Spring and Summer Management

1
Spring and Summer Management
2
Spring Management

• Recover from Winter
• Population Decline
• Hive Losses
• Brood Production
• Food Concerns
• Equipment Repair

3
Spring Management

• Increase Brood Production
• Population growth
• Food needs
• Feeder types

4
Increase Brood Production

• Population growth

5
Increase Brood Production

• Food needs
• Carbohydrate
• Protein
• Lipid
• Vitamins
• Minerals

6
Increase Brood Production

• Reasons for Feeding
• Start
• Stimulate
• Save

11 sugar water 12 sugar water 21 sugar
water
1 Pint Water 1 Pound
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Increase Brood Production

• Types of Feeders
• Boardman
• Friction/Gravity
• Division Board
• Top
• Plastic bags
• Fondant

8
Spring Management

• Provide Aid and Comfort
• Apiary location
• Diseases
• Pests

9
Provide Aid and Comfort

• Apiary Location

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Provide Aid and Comfort

• Diseases
• Bacteria
• Fungi
• Virus

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Provide Aid and Comfort

• Pests
• Mites
• Small animals
• Large animals

12
Spring Management

• Swarm Management
• Purpose
• Consequences
• Prevention
• Control

13
Consequences of Swarming

• Reduced brood production
• Increase brood mortality (42)
• Loss of younger workers (70)
• Reduction in workers (60)
• Loss of Queen
• Secondary swarms (40)
• Low swarm survival rate (24)
• Lower honey production

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Consequences of Swarming
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Swarm Prevention

• Reversal

Late March - Early April Reversal
Mid to Late April Reversal
Reversing needs to done at least two times.
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Swarm Prevention/Control

• Splits

New Queen, plus ½ Brood nest
Queen, plus Brood nest
Old Queen, plus ½ Brood nest
17
Making a 45 Split
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Swarm Control

• Demaree

Queen excluder
Queen, plus empty combs
Brood nest
Brood frame
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Summer Management

• Honey production
• Disease / parasite prevention and control
• Queen management

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Supering Colonies

1. Space for nectar storage
2. Empty space stimulates nectar gathering
3. Expansion of space to reduce swarming
4. Queen Excluder - bees may use supers for brood

21
Honey Production

• Extracted Honey
• Primary source of production
• Use drawn comb with wired foundation
• Strong colonies increase production
• Top super in 2s and 3s
• Upper entrances to increase production

22
Honey Production

• Comb Honey
• Produced as cut comb or section comb honey
• Use non-wired, thin surplus foundation
• Requires strong colonies to fill rapidly to avoid
  travel staining of comb
• Increased congestion in supers
• Bottom super for uniform comb production

23
Nectar Flows

• Learn the major nectar sources and their
  approximate dates of bloom
• In-hive signs of a nectar flow
• nectar shaking out
• whitening of the comb

24
Queen Evaluation

• Physical appearance is of little importance
• Queen age
• Performance of the queen
• High egg production
• Good brood pattern
• Solid pattern
• Few missed cells
• Brood of similar age
• Compact brood nest

25
Queen Evaluation

• Positive colony traits
• Honey production
• Winter survival
• Adjusts brood rearing to nectar flow
• Gentle
• Lack of swarming
• Disease resistance
• Pest resistance

26
Requeening a Colony

• Obtain a replacement queen
• Find and remove old queen
• Introduction of a new queen
• use a queen cage
• use wire screen cage queen cage
• introduce queen into a weak colony and combine
  the hives with newspaper after the new queen is
  laying eggs