At the Hive Entrance.pdf - BioBees

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Observation Explanation In the morning one observes a These colonies are already nursing large areas of large amount of condensation brood. The amount of water found condensed at the at the hive entrance. hive entrance in the morning serves as a barometer for the egg-laying and the yield of the colonies. A young queen (sometimes not fully developed) is found dead at.the hive entrance or in front of the hive. The old queen has been dead for a fortnight. Being queenless, the colony has bred queens and got rid of those that were superfluous. Due to the lack of males fertilization is a problem. An old queen is found in front The colony has begun to breed queens on an open of the hive entrance. The popu- brood. Timely requeening in July or August often lation does not ''lament'' or prevents major losses in the spring. appear to be in panic. 7-9° C. The bees only undertake short journeys to search for water. On such a day one colony does not fly at all. The latter definitely has no open brood and is probably suffering misery. An emergency check-up is required. On cold April days a thorough examination at the hive entrance enables one to determine whether or not the colony has a queen. Strewn around the hive entrance are hard, rounded wads of pollen, which often have a white coating on one side. The bees are working on frames that have not yet held any brood and are preparing them for egglaying. The pollen from the outer frames which is often fermented and covered with a layer of mould is removed from the cells and thrown out of the hive. The colonies which, at the end of March and beginning of April, were restricted to a number of frames proportional to their strength, fly more vigorously than others of the same strength although the latter were left with more, albeit unused, frames . The brood develops with greater rapidity when space remains limited, for heat is a critical factor for the timely reinforcement of the colonies. Whenever possible, populations should be kept together. Now is the time when bees should "dominate" available space. With well-confined populations, the rear window, well protected with quilts, will soon be nice and warm, whereas with those populations spread over a larger area the rear window will hardly be tepid which proves that in the latter the brood is reduced. 23
Observation Explanation Even a small colony feels strong if kept relatively restricted. If the queen is still healthy, this is the only way to ensure complete development within time limit. What are movable frames for, if not to be used for the benefit of the colony and to our advantage? After a risky "manipulation" within a hive, one sees a queen leaving it with her "court". This is an interesting event. A neighbouring beekeeper of mine visited a very strong colony (at the beginning of April), and found eggs and brood from laying workers on two frames. He wished to save and use the numerous bees that were still useful at this time. He asked my advice on the matter and I told him it was only possible using a small reserve colony from a distant apiary and that special precautions would have to be taken. Each queen given to such a population would be killed and torn apart by the bees and found the following day at the hive entrance. A reserve colony from the same apiary can not be used to serve this purpose, for after having been moved, the foragers will immediately return to another hive in their former location. A small population occupying four frames, irIcluding two brood frames was placed in a transport box and taken to the apiary. Here, briefly is how we proceeded: The temperature was favourable: the mornirlg being cool and misty, the sun broke through at about 9 o'clock. At 7.30 a.m. no hive is flying. The hive entrance to the queenless hive is closed. Scraps of felt dampered with a few drops of thyme oil were place in a swarm box with an air-grid. The strong colony was transferred to it and locked up in the swarm box. The now empty hive was thoroughly cleaned and new felt strips dampened with thyme oil placed on the bottom-board. The small population was then transferred, well restricted, within the hive. Empty spaces were filled with perfect frames full of provisions. The hive was closed. At 9 a.m. the hive entrance was opened. The bees from the small colony were quick to orientate themselves. At 10 a.m. in glorious sunshine foragers started returning loaded with pollen. At 10.30 a.m. the case containing the queenless colony 24
Page 1 and 2: At the Hive Entrance by H. STORCII
Page 3 and 4: AT THE HIVE ENTRANCE by H. Storch T
Page 5 and 6: Contents. Preface............... ..
Page 7 and 8: I feel I had to write this book bec
Page 9 and 10: Observation Explanation Anyone list
Page 11 and 12: Observation Explanation metal hook
Page 14 and 15: Photograph 1 Drone larvae After a p
Page 16 and 17: B. The day of the Cleansing Flight.
Page 18 and 19: Observation Explanation The bees ca
Page 20: Observation Explanation Agitated, w
Page 23: Observation Explanation Each mornin
Page 27 and 28: Observation Explanation restricted
Page 29 and 30: Photograph 3 The main flow During t
Page 31 and 32: C. The main period of Dowering. 1.
Page 33 and 34: Observation Explanation Healthy you
Page 35 and 36: Observation Explanation At the star
Page 37 and 38: Observation Explanation Walking aro
Page 39 and 40: Observation Explanation in a second
Page 41 and 42: Observation Explanation 3. July. Ve
Page 43 and 44: Observation Explanation stops egg l
Page 45 and 46: Photograph 6 ~----------~ . ~ Expul
Page 47 and 48: Observation Explanation These long-
Page 49 and 50: Geranium
Page 51 and 52: Observation Explanation low trees o
Page 53 and 54: Observation Explal1lltion brood the
Page 55 and 56: Observation Explanation On a warm s
Page 57 and 58: Photograph 7 Robbery When a colony
Page 59 and 60: Observation Ex planation 4. Novembe
Page 61 and 62: F. The winter bottom board cover. D
Page 63 and 64: Observation Explanation Amongst the
Page 65 and 66: Observation Explanation There are t
Page 67 and 68: Observation Ex planation The buildi
Page 69 and 70: Everything for the beekeeper 16 HIV

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