped flat iron roof, or with spare bottoms. Moths usually do not touch light store dry and should be protected, mainly from mice and rats. Dry land is also well stored on slats, specially arranged in attics. The moth does not tolerate a draft and therefore does not start up in frames, provided that the frames do not touch each other, that is, they are not hung close. Dry land, in which a worm has been hatched at least once, requires a different care. Her before cleaning in without fail should be smoked with sulfur, since these frames are a favorite place for moth larvae to stay.

In large apiaries for storing sushi, special devices or cabinets should be arranged, since the frames are the most valuable material and inventory of the apiary. With careless storage of sushi, its service life is reduced.

Extractors should be clean and kept dry and covered. Small metal tools are protected from rust by lubricating with grease and storing in a dry place. All small items that were used in the apiary - cages, knives, etc., should be disinfected by boiling for up to 30 minutes.

In his free time, the beekeeper must box or fuse defective combs for delivery to the wax factory and receive artificial foundation in exchange, without postponing this matter until the spring.

In all apiaries with sick bees, the land is disinfected in a formalin solution - 1 part of commercial formalin to 9 parts of water - for 4 hours at a temperature not lower than 17 ° C in tightly closed tanks or other utensils. After disinfection in formalin, the dry matter is thoroughly washed in water, pumped out on a honey extractor and ventilated in a place inaccessible to bees until the smell of formalin disappears completely (1-3 days).

Cleaning bees in the winter hut

Omshanik is preparing for the installation of hives in it in the summer. It dries and ventilates all summer, and at the end of the summer it is whitewashed with lime and fumigated with sulfur. Shelves, racks are inspected in advance, supports are checked, the floor is swept, etc. All measures are taken to destroy the mice that have settled in it.

The time of harvesting bees from the apiary is determined by the state of the weather and is carried out when the temperature drops beyond 0 ° and the onset of stable winter weather. Typically, such a temperature in the middle zone of the Union is set at the beginning of November. There is no further need to keep the bees in the wild, since the last flights fall at the end of October and only in rare cases, almost exceptionally, on the first days of November. Observations of the flybys of bees, both of the current year, and data on the last flybys for a number of past years, can help a lot. The later the flyby is, the better the bees endure wintering. Therefore, bees should be removed to the wintering house only after the onset of a stable temperature below 0 °.

A dry day is chosen for cleaning. In wet autumn, it is better to wait for frosty days so that the hives dry out. Snow is also undesirable, as it is dragged on foot into the omshanik and dampness will increase. If there is snow on the hives, it is brushed off the boards with a whisk. Roofs in a warm winter hut are not removed, but are folded somewhere separately under a canopy or roof of the omsha house itself. Excess insulation, unnecessary for the omshanik, is also removed. Before harvesting, the hives are superficially inspected for wax litter and traces of mice at the bottom of the hive. Mice are expelled from such hives. After that, the entrances are plugged with tow or hay and they begin to be transported on trolleys or carrying the hives to the winter hut. The stretcher is pre-fitted with towels, sashes, straps or straps over the shoulders. This is done because when carrying a large number of hives, hands get tired. When carrying, the hives are placed on a stretcher so that the frames are located along the road. Without shocks, they are placed on shelves, racks in a omshanik. The beekeeper monitors the installation and places the hives according to their strength. The weaker ones go to the top shelves, the stronger ones go to the very bottom. During installation, the hives are placed so that at any time, if necessary, each hive can be taken separately without disturbing others.

After all the hives are put in place, the doors are closed. When the bees calm down, the entrances are opened for the night. The notch opens to its full width in order to allow fresh air to freely enter the hive. After cleaning and installation, the operation of the ventilation pipes is checked, and in the apiary, stakes are checked and corrected, if the ground allows. This concludes the autumn work in the apiary.

If the hives "winter in the wild in their places, then you need to insulate the bottom, for example, put mats so that the bottom does not freeze. This is done immediately after assembling the nest. The nest is assembled between two diaphragms. Empty spaces behind the diaphragms are filled with insulating material. On top of the frames, insulation with a thickness of at least 20 cm is placed.

Single-walled hives are insulated from the outside by tying them with straw mats. Near the notch, a free place is left for the exit of bees. Against mice, thorny plants are placed around the hives: burdock, prickly thistle, etc., and barriers are placed on the entrances.

If there are two notches in the hive, the upper notch is left open to its full width, and the lower one is gradually closed. In strong families for the winter, it is left open by 2-3 cm. The presence of two entrances creates more proper ventilation of the hive.

So equipped hives remain until the first snow. After a snowfall, the hives are covered with loose snow.

WINTERING OF BEES

With the onset of cold weather, the bees gather in a club. At the top, the club is in contact with honey. As they eat honey, the bees follow it up or with low-wide frames (Langstroth-Ruth, Dadana-Blatt) also along the frames - in the direction from the notch. During cold wintering, bees hardly move to neighboring frames, as a result of which, if nests are assembled incorrectly, there are cases of their death from starvation.

Bees usually do not ventilate their dwellings in winter, and ventilation occurs on its own due to the difference in temperatures at two points. The exchange of air in the hive is necessary, since the carbon dioxide and water balls exhaled by the bees are harmful to them. On the other hand, bees need oxygen. This requires an influx of clean air into the hive. Bees, consuming honey especially intensely in cold hives and buildings, exhale carbon dioxide and water vapor in large quantities. Eating, for example, 10 kg of honey during the winter, the bees form almost 6 kg of water vapor and almost 15 kg of carbon dioxide. It is not difficult to calculate the total amount of water vapor and carbon dioxide exhaled by all families placed in the winter hut, and the amount of fresh air, the flow of which must be provided for their normal life.

In a cold or poorly ventilated hive, the air in the hive can become so saturated with water vapor that the ceiling and walls of the hibernation, hives, tires, honeycombs, etc., become damp.

The water vapor emitted by the club is partly removed through the tires, partly absorbed by them if they were not glued with propolis. In single-walled, poorly insulated hives, wintering in cold buildings, warm moist air, leaving the club, comes into contact with the cold walls of the hive and with uncovered extreme frames, quickly cools and releases excess water from itself.

Reduction of ventilation in the winter hut, an increase in its temperature above + 6 ° C or a strong warming of the hive in a warm winter hut sometimes lead to the fact that the bees begin to worry. Individual bees jump out of the hive, appear in large numbers at the notch, and even run out on the front wall of the hive.

If at this time you give the bees rags moistened with water, they greedily pounce on them and suck out the water. As a result, some beekeepers have the wrong opinion that bees need to be watered in winter. From this one cannot draw the opposite conclusion that bees do not need water at all. Water is necessary for bees, but they get it from honey, if the temperature conditions favor it.

Every observant beekeeper knows that open, unprinted honey strongly absorbs moisture in the same way as salt, etc., if placed in a damp place. At the same time, honey becomes liquid and even flows out of the cells, and the salt becomes wet. On the contrary, in a dry place, honey thickens, moisture leaves it.

How and where does water enter the hive? Part of the cells with honey in the wintering club and above it, the bees are kept unopened. These unprinted honey cells provide the bees with the water they need.

Warm air absorbs and retains a large amount of water vapor, cold air is saturated with less. The warm air exhaled by bees, when it leaves the club and meets cold objects, cools down and becomes supersaturated with water vapor. Honey absorbs moisture from this air. In excessively dry winter quarters, as well as when the temperature rises, honey cannot absorb the required amount of water, and the bees become agitated. They begin to open new cells with honey, eat too much honey, their intestines overflow, they become restless, diarrhea begins and many bees die.

Dampness in the hive creates not only abnormal conditions for the bees, it also spoils the honey, which turns sour, and the bees get diarrhea, worry and die.

In the hives of warm, well-insulated frames from the sides and top with moss, dry leaves, various pillows (at least 17-20 cm thick), when they winter in cold buildings and in the wild, dampness and mold usually do not happen. It does not happen even in single-wall hives when wintering in a warm omshan with good ventilation.

During the wintering of bees in cold buildings, the greatest dampness, mold and death are repeatedly observed in those hives that had insulation on frames less than 17 cm, wintered on a wider nest that did not correspond to the strength of the family, were with thin front and rear walls.

If the bees during wintering must intensely produce heat and eat plentifully, if their relative rest is disturbed by improper ventilation of the hive, creating a lack of moisture or an excess of it, the bees die in large numbers, and the overwintered ones come out so weak, lifeless, that they die at the very first flights. from the hive. Families that have been strong since the autumn in such cases become so weak that they can no longer come in strength to the main bribe and give any income.

The task of the beekeeper is to create conditions for the bees under which they will maintain the temperature they need, without spending any extra energy; in the winter hut there should be normal relative humidity (70-80%) and normal air ventilation, and all external disturbances for the bees (knocking, noise, etc.) should be eliminated.

This is achieved by placing the bees in warm, specially arranged winter quarters with an even temperature above 0 0, and when wintering in the wild, with reinforced insulation on top of the frames (25-30 cm) on all four sides (20 cm) and under the bottom (15 cm), by placing them in casing or backfilling with snow.

The best temperature inside the winter house will be from + 4 to + 6 ° C. At this temperature, the hives should have a notch open to the full width; a tire is left on top and in some cases a light pillow or straw mat is left. Each beekeeper must study his wintering and regulate the temperature in it. It should not be forgotten that an increase in air temperature increases its moisture capacity and, through this, lowers relative humidity. Determining the humidity of the room is carried out with the August psychrometer or the Sausyur hygrometer. Determination of humidity according to the August psychrometer is carried out according to the dry and wet bulb readings and the table below.

The temperature of the winter hut can be controlled by ventilation. Ventilation should be arranged so that the air supply is sufficient for all families wintering indoors.

In the absence of a good winter hut, bees can overwinter in the open air. All you need is a lot of insulation on all six sides and 3-4 kg more feed.

Bees are harvested in winter quarters, based on the following considerations:

1) bees eat on average 3-4 kg less honey,

2) subject to less fluctuations in temperature,

3) hives are better preserved from dampness and decay,

4) the necessary assistance can be provided,

5) some data speak for the fact that it is smaller and deader.

All these arguments are quite justified, but wintering under the snow with appropriate insulation often proceeds much better than in random rooms. The bees fly around earlier, have a slight death, the hives are dry, the bees develop faster and more vigorously.

WINTERING IN SPECIAL ROOMS (WINTER HOUSES)

After harvesting the bees in the winter hut, it is necessary to observe the behavior of the bees. For several days, the operation of the ventilation is checked and the temperature is adjusted. It is impossible to specify one common temperature for all winter quarters. For each room, depending on the structure of the hives, ventilation, humidity, there will be a different temperature. In any case, the room temperature should be such that it is easy for the bees in the club to maintain a temperature of about 14 °.

To adjust the temperature in the hive, you need to have thermometers that are inserted into the hive through the notch. At the temperature at the bottom of the Dadan-Blatt hive +10 +11°, and in the Ruth hives +11 +12° the bees sit quietly. This will be the best temperature. Temperature regulation of the hive is achieved by reducing and increasing the notch. If, for example, the temperature on the floor of one hive is kept at 8°C by the entrance, and 12° by other colonies, then the first entrance should be shortened and the second enlarged. With a warm winter hut, only canvas and a light mattress or straw mat are left on the hives. If there are two entrances in the hive in a warm winter hut, both entrances open, due to which the air exchange occurs more correctly. For each winter hut, by experience, the best insulation for the hives is found.

Bees in the first half of wintering, under favorable conditions, sit quietly. If the bees jump out of the entrances and make noise, the winter hut needs to be more ventilated, cooled, removed from the insulation, expanded, even raised to wedges. If this does not help, you need to give the bees water.

In the second half of wintering, starting from February - March (in the middle and northern parts of the Union), some families have a baby.

For its upbringing, bees require a temperature of 34-35 °, honey is consumed in larger quantities, and more air is also required. At this time, the temperature in the winter quarters rises, and it has to be lowered by more enhanced ventilation, sometimes even opening the door at night, and if the first doors in the room are quite dense and do not give light, but you can open the inner doors for the day. This is done when warm days come.

The closer to spring, the more often there should be visits to the winter hut and observations of the bees and their condition. During the pre-exhibition period, the winter hut is visited every day.

When a subpestilence appears in the hives, it is necessary to carefully, using a goose or chicken feather, clean the entrances so that ventilation does not stop.

Therefore, caring for bees in the winter hut is reduced to regulating ventilation and temperature and observing the behavior of bees, as well as fighting mice.

In many guidelines it is recommended to determine the state of families "by knocking". Every knock disturbs the bees. An inexperienced beekeeper, after reading such an indication, every time he visits the omshannik, “knocks” on the hives, which results in severe death and diarrhea. This rule, indeed, was used earlier by beekeepers, but they did not abuse it and resorted to it only at the end of wintering, before the exhibition. We now have other paths. All our farms must keep records, the bees are without fail provided with ample food supplies in the fall. In addition, the consumption of stocks is determined monthly according to the data of the hive standing on the scales and in the bean box. Therefore, the question of knocking in modern conditions disappears, and it can only be used in the spring, applying it to families wintering under the snow. It is much more convenient to listen to families through the notch.

In some seasons, unfavorable in terms of honey flow, bee colonies are made up in winter quarters with unsecured food supplies. Such families are taken under special supervision, and they are fed at the first opportunity and the availability of food.

WINTERING OF BEES UNDER THE SNOW

Wintering of bees under snow occurs in many places of our Union and is very often practiced even by experienced beekeepers who have experienced wintering in special buildings.

This is explained by the fact that wintering under the snow in the wild, while observing the basic rules for preparing bees for the winter in relation to benign honey, its location, proper ventilation of the hive, insulation, etc., in most cases gives good results. In addition, the first flyby occurs earlier, as a result of which the development of family strength is faster.

It is known that fluctuations in the temperature of the air surrounding the hive disturb the peace of wintering bees and increase their vital activity. This prompted beekeepers to move their bees to rooms where the temperature was stable, without sharp fluctuations. The thermal conductivity of snow, compared with other materials, according to Berger, turned out to be close to such good insulating materials as paper, wool, and wood. In addition, snow not only insulates, it also protects the hives from sudden temperature fluctuations. .

According to A.F. Gubin on the former. Moscow beekeeping station, the temperature under the snow near the hives was not only even, but also 20 ° higher than the open air temperature (Fig. 249).

These properties of loose snow determine the good results of wintering bees under the snow. Caring for hives wintering under the snow basically boils down to the following. Assembly of the nest and insulation and preparation of hives wintering in the wild.

To protect against wind and snow, boards are obliquely attached to the entrances. After the first snowfalls, loose snow is raked up and sprinkled on the hives (Fig. 250). The hives are gradually surrounded by snow and in January - March they are completely covered with it.

If at the end of wintering the snow is discarded from one side of the hive, then you can see that the hive is in a snow case. There is no snow near the walls of the hive, it thaws. A passage thaws from the notch (Fig. 250).

With the onset of spring snowmelt, the snow falls off the hives, the entrances, if necessary, are cleared of dead bees. The planks that have been standing near the entrances since autumn are left so that the wind does not blow into the entrances and the rays of the sun would not lure the bees to fly too early in cold weather. On warm days, the planks are removed and the bees are given a flight, after which they are put back in place until constant heat sets in.

WINTERING IN RANDOM ROOM

Some farms do not yet have special rooms for wintering bees, and the bees spend the winter in some random buildings: empty cold huts, sheds, barns, puny, etc. They put them in cellars, undergrounds, etc. It goes without saying that no matter where the bees wintered, they, first of all, need peace, even temperature, fresh air. Therefore, a beekeeper who places colonies in one or another room must know whether the water will freeze in it. If the water freezes, then you need to prepare the bees in the same way as wintering in the wild, that is, the hives should be more insulated.

Hives in random rooms are placed on linings - poles, boards. The second row is also placed on the boards laid on the hives of the lower row. The windows of the room are closed with shields from the inside, and the gaps between the frame and the shield are filled with hay, leaves and other dry material. There is sufficient ventilation in the ceiling.

Cellars, undergrounds, if they are built deep, approach warm winter quarters, and the hives should not be very insulated when placed in them, otherwise the bees will suffer from stuffiness and thirst.

All sorts of random rooms can of course be used, as they protect the bees from the action of the winds. But, on the other hand, in such buildings as huts, barns, etc., it is very difficult to maintain the temperature. The rooms quickly overheat on sunny days, especially in the spring, as a result of which the bees jump out of the hive and die in masses on the floor and windows.

From such premises it is useful to expose the bees earlier, even in the snow, otherwise the bees become confused and wear out.

WINTER FLIGHT OF BEES IN A CLOSED ROOM

With strong anxiety of the bees and the appearance of traces of diarrhea in the hives, it is recommended to make a winter flyby. Experiments have shown that these flights go quite well, and after them the bees calm down. According to the observations of the Institute of Beekeeping, winter overflights can be carried out both under daylight and artificial lighting (electric) in a room of 20-25 square meters. m at a height of 2.5-3.0 m. The room should have a window to the south. Between the double window frames there is a movable curtain that allows you to adjust the lighting of the room. The best flying results are obtained if the hives are placed at the level of the windowsill at a distance of 30 cm from the window. It is also possible to place the hive on the floor against the window, but no further than 1.5-2 m. To prevent the exhaustion of the bees beating against the glass, the glass of the inner frame should be tightened with rare gauze or stick thin tissue paper. After preliminary preparation, the hive is brought into the flying room, the canvas is opened, and the bees fly out through the top of the hive.

During the flight, the frames, walls are cleaned, the feed is replaced, or the entire hive is changed. The flight of one family lasts about 4 hours together with the collection (35-40 minutes).

To collect bees in the hive, almost absolute darkness is created and the temperature drops at the same time. The light should fall in a narrow strip, barely illuminating the notch and the part of the landing board and floor adjacent to it. When using artificial light, it is extinguished after the flight, with the exception of a collective light bulb. A light bulb (electric) is wrapped in thick black paper, in which a narrow slit is cut parallel to the hairs; the light from behind the strip falls on the arrival board and the floor near it. Experience has shown that the best results of flying and bowel cleansing were obtained in daylight. Comparing the result of an artificial flyby with a natural one, the bowel cleansing with a natural one turned out to be 23% more.

Based on these experiments, which aimed to find out the necessary preparation for the flight, temperature, light intensity, light area, A.P. Silitsky (Beekeeping Institute) draws the following conclusions:

1) The flight should be preceded by preliminary preparation of the family at a temperature of 17-18°C for 4-5 hours. In the hive, the bottom is taken away and replaced with a mesh in the frame, the roof and head insulation are removed to the canvas.

2) During overflights, the temperature is maintained at 23-24°C.

3) The light in the flyby should fall on the hive, from above and from the side.

4) During flights with electric light, the best result is the illumination of two lamps. The lamps should be hung at a height of 0.75 m from the ceiling, and no closer than 1 m from the walls. The lamps should be protected by deaf gauze caps, otherwise the bees die from burns.

5) In daylight, overflights should be made in the first half of the day, positioning the hive so that it is illuminated only from one side, from above and from the side. The best light area should be considered a ratio of 1:10, where one indicates the area of ​​​​the windows, and ten indicates the area of ​​\u200b\u200bthe floor.

6) The average duration of a family flight (together with the collection of 35-40 minutes) is 4 hours.

7) During the collection, the lower notch is illuminated with a narrow band of light. The rest of the room is dark. The collecting lamp is located at a height of 30-40 cm from the arrival board. Its lower location delays collection. To speed up the collection, you can lower the room temperature to 10 ° C.

8) The colonies that have passed the flyby are transferred to the winter hut after they calm down, for which they are placed for several hours in a colder room.

WORK AT THE APIECES FROM SPRING TO THE MAIN FEEDBACK

From the moment of the first cleansing flight, the life of the bee colony changes dramatically. The bees work more energetically, their vital activity increases, the queens increase the laying of eggs; on the other hand, old bees are gradually dying out. Usually in the first month after the exhibition of bees, the entire old bee is replaced by a new one. If the colony goes to winter with a small number of young bees, or if they wear out faster under unfavorable wintering conditions, the old bees die out rather than being replaced by hatching ones. The remaining old bees are not able to do the work required of them to feed the babies, and the families are weakening. This is especially noticeable in those apiaries where young bees were not hatched in autumn, and colonies were not rejuvenated. That is why it is so necessary to provide wintering with a large number of young bees and start preparing for a bribe from the end of the previous summer.

The cold spring period of the middle lane delays the development of family strength. According to Philipps, old bees can be used to raise worms by well insulating the hive. To keep the heat in the club, you need to cut the nest. Lack of nectar may delay scarring. But if the bees in the hive are provided with abundant food supplies, they successfully feed the baby, and the colony quickly strengthens.

SPRING WORK WITH BEES WINTERING UNDER THE SNOW

Spring care for bees wintering under the snow, as well as in cold above-ground buildings, begins earlier than for bees wintering in warm winter quarters. The beginning of departure coincides with the spring melting of snow. Long before this, the snow of the strongest families thaws from the entrance. In the snow, a kind of channel is formed through which warm air comes out of the hive. As the snow begins to melt, the resulting water can enter the hive. To prevent dampness, it is necessary at this time to discard the snow from the hives. At the same time, the entrances are freed from winter deadness with a goose feather and wire.

So that the bright spring sun does not fall into the entrance and does not lure the bees to fly around in this early cold time, those obliquely attached planks are left on the entrances, with which the entrances were protected from snow in winter. On warm days, when there may be an overflight, the boards are removed from the entrances, and the entrances are opened to the full width. After the flight, the tapholes narrow again. So that the snow melts faster and the points dry out faster, the snow is loosened with a simple or better spring harrow. In addition, sprinkle the snow with sand or black earth.

On warm days, when the bees fly around, they are observed. Families that fly around together, well, and after the flyby are taken to clean the nest, and sometimes even carry a fringe, are prosperous families. Families that fly over weakly, do not complete it for a long time, crawl along the arrival board and the front wall of the hive, very often find themselves without a queen. Finally, there are colonies in which the bees do not leave the entrance at all and do not fly around in the presence of good weather. These families are bugged. Put your ear to the front wall of the hive and hit the hive with your hand. If the family responds with a strong hum and then calms down, things are going well, apparently, the family is sitting near the back wall. If the answer is weak and the sound is like the rustling of leaves, this is a sign of hunger. Unfavorable families are brought into a warm room, the frames are moved apart, the bees are sprinkled with sweet warm water, after which food is given, and the hive is closed. You can put a frame with honey in the center of the club. When the bees make noise, they are taken out to the place. Families that do not answer the knock are looked around. If the bees are still alive, the hive is brought into the room and inspected. Cases have been noted that the bees that did not respond after warming came to life.

Observations over the flyby, as well as over the entrance and litter of the hive, give an idea of ​​the state of the family. For example, a musty, damp smell from a notch indicates mold and dampness, a sour smell indicates fermented honey, waxy litter, gnawed dead bees and mouse feces indicate the presence of mice, candied honey - grains - crystallization of honey. All this must be taken into account and eliminated. On the day of the flyby, the bottom should be cleaned, slightly raising the body from the notch. The overflight of bees wintering in the wild is early, and it is impossible to cool the nest by shooting the hull from the bottom, so the bottom is cleaned through the notch. Usually rubbish is well cleaned with a goose feather and wire.

After overflights, the notches are again reduced to save heat, then insulating pillows, mattresses, etc. are examined. All damp ones are replaced with dry ones. Damp pillows are harmful and retard development. All cracks are sealed and smeared with putty or clay. Roofs that have leaked are covered with roofing paper, lubok, and iron. Then, 30 pieces of live bees are taken from each bee colony for research. Bees for research are sent to the nearest veterinary bacteriological laboratories. Hives from families that died during the winter must be disinfected by burning with a blowtorch or a bundle of burning straw. The frames of the dead families are removed. The diarrhoea-stained honeycomb is cut out and handed over to the wax factory, and the wooden parts are scraped off with a knife or Ruth's chisel. If there are fears of a lack of food, then they give the bees sugar supplements or honey.

Bees wintering in random rooms require a lot of attention from the beekeeper in early spring, since it is not possible to maintain the temperature of the room at this time around + 4 ° + 6 °, despite increased ventilation. At elevated temperatures, bees begin to make noise, jump out of the entrances, roll out onto the front wall, and then go into the light and die there by the thousands. In buildings that do not allow maintaining the temperature around + 4 ° + 6 °, the bees have to be set out earlier, sometimes even in the snow. Such families are exhibited late in the evening, when they calm down. In no case should the exhibition be postponed from such premises, since a lot of bees may die in a few days. During a forced early exhibition, the pegs-stands on which the beehives are placed are cleared of snow. The next day, the hives behind the diaphragms and beyond the frames are heavily insulated. An early exhibition, due to its complexity, should be resorted to only when the bees do not calm down after giving water and other measures.

PREPARATORY WORK BEFORE THE EXHIBITION OF BEES

1) If the snow in the apiary has melted and the earth has moved away, the stakes are inspected and corrected. Rotten ones are replaced by new ones. The correction of the lopsided is done according to the spirit level placed on the spare bottom. Hives with a cold drift are placed with a slight inclination forward, so that it is easier for the bees to clean and so that drops of slanting rain do not fall into the hive. Hives with a warm drift are placed strictly vertically because otherwise the artificial foundation will not be built correctly. If the exhibition is made before the ground thaws, the stakes are aligned after. The points are cleared of branches, leaves, etc.

2) Hives are recommended to be put in the old place. This setting is desirable for the following reasons. In a large apiary, when several people work to find a hive, if they are not in any order of numbers, extra time is wasted. In large apiaries, where the hives are not placed in numerical order, an apiary layout plan is mandatory.

3) If there are trees in the apiary, they must be trimmed or filed in such a way that they do not exceed 3 m and do not interfere with the flight of bees.

4) If there are several apiaries in one village, it is necessary to agree with the owners on a simultaneous exhibition, since otherwise there may be raids and theft. Those set earlier attack those set later. The exhibition also takes into account the fact that bees can get to a neighboring apiary if it is larger and located on the line of the main summer, as they say on the migration. It is not necessary to set apiaries on flights, as you can lose bees and income.

5) A few days before the exhibition, the stretcher is inspected and corrected. Nets are also being prepared for notches or tow, hay. Roofs and cushions should be inspected earlier, as bees in warm winterings stand without them. The roofs are falling into place.

6) On the eve of the exhibition, drinkers are installed in the apiary.

BEES EXHIBITION

The time of the exhibition of bees from wintering quarters depends on the behavior of the bees and the state of the weather.

During the exhibition, one should be guided by the behavior of bees and the appearance of the first bribe. The dormant state of the bees makes it possible to keep them in the winter hut longer; anxiety, if it cannot be eliminated by giving water, cooling the premises, and other measures, forces one to hurry up with the exhibition. Sometimes the bees that are agitated in the winter hut calm down after an early exhibition. one

It is advisable to set apiaries up to 100 colonies on a cool morning in such a way that before the flight, which must be carried out at a warmer time of the day, i.e. from 12 to 3 o'clock in the afternoon, there is a significant time left for the bees to calm down. At a daytime exhibition, this is not always possible, the bees do not calm down. In such cases, the entrances have to be opened and boards and diaphragms placed on them to prevent the bees from flying out quickly, as they usually do.

1 In the central strip of the Union, the exhibition, on average, takes place in the second half of April, approximately 5-10 days after the opening of the rivers, during the flowering of willow (willow), in the south earlier - in March, in the north - later.

After placing the hives, during the exhibition in the evening, at night, the entrances open immediately.

If the apiary is set up in the morning, then the entrances are slightly covered with wet moss, hay, in addition, the entrances are covered with obliquely set diaphragms or boards.

When the flyby begins, the beekeeper must be present at the apiary and mark those colonies that did not fly.

Flight observations become more difficult if the bees set out in the morning have not calmed down. In such cases, entrances are opened through one hive and in different places in the apiary, so that there are no simultaneous overflights and, as a result, raids. Flights of bees from one hive to another are common if the weather is windy, and also if the flight is made randomly, immediately after the exhibition. The bees, rapidly leaving for a flight, do not remember their place and go to the general rumble, as a result of which sometimes strong colonies are even stronger, and weak ones lose the last bees. That is why it should be exhibited at a colder time of the day - in the evening, at night, and not during the day, by the time of the flight. At the end of the flight, they begin to streamline the hives, arranged hastily, and after that they proceed to the first spring work - inspecting the unfavorable ones, using the observational data from the flight, and assist them. 1 During the day, during the summer of bees, it is impossible to clean the bottom: the bees interfere with the beekeeper and the beekeeper them. Dysfunctional families are tapped, and in the future they are treated as described above. If the air temperature in the shade is about + 15 ° C, then the hive can be inspected not in the room, but in the apiary, but usually it is still cold on the day of the exhibition and it is impossible to inspect the hives in the wild.

1 Queenless families can be recognized even before the exhibition. To do this, they put their hand to the canvas in the place where the club of bees is located. If the hand feels warm, then there is a baby. Otherwise, the family is queenless.

REPLACEMENT OF FAMILIES IN THE APIER

After flying around the bees, for one reason or another, the beekeeper is sometimes forced to resort to rearranging colonies to a new place. The old method of rearrangement is accompanied by a gradual movement after the flight day by ½ m in the direction where the hive should eventually be moved. Sometimes a rearrangement is required over a long distance. In such cases, the rearranged colonies should be kept for 2-3 days in a cool place or winter hut. At the same time, they need to give water and arrange ventilation. After the specified period, the families in the evening (late) are set to a new place. The notch is closed loosely with wet moss, hay, leaves, and a diaphragm or board is placed obliquely to the front wall on the arrival board. In the morning, the bees will gnaw through the moss and fly around. The absence of trees and other indicative objects in the apiary, despite the measures taken, still sometimes entails the loss of a flying bee and its flight to its original place. Therefore, the rearrangement of the hives after the flight should be resorted to in exceptional cases, be sure to take precautions. A positive result is obtained when rearranging in inclement times, lasting 3-4 days.

CLEANING THE BOTTOM

When the flight of bees is over, they begin to clean the bottoms. Cleaning the bottoms should not be delayed because the accumulated litter and the corpses of dead bees decompose in the hive. The sooner they are removed, the more successful the development of the family will be. For this work, a spare bottom is taken, on which the hive is placed. All rubbish from the bottom is cleaned into a box that has the dimensions of the bottom. Then, with a chisel of Ruta, or with the edge of a knife, or with a scraper, the bottom is cleaned, the raw bottoms are replaced with dry ones from the stock and disinfected. After cleaning, the bottom is put in place, i.e. under your hive. Heavily soiled bottoms take a long time to clean. If such donas come across, they are replaced by disinfected spares. The situation is worse with cleaning the bottoms of the deaf, integral, and especially if there are no so-called bushings or liners in one of the walls of the hive (usually the back). If there is such an insert, the bottom is cleaned through it with a small scraper with a long handle, since the hand does not pass through the insert. Hives that do not have an insert are cleaned during inspections of the hives.

All rubbish collected in a box from the bottoms is not thrown away, but is first dried and then sieved. There is a significant amount of wax in the sea, and this should not be neglected. After sifting, the deadwood is burned.

Contrary to established custom, we recommend that donyas be put in their original place, that is, under their own hive, and not be substituted for the following ones, for the reasons that many apiaries are unfavorable in terms of the health of bees. One cleaning of deadwood without thorough disinfection during operation does not destroy the foci of infection, and thus it is possible to transfer it during replacement.

If the bottoms have gaps, then they are sealed with tow and smeared with putty or clay around the entire hive. The notches are narrowed so that no more than 1-2 bees pass simultaneously in a row.

On the day of the exhibition or the next, insulation is visible. Raw are replaced with dry. To protect against cold winds, the front and rear walls of single-wall hives are insulated from the outside with straw mats or other materials. Empty spaces behind the diaphragm are filled with insulating material. All the contents of the hives that died for one reason or another are removed from the apiary, the bees are burned, and the polluted combs go to the furnace. Clean combs and hives are disinfected and only after that they can be used again.

WATERPOOL FOR BEES

By the day of the exhibition of bees, a watering place for bees is arranged in the apiary. The water in the drinkers must be clean, and the drinkers themselves are periodically washed and disinfected. Planochki, on which water flows, are washed with water and a brush for hands. It is useful to dip the brush in washing soda or rinse with lye before washing the slats.

CONTROL FAMILY ON SCALES

To monitor the bribe, each apiary should have one or more control families on the scales. For this purpose, one of the best families from the Omshanik after the exhibition is put on a decimal scale. In many manuals there are indications that the control family should be of medium strength. This is not true, because we need to know what a strong family can provide in a given area. Of course, the testimony of a strong family cannot be considered average for the entire apiary. It would be ideal to have several control families. According to the readings of the control hive in the spring, one can judge the presence of a bribe and, in its absence, take timely measures for top dressing to enhance scarring. In summer, the control hive helps to determine the beginning of the main flow and the time of setting stores or extensions. A strong daily profit of 4-6 kg for several days makes it necessary to inspect the substituted stores in 2-3 days and give second, third, etc. for them. .

Without a control hive, it is impossible to properly conduct a large-scale farm, therefore, each apiary must have a control hive. If the family in the control hive for some reason weakens or releases the swarm, it must immediately be restored in strength and order. To prevent swarming of the control colony, a colony is selected that is less prone to swarming, develops rapidly and provides a significant annual income in honey. To do this, it is better to take a family with a young uterus of the autumn hatch of the previous year. The control hive is weighed daily in the evening when the bees stop flying. Since the nectar contains a large percentage of water, and the bees evaporate it overnight, the weight of the hive decreases in the morning. Despite the daily fluctuations in weight, the control hive can accurately judge the strength of the bribe. The weight of the hive is recorded daily in a special notebook, and the result is plotted on a bribe chart posted in a conspicuous place in the workshop. Above the control hive, a canopy is necessarily arranged in order to protect the scales from rain. The scales are periodically inspected, the web is swept away on the levers, the parts are lubricated with machine oil. To reduce the sound of the rocker and avoid disturbing the bees and preventing the hive from shaking, it is useful to place rubber pads or twigs where the rocker comes into contact with the fixed part of the scale. When the scales are in good working order, several minutes are spent on weighing. The scale must be level.

QUICK SURVEY OF FAMILIES

In the central zone of the Union on the day of the exhibition it is still cold, and it is impossible to completely dismantle the nests and proceed to the main spring revision without catching a cold. On the other hand, the lack of confidence that all colonies have food encourages the beekeeper to at least superficially examine the colonies. At the same time, nests are reduced, if necessary. A cursory inspection is carried out in the presence of summer bees and, in any case, at a temperature of at least 10 ° in the shade. The inspection aims to find out the presence of food and limit, shorten the nest. Knowing the state of food reserves in the hive is especially important in a large apiary, since otherwise more than one family may die of starvation.

Inspection to speed up, if possible, should be carried out in teams, 3 people in the team, and one of them must be a qualified beekeeper, and two assistants. The distribution of work between them is as follows. One of the assistants removes the roof of the hive and insulation and goes to the next hive and does the same. The beekeeper follows him, lifts the canvas a little on one side only, pushes back the diaphragm and looks at the extreme and neighboring frames. If there is honey in them, he rearranges the diaphragm to the baby, and moves the set aside frames to it, wraps the canvas in place and goes to the next, already prepared hive. At this time, another assistant puts the insulation in place and closes the hive. If there is no honey on one side, you have to examine it on the other side. According to the results of the inspection, the hungry are given food. It is not necessary to postpone the inspection of families until the main revision, since the revision may be delayed for an indefinite time, and the bees will not develop due to lack of food. After a cursory inspection, if it is carried out on the day of the exhibition, the team proceeds to another job of cleaning the bottoms.

MAIN SPRING REVISION

A detailed inspection of all families of the apiary is aimed at determining their condition and finding out the result of wintering. The sooner this is done, the sooner it will be possible to come to the aid of the bees and correct the deficiencies found. This is of great importance because in some parts of our Union, for example, the middle and northern ones, the period for preparing the bees for the harvest is very short. A missed day can affect the output of marketable products. Therefore, in beekeeping, more than in any other industry, timely execution of work is important.

In view of the fact that the main revision is associated with dismantling the nests, you have to reckon with the temperature so as not to catch a baby. The audit can be started when the bees are flying intensively in the field and the thermometer shows at least +15 ° C in the shade. Usually a clear, quiet day is chosen. The inspection itself is done quickly. Frames with a worm, if removed from the hive, are examined as quickly as possible in order not to sue the brood. To keep warm in the hive, they use a spare canvas and cover the inspected frames with it, leaving open place just above one frame. All other frames must be covered. The hangers of the frames, strongly glued to the folds of the walls, are carefully moved from their place with the Ruth chisel, which is also used to clean the frames from above and other parts of the frames and the hive. The mold found in the hive is wiped off with rags, and the rubbish from the bottom of the frames and walls is removed into the working box.

1 For each hive you need to have a separate rag.

During the audit, it turns out:

The strength of the family.

To do this, the canvas is removed and the strength is determined by the number of streets occupied (gaps between frames). Families occupying 4-6 streets are considered average and, with proper care and sufficient food supply, can develop in a timely manner to a bribe in June and generate income. Families occupying less than 4 streets should be considered weak. In the central and northern parts of the Union, where the bribe ends with the mowing, such families cannot come into proper strength at the time of the bribe. They will not provide income alone. But they should not be eliminated, especially in the presence of benign uterus. Before the bribe they can develop. By the time of the main honey collection, judging by their strength, they are either combined in pairs to obtain marketable honey from them, or left. Care for such small families will be to provide them with food and good insulation. In our practice, we have repeatedly received from such families, connected at the time of the main bribe, more income than from the same families, connected, as recommended in most manuals, in early spring. They resort to joining weak families in the spring only when the families are weakening from diseases: nosematosis, foulbrood, etc. the main bribe can get a big effect. Those families that occupy 7-8 streets can be considered strong.

After determining the strength, the canvas is closed, and further checks and records are started, for which they take out the side insulation, move the diaphragm and quickly look through the frames, determining the presence of the queen, the health of the brood, the state of the nest, food supplies, etc.

The presence and quality of the queen is determined by the brood.

If the brood is solid, the queen is good. If the uterus lays eggs with passes, then it is taken into account. It is still impossible to say that it is bad, since in the spring it often happens that the bees do not have time to cook and clean some cells. In such cells, the uterus does not lay eggs. If after some time - after 10-15 days, with the next revisions, the uterus continues to lay eggs with gaps, it will have to be examined and consulted according to the records of the year of its birth. In a good uterus in a normal, strong family, scarring goes in regular circles, almost without gaps and is located sequentially. In this case, the eggs lie at the bottom of the cells. The absence of eggs in the presence of a printed baby does not mean that there is no uterus in the hive. The uterus can reduce and even completely stop laying eggs for other reasons, for example: with a lack of food, in a low-fly family, with poor insulation of the hive and a sharp change in temperature, in a too dirty nest, etc. In the absence of records, the uterus can be judged in part by appearance. Healthy, young queens usually walk quickly through the combs, have intact wings, serviceable legs, and an unrumpled abdomen. In contrast, old queens move slowly, they are dark, due to the fact that the hairs that covered parts of their bodies have worn off, the ends of the wings are frayed. Vicious queens have a crumpled abdomen, there are no claws on the back pair of legs, etc.

A good vigorous uterus ensures the rapid growth of the family, so all the old and vicious must be replaced by good ones. On examination, queen cells are sometimes found. There are few of them - 1-2. They are usually located not in the middle of the nest, but somewhere closer to the edge and, moreover, either in empty places in the middle of the comb, or on its sides on the ribs, and resemble swarm queen cells. The presence of such queen cells indicates that the bees are changing queens. This change is called the silent change of uterus. In families affected by nosematosis, such a change of queens is quite frequent.

Another phenomenon may also occur, for example, correctly laid eggs will be found, but the open baby will be very large, and the printed bee cell will be humpbacked. This indicates that the family has a drone queen. If, during the revision, several eggs are found in the cells, lying in disarray, and a hunchbacked printed baby, this is a sign of the presence of tinder bees. All abnormalities are recorded in the family passport.

Brood health.

Inspecting the worm to determine the quality of the uterus, at the same time determine whether the brood is healthy. Healthy larvae have White color, are the same in adjacent cells, and the printed brood is continuous, without gaps. In the presence of foulbrood, the larvae lose their appearance and shape, the older larva becomes vague, takes on a yellowish tint, and then dries out or turns into a smeared or viscous mass, depending on the type of foulbrood (European, American or sac worm). In such cases, these larvae do not print during the initial stage of European foulbrood, which is why a variegated brood is obtained, where a sealed cell is found next to an empty one. With American foulbrood and bagworm, and partly with the advanced form of European foulbrood, on the contrary, the older larva dies, and the bees, not noticing that it is sick, cover it with a lid; decomposition of larvae continues under the lid. In this case, the lids are perforated, fallen off, wet; strongly odorous, decomposed larvae can come across under such caps, with the smell of foot sweat, wood glue, etc. The presence of abnormal variegated brood obliges the beekeeper to pay special attention to the colony and, after revision, deal with these colonies more carefully. When moving to another hive, be sure to wash your hands with soap or lye, if there are no other disinfectants, and disinfect the instrument. By this time, an answer and the results of a study of dead death taken at the end of wintering or after the exhibition can be received. All sick families are taken on a special account, and isolated from healthy ones.

Nest status.

If the apiary is organized again and the bees are bought on the side, or if the apiary was not given due attention in the previous summer, in the spring the hive will always get unusable combs, i.e. those that have an irregular elongated cell, frames with a drone cell, combs are dark, covered mold, with old, spoiled bee bread, stained with feces, damaged by mice. The dangers of such cells were discussed earlier. They must be removed and given to the bees to accumulate greater strength by the time of the bribe, exclusively bee, clean, correctly built combs.

Food reserves.

The amount of honey is usually determined by eye. In a complete, sealed on both sides, Dadan-Blatt frame about 4 kg of honey; in rutovskaya - about 3. Based on this, the frame is divided into parts by eye and reserves are determined. For the normal development of the family in the spring, it is necessary that in each bee colony there should be at least. 8 kg of honey. The missing amount must be added.

An abundance of honey before the onset of a bribe is necessary for the rapid strengthening of families, regardless of the state of the weather and bribe. Some of our beekeepers, following the example of American industrialists, are now using feed extensions, placing them on the nest. Stern extension this is a shop Dadana or Ruta's nest with honey of the first collection. By giving honey outside the nest itself, the beekeeper encourages the bees to carry it, and this work with honey contributes to the development of the family. For nutrition and normal development of the baby, bees, in addition to honey, also need perga. Frames with perga selected in autumn and stored in a dry place are now given to beehives. It is especially important to give bee bread where there are no early pollen-bearing plants and in areas with a cold spring.

Looking frame by frame and taking into account everything that is needed to accurately determine the state of the colony, the beekeeper must remember that the temperature in the hive during scarring is maintained by the bees at 34-35 0 C. The outside temperature is 20 ° lower, so keep you can’t open the nest for a long time and you need to work as quickly as possible, spending no more than 5-10 minutes on the hive. The frames and the hive are not cleaned during the main revision. This work belongs to the next revision of the apiary, when it will be much warmer. To prevent theft, the frames taken out of the hive are put into a closed portable box. The nest is kept covered, except for one frame, and all wax rubbish, cut out pieces of honeycombs, etc. are collected in a working box. Places stained with honey are wiped with a wet cloth. The letki are narrowed, and the cracks and grooves in the hive are sealed.

Finishing the inspection, it is necessary to create conditions for the bees that will enable them to easily maintain the desired temperature in the nest (34-35 °). An extensive nest does not allow this, it is necessary to reduce the nest to such a size that the bees can completely cover all the frames. If this is not done, the scarring takes place in a small area and only in the center of the nest at the top of the frames, as the warmest place.

According to the number of streets occupied, it is customary to leave the number of frames, that is, if the bees occupy 5 streets, they are left with 5 frames and one or two more honey frames from the edges. We consider such an attitude to shorten the nest for the middle, not to mention the northern part of the Soyuz, to be incorrect. Anyone can easily check this. It is only necessary to raise the hive from the bottom on a cold spring morning and look from below the frame. The bees will only sit on the upper halves of the frames (at most in the middle of the nest for ¾ of the frame), the lower ones will be empty. Consequently, families occupying 5 streets when determined from above actually occupy only 5 halves or 2½ frames. This fully corresponds to the data that we had during the repeated weighing of bees during experimental counts. Usually, there are about 400 g of bees on a frame densely covered with bees. At the beginning of spring (in the central part of the Union), colonies of medium strength have about 1-1.2 kg of bees, and in order for them to densely cover the combs, they again need 2.5 -3 frames of Dadan-Blatt. And F. Taranov came to the following conclusions on the basis of experiments:

1) For the uterus in the spring, as early as possible, you need to leave 3-4 frames, keep the rest behind the diaphragm. In this case, the nest is divided into 2 parts: in one, where the uterus and worms, a constant high temperature is needed, in the other, honey and empty frames that do not require high temperature.

2) Due to the limitation of the nest, the temperature in it on adjacent frames with the worm is higher than in colonies with a reduced nest, and, conversely, frames that do not need heat, placed behind the diaphragm, have lower temperatures in a limited nest than in a reduced one. Thus, in limited nests less heat is spent unproductively. The separation of the nest and the concentration of the bulk of the bees on the frames with the worm makes it possible to maintain the required temperature even during spring cold snaps and frosts.

3) In colonies with a limited nest, due to the more economical use of heat, the bees have the opportunity to occupy a worm area on each frame that is 38% larger than in a reduced nest. There are 25% more hearts on such a frame. The greatest result of nest restriction on 3-4 frames is observed in families of weak ones, the results of restriction are obtained only in the first weeks after the show. The restriction becomes unnecessary when stable warm weather sets in, in which case it can limit the activity of the uterus. Therefore, the restriction should be resorted to on the day of the exhibition or in the first days after it.

Conservation of heat is achieved in another way.

Our beekeepers do not pay attention to the distance between the frames. They put frames “on the thickness of a finger”, etc., as anyone pleases, since in most cases there are no separators on the frames. Distances are of great importance in keeping the nest warm. If the distance between the combs is more than 12.5 mm, then free space is formed between the bees heating the worm on two opposite combs, and excess bees will be required to keep the heat. At 12.5 mm 2 bees sitting on different combs will touch each other with their backs and heat will be retained. Therefore, in the spring, the gaps between the frames should be no more than 12.5 mm.

These measures achieve intra-nesting insulation. But this is not enough. All-round insulation of the nest is also necessary. For this purpose, the empty space behind the diaphragm is filled with insulating material, side cushions stuffed with moss, bonfire, chaff, dry leaves, etc. The frames must have a serviceable canvas without holes, tightly adjacent to the frames, and insulation over the canvas should be at least 20 cm. Nests with one diaphragm are going to the sunny side.

Warming in the hive must be kept until the real summer, warm weather comes. In the middle lane, this happens in early June. Insulation of hives and preservation of heat in the nest is one of the most important conditions for the development of bees in the spring. Warming, on the one hand, saves honey, and on the other hand, it accelerates the development of families.

Prof. R. H. Kelty, referring to insulation, says that families, being deprived of insulation, in one cold night can lag behind in their development and lose the opportunity to come to their best. great power by the time of the main bribe.

All results of the inspection of the main audit are entered in the family passport, and urgent work in the diary of urgent work.

SUBSEQUENT WORK WITH BEEES IN SPRING

After the main revision, they immediately begin to correct all the noticed troubles and shortcomings. First of all, uteruses are given to queenless, but strong families. To do this, you need to have spare queens. Secondly, healthy but weak families are warmed from all sides. Families with tinders are liquidated. Then there are activities in relation to sick families.

It has already been pointed out above that unfavorable conditions for the development of bees in spring make it necessary to provide bees with a good nest, a good queen, and young bees from autumn. If these works are not completed in the autumn, it is not possible to correct this error in its entirety. All the work of a beekeeper in the spring will come down to providing enough food, keeping warm, partly replacing bad combs in the nest with correct ones, cleaning the hive and, finally, expanding the nest. These works will be the subject of frequent revisions in the spring. The number of examinations of each family cannot be precisely determined, since they depend on many reasons and the condition of the families. In any case, we should not forget that any inspection associated with the dismantling of the hive disrupts the work of the bees, cools the nest, partially stops the work of the uterus, etc. Therefore, you need to make it a rule, firstly, never to inspect the hives without a specific purpose and , secondly, to do it in such a way that the work of the bees is disturbed as little and as rarely as possible. One should not, for example, unnecessarily dismantle the entire nest to verify the presence of a queen, the presence of food, etc., as is often done. It is enough to see one or two frames with sowing or food to know the state of the nest. In the spring, in the first month after the show, grooming should be limited to a minimum.

Having found out the lack of food during the main revision, the latter is added in the form of frames with honey or thick syrup. If during the main spring inspection less than 6-8 kg of food was left, and there was no bribe or the bees are not strong enough, food is added, substituting it to the diaphragms separating the nest from the rest of the frames with honey. The nest, compressed on 3-5 frames, lasts until the spring cold passes, And until the frames are occupied by the baby.

If the weather favors development and the bees in the nest become crowded, 1-2 frames are rearranged in the nest because of the diaphragm. The frames in the nest must be impeccable, completely built up exclusively by a bee cell.

Insulation, especially from the sides, is left in the hive until warm nights come.

CLEANING THE NEST

In many apiaries, the maintenance and cleanliness of beekeeping equipment - hives, frames and tools - is not yet given due attention. Meanwhile, cleanliness in the hive, firstly, creates normal conditions for the development of the family, secondly, it protects against many diseases and, finally, prevents the development of various pests. Behind winter period a lot of litter, unnecessary and harmful to bees, accumulates in the hives, so all this should be removed from the hive as soon as possible. This work, however, requires a warmer time, as it involves cleaning the frames and inner walls of the hive. As soon as warm days are established with a temperature of at least 18 ° C in the shade, they start cleaning, choosing a warm, sunny, windless day for this.

It is very important that the frames with the baby are out of the hive for as little time as possible. For cleaning you will need: Ruth's chisel, knives, a portable box, wide boxes on stands, rags.

The work proceeds in this order. Having removed the canvas, they clean the upper slats of the frames with Ruth's chisel, after which they proceed to dismantle the hive, noting on the upper slats the order in which the frames are placed in the nest. If the hive has a complete set of frames, 2-3 outer frames are removed and handed over to the assistants for cleaning. Wax, propolis and drops of feces are removed from these frames from all sides. If there are drops of diarrhea on the combs, these combs are taken away and disinfected. The cleaned frames are placed in a portable box and closed with a lid. Then the next 2-3 frames are taken, the bees shake off them. At this time, the beekeeper begins to clean the hive in the vacant place, carefully scraping Ruth with a chisel, and with a knife the walls of the hive and folds.

Frames with worms are also cleaned, but this must be done as quickly as possible and handle the frames carefully so as not to wrinkle the baby. After cleaning, the worm moves to the cleaned part of the hive and is covered with canvas, and at this time, after the bees are removed from there, the second half of the hive is cleaned. With this, you can press down the uterus, so you need to be careful and attentive when removing the bees from the frames and carefully move them. 1 After cleaning, the frames are placed in the same order in the hive, so as not to disturb the location of the nest of bees. If the walls of the hive are damp, moldy or stained with diarrhea, then such a hive should be changed to a clean one.

1 At the end of the cleaning, in the evening it is necessary to go around all the families with whom they worked during the day and look at the behavior of the bees. In those colonies where the bees run uneasily along the arrival board and the wall of the hive, the queens are crushed. These families need to come to the rescue and give a uterus.

Work goes much faster if there are no diseases in the apiary and the hives are all the same. Then only the frames are cleaned, and the bodies are replaced: the first two are spare, and the next - with the body from the previous hive, etc. The bodies are cleaned and burned with a blowtorch fire or burning straw by an individual worker faster and better. Doñas are also disinfected. At first they are only swept, and a day later this work is done again. During this time, the bees will fix the comb and throw out the wax rubbish, which should be collected so that the moth does not start. After this cleaning, the hives are not cleaned during the summer, but are swept only a few times.

The lack of artificial foundation in many apiaries obliges the beekeeper to take care of the rebuilt frames. Usually moldy frames are destroyed, the same is done with frames in which moldy bee bread has become moldy. Meanwhile, such frames with light dryness can be completely used by bees. To do this, they must be disinfected in 4% formalin. If there is honey in the frames, then it is previously pumped out on a honey extractor. After that, the frames are lowered into a tank filled with formalin solution. The solution from the frames is sprayed on a honey extractor, after which the frames with bee bread are washed in water and dried in the shade (up to 3 days). Lumps of perga will shrink a little. After that, the frames are put back into the honey extractor, and the bee bread is thrown out of the cells. The cleaned frames can again go to expand the nests.

EXPANSION OF NESTS IN DADAN-BLATT HIVES

When warm days come and in the nest left after the main revision, crowding will be noticeable - almost all the cells are occupied with brood and honey, and the bees have gone beyond the diaphragm, 1 - it is necessary to expand the nest in a timely manner by substituting it into it because of the diaphragm or from the supply of land frames.

1 This can be set in the evening, when the summer of bees ceases. Having slightly opened the canvas, you can immediately see how the bees are located in the nest.

This time will come the sooner, the more young bees were in the autumn, and in the spring there were printed worms during the first revision. You need to substitute 1-2 frames along the edges if the nest was limited to 3-5 frames, and if a worm appeared on the extreme frames. If the nest was not narrowed during the main revision, but as many frames were left as the bees occupied, and 1-2 more were given on the sides, then the worm may not be on all the frames. In this case, frames are placed near the outermost frame with a worm. It is not recommended to put frames in the middle lane in the middle of the nest in the spring, since you can break the club into 2 parts and cool the nest. You can put in the middle only when the bees come into force and have at least 6-7 frames of hearts. Then you can put frames in the middle, but a beginner beekeeper should not do this, because instead of benefit, harm can result.

The expansion of nests must be treated carefully and carefully, since untimely expansion can create crowding and reduce the livelihoods of the family. On the other hand, excessive expansion that does not correspond to strength retards the growth of family strength.

The bees sitting on the inside of the last frame substituted in the previous inspection indicate that it is time to give one frame, and if it is warm and there are bribes, two, placing them on both sides of the nest. In the presence of favorable weather and a bribe, the queen will have time to lay eggs in a frame in 3-4 days, and, therefore, a substitution of another frame will be required. Delay of scarring 35-40 days before the harvest, even for one day, due to lack of food or free space, deprives the beekeeper of 2000 bees during the harvest.

During the flowering of dandelion and gardens, when the weather is favorable, it is useful to put frames with artificial foundation in the nest. The frame is placed next to the last brood frame for strong colonies.

With the onset of a bribe and warm days, instead of sushi, frames are put up for rebuilding and updating the nest, waxed with full sheets of artificial foundation. Each family must build at least four frames before the main bribe in the nest.

Bees quickly rebuild honeycombs, so frames with artificial honeycombs are looked through every 3 days. This work is best done at the end of the day so as not to interfere with the work of the bees.

EXPANSION OF NESTS IN ROOTH HIVES

In hives designed by Root and others similar in frame, the expansion of the nests is carried out not by substituting individual frames, but by whole bodies. Usually good colonies in such hives overwinter on all ten frames. With the onset of warm weather, the families will begin to quickly come into their own, and the lower building is put in a new one, filled with dry land and frames with artificial foundation. This forces the bees to expand the nest and encourages even more reinforcement. Strong colonies, under favorable conditions, can fill most of the frames in the hive with honey, collecting a decent amount of honey from willow, maple, fruit trees and other spring honey plants. If the honey flow is very strong, then sometimes you have to give an extension.

VENTILATION

As the nest increases and the strength of the colony, the frames in the nest are placed in such a way that the distance between their centers is 38 mm. The ventilation increases during the day and through the notch. The bees themselves will show a lack of ventilation. The farther to the beginning of the bribe, the more ventilation should be. Sometimes in hot weather you even have to resort to moving the roof. In the pre-breeding period and during it, ventilation must be perfect and ensure a normal flow of air into the hive.

ROLLS OF BEES

The rally is the leaving of the nest by the whole family and is usually observed in the first half of summer. The gathering of bees occurs when the nest is abnormal or poor: lack of food, the nest is badly damaged by mice and moths, an unpleasant smell in the hive, poor insulation. Gatherings are especially frequent in apiaries with bees suffering from nosematosis or an advanced form of European foulbrood, where there is such a nasty smell in the hives that it drives out the bees.

Prevention measures for rallies - keeping the nest in a normal state.

INCREASING THE STRENGTH OF FAMILIES

Regardless of the plan and tasks of the farm, all worries in the spring-summer period should be aimed at getting as many bees as possible by a certain time. This is especially important when the bees use the main bribe. Far from all apiaries approach this basic issue with due attention. In many apiaries, the development of colonies is left to chance: the beekeeper expands the nest, does other work, and as a result, the colonies give an insignificant yield of marketable honey, despite the great strength of the colonies.

Preparation of bees for the main bribe is the main, most important issue of beekeeping practice.

The beekeeper must know for sure which plants will be harvested when they bloom, and prepare the bees accordingly. There are several ways to increase the strength of families by a certain date. The most rational method of obtaining a large number of bees for the main honeybee is the introduction of helper queens into the main colony. These queens are usually placed in layers formed by selecting surplus bees and brood from the main colony. By using layering, one can always accumulate greater strength by a certain date and at the same time limit the desire of bees to swarm.

It should also be noted here that it is more profitable to make early layering in order to preserve the strength of colonies and prevent swarming, and at the time of the main bribe to reunite, than to prepare the strength of families with a delay and have it sitting in the hive, but not able to use bribes.

Where the main bribe is long (up to a month), by the beginning of it you need to have more printed babies, where it is short - more flying bees.

In some areas, the bribe is long, but not strong, and is a kind of incentive feeding for the bees (some places on the Black Sea coast, etc.). The bees do not limit the scarring of the queens, thanks to which the colonies develop strongly, but they cannot collect much nectar. In order to generate income in such places, some beekeepers resort to limiting or stopping scarring. In strong families, 10 days before the main harvest, the queens are transplanted into newly formed nuclei, and the family is given a mother liquor.

In average families, scarring of the uterus is limited to 2-3 frames by fencing these frames from the rest of the nest with a Hahnemannian lattice. Weak families before a bribe join the middle ones or join 2-3 together.

STRENGTHENING FAMILIES WITH TEMPORARY DEVICES

Over the past 2-3 years, the Institute of Beekeeping and its network has practically developed the issue of reproduction of bees by early layers with the inclusion of fetal queens. This method allows you to significantly increase the number of families.

This method was applied by our order-bearing beekeepers, in particular Comrade. Oreshkin, who, thanks to the use of layering, received 99 kg of honey from each family and increased the apiary by 117%. That's what Comrade says about layering. Oreshkin: “First of all, how to increase the number of bees? You need to take care of this in the fall. Before you put the bees in a omshanik for the winter, even in the apiary, you need to look into each family and make nests correctly. It happens like this: the hives are placed in the omshanik with a lot of honey, and the spring revision shows a huge death of bees. What's the matter - there was honey, but the bees disappeared. The fact is that the nests were incorrectly compiled. Therefore, frames with honey should be installed at an angle. The first frame should be full of honey, the second should have a little less honey, the next one even less, and so on. For every kilogram of bees, 4 kg of honey should be left. In addition, it is necessary to give benign food, since bad food, for example, honeydew honey, causes diarrhea in bees.

Having a strong colony from spring is very important if we want to get bee offspring and as much honey as possible. Beekeepers have this attitude: if you want to get bees, do not chase honey, and, conversely, if you intend to collect more honey, then do not chase offspring. So, in my opinion, people argue who rely only on natural swarming and do not at all engage in artificial division of families. For three years of work in the apiary, I did not have a single natural swarm.

I. I. Korablev in his book “Beekeeping”, in a book from which all beekeepers, both old and new, learn, claims that in the middle zone of the Union, swarming begins mainly in June, and in the south - in May. I want to refute this claim. For the past three years I have been using early May layering.

My practice shows that young swarms will be good, strong, efficient only if we get the first swarm in May.

Artificial swarming is a big serious business. Where do I start it? First of all, I take up the withdrawal of early drones, then early queens. I choose a few of the strongest families; I reduce nests in them to five frames and insert drone combs into the club of the nest, in which the queens lay unfertilized eggs. As soon as the drone larvae appear, I start laying queen cells to hatch the queens. I do all this on April 25-27, after 24 days the drones come out, after 16 days the uterus. The artificial swarming itself is as follows. When all the streets in the old family are filled with bees and the family has at least 8 baby frames, I take two frames from these families with a mature baby and young bees sitting on them and transfer them to a new hive. In addition to these frames, I insert another frame with honey and bee bread into the hive. I fence off the empty space of the hive with a diaphragm so that it is warmer in the nest. The next day after the formation of a new family, I give here a mature mother liquor.

As soon as the uterus leaves the queen cell and is inseminated by a drone, 2-3 frames with brood are added to the new families. Young families quickly come into their own, especially when they are still given artificial wax, and quickly get to work actively.

Having received one swarm from the family in May, I give it the opportunity to rest, make a supply of honey, and receive a second layer in July. Thus, before winter, both layerings have time to get stronger and old families gather strength. But besides this, at the end of July, I still get layering from young bee colonies organized in May.

The most accurate experiments on accounting for the productivity of spring layers were given by an experimental station in Morden (USA). These experiments were carried out for six years (from 1926 to 1931) and showed that the total honey yield from the main family, plus the honey yield from its layering, was significantly higher (on average, 218.23 kg of honey was obtained from both families), than in the control, undivided families (an average of 149.67 kg of honey per family), i.e. by 16%. E. Brown, an employee of this station, used the following three methods of forming layering:

1) As soon as the colonies came into force in the spring, all the frames with the printed baby and the bees sitting on them were moved to a new place in a new hive, into which a young fetal queen was planted. This group of families on average gave (for the main family + layering) 232.22 kg of honey.

2) At the beginning of the harvest (spring), the old queen with two frames of brood with bees sitting on them and with one frame of honey was transferred to another hive to a new place, and a fetal queen was admitted to the main colony. Here, the main family + layering gave an average of 183.52 kg of honey.

3) The entire brood with the bee sitting on it is removed from the main colony and transferred to a new hive with a young fetal queen. In this group, the main family + layering gave an average of 220.43 kg of honey.

Thus, the layers formed by the first and third methods gave better results (by 22% and l and 42.63 kg of honey) than the layers formed by the second method.

The following rules were observed in the formation of layering:

a) The formation of layering should be carried out as early as possible and best of all 40-50 days (with a fetal uterus) before the main flow.

b) Choose only strong colonies with good queens and with a large number of young bees.

c) In layering and in the main queenless families, always plant fetal queens.

d) Supply each layer with enough bees so as not to chill the brood.

e) Substitute at least one frame with honey and a sufficient amount of bee bread into each layer.

f) For a better orientation of the bees, cover the entrances of layering in a new place with grass or planks.

g) Since the main colony should have the maximum number of flying bees by the beginning of the bribe, Brown considers the division of colonies into more than two parts inappropriate.

It can be definitively considered that layering is one of the better ways increasing the strength of the family to the main bribe. Layers will be of value when they are produced (with a fetal queen) 40-50 days before the start of the main flow. The later the layering is formed, the less effective the division of families will be.

• 1. Preparation for breeding
• 1.1. Basics of beekeeping
• 1.2. Where can you breed
• 2. Hive equipment
• 3. Pests
• 4. Income and expenses

Beekeeping may seem interesting and useful to many, but before breeding bees, you need to have certain knowledge and skills, as well as familiarize yourself with the biology of honey insects, care rules, seasonal work, diseases, pests, and much more. In addition, to make a profit, you need serious investments of manpower and resources.

Equally important is the correct installation and organization of the apiary. Only if all the norms of beekeeping are observed, it is possible to breed a strong bee colony. And for this you need to have a suitable land plot so that there is a large selection of honey plants nearby.

Preparation for breeding

Where to start? First of all, it is necessary to sensibly evaluate all the pros and cons. Keeping an apiary takes a lot of free time, especially at first. According to beekeepers, you need to spend about an hour a day on ten bee colonies, but this is provided that you already have the skills to communicate with these insects.

Tips for a beginner beekeeper

In the first year, an inexperienced beekeeper should be prepared for difficulties and unforeseen circumstances. Breeding bees for beginners should start not with one, but with 3-4 families, this will make it possible to exchange combs between them. In case of loss of the queen or lack of food, it will be possible to take frames with bees, brood or honey from other nests. And under favorable circumstances and increasing skills and abilities, the number of families can be gradually increased.

It would be very good to establish contact with members of the beekeepers' union, there are such societies in almost every locality. They can advise on how to breed bees and help when difficulties arise.

Basics of beekeeping

Breeding bees at home requires compliance with certain rules.

1. Putting hives in the country should be in a quiet place, protected from the wind. There should be a lot of trees around, this will protect insects from diseases.
2. For good lighting, hives are best placed with a slope to the south.
3. The apiary must certainly be surrounded by a fence, a palisade, a hedge (about 2 meters high).
4. Bees do not like noise, so the farm should be equipped away from busy highways and roads. When an apiary is located in a summer cottage, it is undesirable for someone to constantly walk near it.
5. You can not put houses in lowlands and damp places, as well as near large production workshops, all these factors can lead to insect disease.

Where can you breed

The breeding and maintenance of bees can take place in various conditions, the main thing is that the climatic requirements are suitable for insects.

The breeding site, referred to in professional circles as "points", should be surrounded by honey crops, preferably with different flowering times. If this is not nearby, you can transport bees from point to point closer to the currently relevant honey plants. This activity, started from scratch, requires corresponding costs, but they will pay off over time.

To facilitate such activities, beekeepers have created a kind of pavilions on wheels to transport bees over long distances. The hives were replaced with plywood sections, thereby reducing the weight, making special entrances for the flight. And the facades of the pavilions are painted with different colors so that the insects do not confuse their houses. Such a mobile building is well insulated with mineral fiber for the preservation and year-round breeding of honey plants. A structure designed to support 15-30 families is almost three times more economical than a regular stationary apiary, and the cost of breeding and equipment for bees pays off in full in a couple of years.

Hive equipment

There are two options for resolving the issue with hives: buy or make your own. If everything is more or less clear with the first, then choosing the second option will have to work a little. In order to build a house with your own hands, you need tools and high-quality boards made of soft wood. And you also need to adhere to the drawings (preferably proven in practice).

Do-it-yourself beehive

No less important is the issue of proper coloring with a special varnish-paint, this will protect the hive from moisture penetration into the wood and enable the bee to see its home from afar. But since bees do not distinguish between red and black, they should not be chosen. Optimum will be: yellow, blue, purple and green tint.

You should also prepare tools for the apiary:

• overalls;
• facial mesh;
• smoker;
• special knife;
• caps and cells;
• spur;
• chisel;
• ice rink, etc.

It is very important to stock up on foundation sheets in advance. They are inserted into an empty frame and rolled with a hot roller. On this frame, the family builds its combs, if it is installed without foundation, then insects can rebuild many defective cells.

Pests

Bees have many enemies and pests, the most significant of them are:

• mol. There is only one way to fight against it - restoring order in the hives and growing strong families. If the presence of moths is established, then all spare frames are smoked with sulfurous smoke, placing them in free houses. Fumigation with smoke is repeated after a week and again after 2 weeks. You can also use hops, mint, walnut leaves as bedding for the hive;
• mice. Rodents harm honey plants only in winter, they can gnaw on honeycombs, eat bee bread, honey, and sometimes live bees. Such pests disturb insects with movement and a pungent odor, they can lead the family to weakening and even death. To fight mice, the floor of the winter hut is made of clay with broken glass, traps and baits are laid out. On the entrances in the fall, it is worth making barriers for rodents;
• ants. In order to protect against ants, you can treat the hive stands with a special pencil or make a small moat with water. Placing houses above the ground at a low height usually does not give a reliable result;
• birds. To protect against birds, it is worth making holes in the hives so that they cannot stick their heads into them, but the bees could freely fly out in groups of several working individuals.

Income and expenses

Experts have calculated that the cost of breeding bees for beginners in the first year will be approximately $ 3,700 for 20 bee colonies. This includes the cost of bee families, hives, inventory, equipment, preventive treatment and other things.

From this, you can get more than 1300 kg of honey for the first summer in your practice, in addition, collect zabrus, wax, bee venom, and if there are pollen collectors, pollen. In this case, the income will be about 4400 dollars. Thus, the cost of breeding bees will pay off in the first season, and will increase in the future.

In beekeeping, the accuracy and timeliness of apiary work is of great importance. Their main goal is to get strong and healthy families for the honey harvest. A beginner beekeeper should carefully study the procedure for maintaining seasonal work and rules for the care of bees.

The question of how to properly breed bees is asked by many. Some need bees to earn money, others need them for spiritual pleasure.
You need to start with a certain preparation, which includes several stages, which are not so difficult to follow.
The first step will be the correct location of the apiary. It is noteworthy that the diligence of the work of insects even depends on where the evidence is, whether they often get sick, and whether they live healthy.

Regardless of the climatic zone of the area, the evidence must be placed in a square that is protected from the wind. The best place to locate, regardless of region, is an area protected from the wind. It is good that the evidence is protected by trees or some buildings.
If the bee houses are located with a southern slope, this is a plus. The working space of the bees will be illuminated by the sun, and this will contribute to their workaholism. At the same time, in the summer, these hardworking insects should not be hot or stuffy, when choosing the location of their houses, this criterion is also taken into account. Roy will not tolerate the fact that he is stuffy, his working capacity will decrease, illnesses will begin, and death can even reach.
The second stage is the direct breeding of bees. There are two standard methods. At the first, they are engaged in receiving layering. At the beginning of spring, the queen changes one evidence for another, and the bees are looking for her. Then they begin to create fistulous queen cells. This is an excellent period for creating fistulous queen cells. Using frames taken from different hives, layering can be formed and on the thirteenth day from the moment the fistulous queen cells are formed, they must be transferred to the created layer.
Another way would be the so-called "half-summer division". The method is simpler than the first. The strongest family, which has the highest honey production rates, is taken and divided into two. Each part is bred in hives. Hives should be close to one from the second. It all consists in the fact that by dividing two families into two parts, you leave one of them without a queen, so you either have to wait until the bees bring the queen out for their family, or place a new one.

Rotary method of breeding bees

With this method, the life of the bees is the most comfortable. They are on a mesh pallet and spend the winter outside. This method requires periodic removal of drones.
Families of bees are formed artificially, the level of health is kept high all the time.
It is necessary that honey plants grow nearby. During the period when honey is collected, the beekeeper needs to work hard to transport the hive from time to time to those places where there are more honey plants.
Bees hibernate in freedom, so comfort should be the highest. If the wintering is successful, then the bees will start collecting honey early and, accordingly, they need to be helped by the good location of their houses, near honey plants. Without this criterion, there is a danger of swarming bees. Bees during the honey collection must be monitored carefully. They are especially active, so they should be watched at least once a week. Insects that died and excess honey are removed from the hives.
It is necessary to feed the bees not only in winter, but also in summer. Food for active bees may be scarce, so insects may need to be supported with syrup or honey. The feeding period with this method is not only wintering, but sometimes summer. Active bees may not have enough food, so watch this carefully and, if necessary, give honey or syrup to your wards.
Drone brood must be bred. It is dangerous diseases Varroatosis.
The rotary method is very effective. Bees behave actively, they develop healthy. The beekeeper is enriched with considerable volumes of honey. Control, of course, is reinforced here and lasts all year. More work needs to be done this way.

Breeding bees at home

To organize an apiary in a settlement or even a residential area, certain rules must be taken into account.
The smallest distance to the children's institution should be one hundred meters! The road must be further away. The fewer animals and people around, the better. It is recommended to enclose the area with a two-meter fence. This is enough to breed bees in the country.
Bee houses should be located four to six meters from each other. A distance of five meters must be observed between the rows. If the conditions in the country do not allow such luxury, then just try to put one house as far as possible from the other.
At home, it is recommended to breed non-aggressive bee breeds, such as the Italian or Caucasian breed. It is necessary to apply measures aimed at preventing swarming and provide pets with food. It is their owner who is responsible for the behavior of their bees and their aggression.
The area where the houses are located should give the bees more work. There should be a lot of honey plants nearby. You can plant these plants yourself. A large amount of work will prevent both insect aggression and swarming.
Feeding and caring for pets will be the same. Wherever the hives are, care for insects must be diligent and skillful.

How profitable is it to breed bees

In general, striped insects pay off quickly. The honey collection will pay back the investment already in the debut season, if, of course, the beekeeper does everything right.
The advantages of beekeeping are also that the beekeeper does not need to be constantly present at his apiary. Feeding and taking honey in time is all that may be required, of course, there are additional concerns, but in general they are few. For a beginner in beekeeping, it is recommended to frequently monitor the bees and control the process.
It is easy to sell products that are produced thanks to bees. Such products will bring both profit and health.

And in the countryside, any place is not suitable for this.

The main criteria for a successful apiary location are:

• Proximity of honey plants and natural water sources;
• Absence of extraneous noise (factories, busy transport routes);
• Protection from strong winds (and it is better to let it be natural protection);
• Remoteness of other apiaries;
• The plot is large enough not to disturb the neighbors.

The last point is important, especially if families with small children or people with allergies to bees live in the neighborhood.

When the place for the future apiary is determined, you can start looking for the main components: hives and bees. For a beginner beekeeper, no more than 2-3 families are enough. And it is better to start them in the most budgetary way - by catching swarms or by purchasing bee packages from a familiar beekeeper. Do not invest heavily in the first year. Firstly, 2 families are enough to gain experience. Secondly, something can go according to an unforeseen scenario. For example, you don't like the fact that the bees sting you badly, and you decide to turn the case.

The purchase of hives can also be made less expensive. Look for old ones in villages where the beekeeper has already died, and the heirs are not accustomed to the business. Or try to build a bee house yourself, since the Internet today is full of a wide variety of information.

In addition, you will need some equipment:

• Frames with sushi and foundation. Later, you will need a wire, a pattern, a spur - devices for making frames;
• smoker(also do not rush to buy, but look with friends);
• beekeeping chisel(to separate frames);
• Face mesh and rubber gloves. Some use canvas, but the bee leaves its stinger in them and dies. Many do without gloves at all;
• Pasech knife and fork, as a rule, are used for pumping out, but sometimes they are also needed for inspections;
• Uterine cell of Titov. In the first year, you may not need it, but there should be a few just in case;
• ramonos box. There may be several of them, but they are intended to move frames around the apiary. It is an indispensable tool during honey extraction;
• Roevnya may be needed if necessary to remove the swarm. For these purposes, you can use a ramonos or a box of a bee packet, but a swarm is more convenient;
• honey extractor- a rather expensive acquisition, so at first it is preferable to agree with friends about renting, especially since it may be needed no more than 3-4 times per season. Although it all depends on the strength of the families and the maturity of the honey.

Important! Get frames with dry land in the place where you buy bees. This way you can avoid infection of bees with infectious diseases. Hives and frames should always be in stock, at least 30-40% of what is available in the apiary.

The best time to start activities is spring or early summer. Before winter, your families will be able to settle down, and you will gain some experience to prepare bees for wintering.

Before buying, try to equip the apiary as much as possible:

• Raise the hives above the ground on pegs or stands;
• Paint them yellow, green, blue so that the bees can easily find their home. Red bees do not distinguish, so they do not use it in the apiary;
• Mow or water the grass near the hive - it's easier to observe the life of the family without even opening the hive. It is better to sprinkle the place with sand. If dead bees are lying under the hive or nearby, it means that there was an attack, a discarded baby - the family is starving, a cocoon from a caterpillar - a wax moth in the hive, a uterus - the hive has become obese or the family has changed the uterus.

Bring the purchased bee package to the apiary at the end of the day and put it in the place where the hive will be. During the day, the bees will calm down and fly around, after which put a hive instead of a bee package and transfer the frames with bees into it.

Important! In case of bad weather, first make 2-3 liters of sugar syrup and feed the family. It is prepared at the rate of 1 kg of sugar per 1 liter of "soft" boiled water. The syrup cooled down to 40˚С is poured into the feeders overnight.

Choosing a bee family

A standard bee package consists of 4 or 6 frames, covered with bees. A 4-frame bag contains 2 covering frames with food (3-4 kg of honey) and 2 frames with brood. In addition, in such a bee package there should be at least 1.5 kg of bees and a young queen.

The most important point when buying is to determine the quality of the uterus. The indicators of its high productivity can be:

• Quantity and quality of brood. Ideally, the frame is completely seeded with brood, and the caps are even and identical, without gaps;
• Health and age of the uterus. It can be easily distinguished by a longer abdomen that is not closed by wings and being in the center of the family. The uterus should not have underdeveloped wings, torn legs and other defects. The larger it is, the better.

The bees must be mobile, without a large number of death (no more than 20 pcs.).

Important! If it is not possible to purchase a bee package from reliable beekeepers, buy bee colonies at a regional beekeeping station, a state bee nursery. This will eliminate the risk of acquiring sick bees.

The bee family is able to survive without the care of the beekeeper (of course, in the absence of damage or serious infections). Indeed, in nature, these little workers successfully cope with difficulties alone. However, in order to increase the efficiency of their activities, the beekeeper must at some points provide them needed help. And they will thank him a hundredfold.

Obligatory work in the apiary includes:

• Queen replacement. The productivity of queens decreases with age, they show optimal efficiency within 2 years, after which it begins to decline. The uterus of the first year shows productivity 20% higher than in the second season. It does not make sense to change the uterus during the season, as the family may not accept it. Therefore, most often the replacement is made every 2 years;
• Family Health. The main scourge of beekeeping is the varroa mite, which infects colonies, mainly during wintering. Therefore, preventive treatments are mandatory in the fall, even if there are no signs of infection. Some carry out disinfection in the spring, others - twice (after pumping and before cold weather). One spring treatment is not enough - the family may not survive until the next spring. Preventive measures can be done in a complex way: from nosematosis, ascopherosis, foul diseases. However, most beekeepers carry out these treatments as needed;
• Nest update. Constant inspections and replacement of frames allow us to achieve high efficiency in the work of strong families, support the weak and increase the amount of honey received. If the family has a good queen and there are honey plants nearby, in good weather the beekeeper should monitor the number of sealed combs. If the frame is sealed by 2/3 or half (in the nest), this is a signal to pump out honey. If there is brood in the frame, then honey is not pumped out of it until the bees come out;
• Preparing for winter. This is one of the most significant moments in beekeeping, which can be successfully overcome if two conditions are met: humidity and food supplies. Temperature with abundant food, according to many beekeepers, does not play a special role. A strong bee family in a hive well protected from winds and pests and with a sufficient supply of honey is able to warm itself in almost any frost. But excessive moisture can lead to liquefaction of honey and its leakage from the honeycombs. At the same time, the bees begin to eat it in an increased amount, which causes their diarrhea.

Important! The necessary work in the apiary includes regular inspections and, of course, pumping out honey. Inspections should be carried out no more than 2-3 times a month as needed. At the same time, other necessary types work, so as not to injure the bees once again. In extreme heat, bad weather or temperatures below +12˚С inspections are not recommended.

Rotation means renewal, alternation. In application to beekeeping, this method can be defined as year-round care or the creation of optimal conditions for bees to be fruitful. In rotational beekeeping, there are several main areas, the implementation of which ensures the implementation of the method:

• Creating families artificially with special attention paid to their health. For this purpose, preventive treatments are carried out, as well as the removal of drone brood;
• Ensuring families are close to honey plants in all periods, starting from early spring;
• Wintering in the wild in the most comfortable conditions, which ensures the early exit of bees;
• Regular checkups at least 1 time per week to clean the hives and pump out honey on time;
• top dressing not only before wintering or early spring, but also in summer, when the bees are especially active, and they may not have enough food.

Important! With this technique, you can get a significant profit, which is especially important for beginner businessmen. There are many videos on breeding bees, where the rotation method is described in great detail.

Beekeeping is not for the lazy. Not only knowledge is important here, but also diligence, as well as ingenuity to a large extent. At the beginning of the activity, the best option is to take an internship with a familiar beekeeper, where you can gain personal experience and learn many important nuances of this exciting and useful activity.

Breeding bees for beginners - video