Every experienced beekeeper knows, how to prepare bees for winter, and the beginner needs to take note and strictly adhere to this wisdom of life, after all, the success of each honeymoon season depends on the correct and successful wintering of bees. And for that, to make it so, you need to know some nuances, which come with years of hard and painstaking work in the apiary.
A strong bee colony in the spring guarantees a good honey harvest. Number of worker bees, their strength and endurance directly depend on it, how well the hive overwintered.
To create the necessary conditions for a successful winter, preparatory work is carried out almost the entire period of active medical collection. And the autumn audit will help to determine the readiness of the hive.
The main objectives of the autumn audit
During such an important manipulation, as the autumn revision of the hive, every beekeeper should find out the following points.
- Age of the uterus. Its ability to sow brood and increase the number of nests for wintering depends on it.
- The number of brood. This indicator makes it possible to estimate the number of young bee colonies, which will ensure a successful winter.
- Quantity and quality of fodder stocks - honey and perga.
- Assessment of the suitability of honeycombs for wintering and the general condition of insects in the hive - activity, disease infection and other factors.
These are general indicators, which must be evaluated by every beekeeper. In the review of the hive, every detail matters.
Autumn revision is only the first stage of preparation for winter, which makes it possible to identify all the shortcomings in the hive and outline the front of the work. You need to have time to correct all the shortcomings of their own or natural, to ensure successful wintering of insects.
For, to do everything on time, it is necessary to conduct an audit in a timely manner. The best time for the middle lane - the end of the main bribe. It is at this time that you need to carefully inspect the hives, to have time to complete all the work in good weather, without disturbing the usual rhythm of life of bees.
We begin preparations for winter. The main stages
It would be wrong to say, that the preparation of bees for winter begins only after the autumn audit. Every experienced beekeeper knows, and the young must remember - the preparation for winter begins almost in the spring. That's the whole point, what exactly to do at any time of the year.
In the spring, in addition to caring for hives and taking out the apiary for honey, beekeepers cultivate free hives or make new ones. Swarm processes are monitored and the possibility and expediency of family separation are carefully weighed.
The following steps follow:
- Procurement of quality complete feed.
- Increasing the quantitative and qualitative composition of the bee colony, especially in summer and autumn.
- Proper nest assembly for compact and comfortable living of bees in winter.
- Treatment of bees and hives for the prevention and treatment of diseases and pests.
- Creating the most favorable conditions for successful wintering hives.
Each of these stages has its own rules and time frame, which must be taken into account and adhered to, to provide insects with comfortable conditions for hibernation.
Fodder base
Preparing bees for winter begins almost with the beginning of the main bribe. After all, it is flower light honey, which workers bring to the hive during this period, is considered the most optimal winter food. It is the least susceptible to crystallization, the presence of padevyh elements in it is minimal, which makes it possible to say that such honey will not spoil and will not destroy bees.
Why bees seal honey
In winter, bees need close 2 kg per street, which they will live in the process of forming the club. That is, every bee colony needs it 25-30 kg. honey and 2-3 honey-pepper frames.
Remember, that light varieties of honey are most suitable for wintering in their microbiological and physical parameters. Dark varieties have a greater degree of crystallization, which will be detrimental to bees, especially in early spring, before the first flight.
You also need to determine the presence of pads in honey stocks, which you leave to your workers. You can do that, sending samples of honey to the laboratory. And you can handle it yourself, having carried out some absolutely simple manipulations.
We use lime
You need to take equal amounts of honey from feed and water (spring or rain). Shake the liquid well and add the same amount of lime water. The resulting mixture is heated on fire to boiling.
If you see sediment in the form of brown flakes - honey reserves will have to change completely - the fall is present in large quantities. Such honey is unsuitable for wintering and will cause harm, if not death, your wards.
pay attention! Use only structured water for the reaction. If there is no spring or rain at hand, take a simple well or tap (but only after filtration), place in a plastic bottle and freeze. Then thaw and carefully drain, trying to leave sediment in the bottle. This is the water that will give the right reaction.
We use wine alcohol
Honey and structured water are mixed in equal amounts. Then add 10 parts 96% wine alcohol. If you see sediment in the form of flakes - feed with paddy.
Another factor, which affects the quality of the feed base (honey) can become pesticides, which will fall into the hive of honeybees in cultivated fields. It could be a sunflower, buckwheat, sainfoin and other crops, which are so loved by bees.
In such cases, proceed as follows: honey is completely pumped out of the nest and replaced with sugar syrup.
Sugar feeding begins after cleaning and warming the nest. This procedure is carried out in early September, when the weather is still warm and the bees are willing to take the syrup and successfully process it and seal it in honeycombs.
Remember the basic rules of autumn feeding bees with sugar syrup:
- the concentration of such feed in the autumn should be from 50% to 60% (on 2 l. water is used 3-4 kg. sugar). This is the syrup that bees are happy to take and process with the least energy, which they so need on the eve of winter;
- feed the insects large portions of food (on the hive 3-5 l. - Depending on the size of the family);
- feed should be given at night, to avoid theft. And definitely warm (40-50?). So workers are more willing to take sugar and process it easier;
- when feeding, consider the amount of sugar. It takes so much, on how much it is necessary to replenish fodder stocks of the given bee family, in dry product equivalent. A plus 25% for sealing in honeycombs and processing.
Polyurethane hives - advantages and features
The syrup must be prepared in an enamel dish, to avoid oxidation. Bring the water to a boil and bring to a boil for a few minutes. Then remove from heat and add sugar. Stir until completely dissolved, but do not boil!!!
Then cool the liquid slightly and add concentrated acetic acid (3 d on 10 kg of sugar). Stir and allow to cool completely.
Feed should be warm, better in the ceiling feeders, in the evening. This syrup will heat the nest, activates the bees and they will completely empty the tank by morning.
After, as required stocks will be replenished, insects need more 2-3 days to give food in small quantities (200-300 city.) for, so that they are active and able to seal the feed in honeycombs.
Sugar syrup should be fed in well-ventilated hives, to avoid condensate collection.
Autumn build-up of bee colonies
The success of wintering depends on the number and quality of worker bees, which will warm the club and in the spring will be able to fly around and provide the first bribes.
For, to increase the number of insects in preparation for winter, you can artificially create conditions, when the uterus begins to sow.
For this purpose it is possible to substitute frameworks at the very end of a medical collection, only partially filled with honey at the edges, have good cells in the center.
The color should be light brown - in the autumn the uterus is better to lay eggs in such cells.
Feeding should be carried out with sugar syrup of spring concentration - more liquid. Then the inhabitants of the hive get the impression of summer and they are more willing to do the usual summer work, namely - care of the brood and feeding of young animals.
Increasing beekeeping should never be too late, otherwise the young will not have time to fly around and die in winter.
Well, in the case of autumn growth work nuclei with old uteri, which beekeepers cleaned from nests in the summer, to avoid unwanted swarming. By this time, the queens in isolation have already laid eggs and grow 2-3 frame of young bees. They can be placed in the right hives to strengthen families before winter.
Nest assembly
It is necessary to collect a nest in warm weather, so as not to disturb the bees, when they start getting lost in the club.
You need to take into account the natural characteristics of insects, their movement on the hive during the winter and, accordingly, to lay on their way frames with food.
If there is enough food in the nest, and on the way to get a low-copper frame, workers in a state of anabiosis will not be able to overcome it and die.
Wasps in the apiary - how to deal with them
The task of the beekeeper is to assemble the nest correctly, taking into account the peculiarities of the bee family. There are several ways to bookmark a nest
- Bilateral way. This option is used for strong families, who go in the winter on 9-12 streets. In the center establish 2-4 honey-pepper frames, with the amount of honey to 2 kg. Then on both sides - a full honeymoon framework 4 kg of honey on each. There should be so many of them, that the fodder base was not less 25-30 kg.
- Unilateral, or angular method. Suitable for medium-sized families on 7-9 streets in the winter. In this variant from a edge of a nest the full copper frame is put, and then - in descending order. The closing frame must contain at least 2-2.5 kg of feed. The rest is in stock.
- "Beard" - a way for weak families or nuclei. Full copper frames are installed in the center, and then - in descending order. Feed stock in the hive - 10-15 kg To move the bees along the feed frames they are given "guides" - small wooden bars, laid perpendicularly.
Therapeutic and prophylactic treatment
It is necessary to protect insects from diseases and pests. It is better to process bees after assembly of a nest and an exit of the last brood, that all persons were exposed to drugs.
Carry out heat treatments, special guns are used to apply drugs using smoke or steam. The drug is also given along with feeding.
Preparing hives for winter
By creating the most comfortable conditions means warming the hives for the winter.
In the wild, bees themselves are able to take care of this. But there they first choose housing, which is able to protect them in the cold.
In apiaries beekeepers offer their wards that housing, which they consider necessary and suitable for insects. So, The owners of the apiary should take care of the warmth and comfort.
If you choose an open type of wintering - hives need to be insulated as inside, and outside. Dry moss is most often chosen, straw, swamp grass. Polyfoam or polystyrene has proved itself well.
The top and sides of the outside are wrapped with straw mats, cover with cut stalks of corn and fall asleep in the void fallen leaves.
The place should be chosen sheltered from the wind and the least prone to precipitation.
In this case, you need to carefully monitor rodents, which can get inside the winter hive and disturb the bees.
Insulated room for wintering bees - omshanik, can be as terrestrial, and semi-basement building. The most important thing in this case - good ventilation of the winter room for hives and the ability to maintain humidity in it is not higher 75-80% and the temperature is not lower 0?.
Wherever your bees spend the winter, remember that, that preparing for winter bees is your responsibility, the life and health of overwintered insects depend on it. After all, "we are responsible for those, who have you tamed ".