Accommodation of hives in a greenhouse
As the long experience of using bees in greenhouses shows, it is very important to choose the right place for placing the hive.
The best place to house a hive in a greenhouse of any design is the south-west corner. Before coming to this conclusion, the beekeepers-hothouses were tortured by many options. At first it was believed that the best place for a hive in a greenhouse is its middle. The distance of flight of bees to flowers is reduced, besides in the middle of a greenhouse in winter it is much warmer. To ascertain the truth, they repeatedly followed the bees leaving the beehive during their first flight.
First, the bee flying out of the hive makes a small circle near its home, then gradually moves away from the hive towards the more illuminated southern end wall of the greenhouse. A significant number of bees attracted by light, trying to fly further, beat against the glass. Since the most illuminated place in the greenhouse will be the south-west corner, many bees accumulate there. It is not for nothing that the bees are called the “sunny tribe”, they are always attracted by the light. It is noticed, if at the first circling of bees the beehive is there immediately, where a significant number of bees are concentrated, then the bees, slightly beating about the glass of the greenhouse, mostly return back to the hive. The next day their flight will be more cautious, and every day the bees will less and less fight against the glass. Over time, the bees develop a conditioned reflex, and they quietly fly in the greenhouse.
In block greenhouses, one bee family is not enough, so the second bee family is placed in the opposite southeastern corner. If the greenhouse is large, additional bee colonies are placed at the southern end walls at the rate of 1 family of bees per 1000-2000 m2. In order to avoid the wandering and loss of bees near the hive, a landmark is established
With a large number of greenhouses, as mentioned above, greenhouses are usually connected to each other by a heated connecting corridor. The south-western corner of the northern side of the greenhouse will be one side adjacent to the corridor, and the glasses will be warm, and the southern greenhouses will have cold sides, and many bees solidify on their windows. Therefore, to eliminate losses of bees during the first flying, before placing beehives in the greenhouses of the southern side of the corridor, where the glasses are cold, bees are allowed to fly around in the greenhouses of the northern side. Instead of 1 family, necessary for this greenhouse, put 2, and sometimes for the purpose of insurance – 3. Once the families come to active state, they will get used to the glasses, and in the greenhouses of the southern side the first female flowers will appear on the cucumbers, the beehive is transferred. As a result, fewer bees freeze on cold glasses.
Later, when there is a lot of light that attracts bees to the glass, the glass of the south-western corner of the greenhouse is shaded with chalk whitewash with flour waste or with a slight addition of superphosphate or lime to the chalk to prevent washing off the whitewash.
In block greenhouses, having several links connected by a groove, the hives are placed in the south-western and south-eastern corners. It should be borne in mind that the family, standing in the south-west corner, will gradually grow stronger due to the flying bees of another family. Therefore, in the south-western corner should be put a weaker family in the calculation that it will eventually increase due to lost bees.
Sometimes due to lack of heat, the hives are placed in the middle of the greenhouse. In this case, usually a lot of bees are lost. Within 2-3 weeks, the family becomes exhausted and requires reinforcements or replacements. The beekeeper will do the right thing if a second beehive is placed in the southwestern corner of the greenhouse to collect flying bees from the hive, set in the middle of the greenhouse. The presence of a second family in a greenhouse of the hangar type does not increase the number of visits of flowers by bees. Usually one of the families is ahead of the neighboring one, it is developing well, and the second one is weakening.
The hive in the greenhouse is placed on a place free from culture. Set the hive high does not follow, as it will warm up more. Overheating of bee nests can be from the proximity of the hive to the heating system.
When determining the height of the hive, the growth of the beekeeper is taken into account. The beehive is flown to the north or east so that the plants do not block the ice, and the years of bees would not interfere with those working in the greenhouse. Near the hive, a free space is left to allow the bees to fly out and the beekeeper’s free work.
It is inadmissible for external and internal lighting of greenhouses, corridors and areas with high power lamps. Bees, especially southern rocks, at night, rush to the light, beat against the glass and perish. Significant damage to bees can cause internal warming of greenhouses with film. This is resorted to in winter in a cold windy weather with a poor overshadowing of the windows. On which side the film is applied, with the outer or inner, for the preservation of heat is not significant. But for the preservation of bees, this is important. In one of the hothouse state farms near Moscow, where the film was applied from the inside of the greenhouses, a mass of dead bees was observed between the glass and the film. The death of bees can be avoided by the outer covering of the glasses with a film.
In the recent past, the purification circling of bees was recommended to be carried out in a greenhouse free from plants. In greenhouse farms this is not observed for a number of reasons. Firstly, to fly over the bees, it would take a few greenhouses not used for the culture, labor would be expended on the extra transfer of the hives. Secondly, there is no need for this. During the flight of bees, the greenhouse plants have a small leaf surface, and most of the feces do not fall on the leaves. Burns from feces can be insignificant and practically not perceptible to plants. When staged in the greenhouse for flying more than 2-3 bee colonies, bees can be raided and raids, families can be reloaded, and most importantly, the bees do not completely free the intestines and continue defecating in the greenhouses until they fly out to freedom.
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