Autumn work in the apiary
With the termination of a bribe, there is a great danger of the occurrence of bee theft. At this time in the nests of bees there are still many flying bees and in families the excited state remains for a long time. Fighting away from bee-thieves in hot, but impotent days, bees become especially evil. In these conditions, families are examined during the day only under a special tent or in a non-flying weather for bees.
Meanwhile, the period of preparation of bees for winter is one of the most responsible in the work of the beekeeper. From correctly and timely carried out measures for care of bees depends not only the favorable outcome of wintering, but also the rapid development of families in the spring, and consequently, their productivity in the coming season. The main tasks of the beekeeper during this period are: 1) the preservation of the greatest possible strength of the families for the winter. With the prevalence of young, still not working on honey, and therefore more viable bees; 2) providing bees with sufficient supplies of benign feed; 3) the correct assembly of nests for the winter.
In connection with this specific nature of autumn work on the care of bees, the students are acquainted with the preparations for bees to wintering in the apiary of the educational facilities in two stages: 1) immediately after the end of the main honey collection, if the control hive still shows a small increase in weight (100 … 200 g of nectar per family per day) and bee-thieves do not interfere with the examination of families; 2) at the end of September, when the main preparatory work has already been completed, and students independently check the apiary’s readiness for wintering.
In the first period, with the participation of students, the following works are carried out: autumn audit of bee colonies, preliminary assembly of nests for the winter, replenishment of feed stocks,
Autumn audit of bee colonies.
The autumn audit consists in a thorough examination of all bee colonies in the apiary to reveal their condition after the honey collection. The main attention is paid to the food reserves (honey and pergs) and their quality, the strength of the family, the presence of the uterus and the number of broods, as well as the overall condition of the nest and the suitability of the honeycombs for wintering. Unlike the spring audit, which is carried out as soon as possible in one day, an autumn audit of bee colonies can be carried out for 2 … 3 days in order to carry out in parallel the basic work on the preliminary assembly of nests for the winter.
The methodology for carrying out the autumn audit and the list filled in during this work do not differ from the spring audit.
However, in autumn it is necessary to determine the stocks of honey particularly accurately, since overstating the reserves can lead to serious consequences. Therefore, in all doubtful cases it is necessary to consult a beekeeper, but it is best to have a scales or a flapper.
When carrying out an autumn audit, it is determined not only the amount of honey in the nests, but also the quality of it. An admixture of honeydew honey can severely damage the wintering of bees. Therefore, in all doubtful cases, especially when honey has a dark color and unpleasant odor, is badly sealed by bees, the frames in the nest are sorted by the color of the honey and from each lot they take an average sample on the pad. Subsequent analyzes are carried out in the laboratory.
During a family visit, it is also important to make sure that the uterus is present. So, if there are no larvae and eggs in the family, the uterus is lost or replaced by bees. In the latter case, it is often possible to find remnants of queen cells on the honeycombs. One of the most reliable indicators of absence of the uterus in the family in the autumn period is the presence of a large number of drones in the center of the nest, whereas in well-off families they are already absent by this time. On the discovered shortcomings, students immediately inform the beekeeper and, at his instruction, take honeycomb with young larvae and eggs in one of the families and put them in a dysfunctional family. In the absence of the uterus, the bees will, within a few hours, lay the fistula cells on this control frame. In this case, the mother cells are torn off and the family is corrected by attaching a nucleus to the young fetus.
Pre-assembly of nests for the winter.
Produced in parallel with the conduct of the autumn audit. The main tasks of preliminary assembling of nests are:
1) the recruitment of a nest with good honeycombs,
2) the correct location of fodder stocks,
3) in the case of a lack of honey or perga, their timely replenishment.
You can not leave light honeycombs in the middle of the nest, in which brood was not produced at all. They have too much thermal conductivity and are not suitable for wintering. The exception is light honeycomb, well filled with benign honey. They put on the edges of the nest no more than two frames per family. In advance remove from the nest as well all the lesser, penguin-clogged, very dark and improperly rebuilt honeycombs with a large number of drone cells. The honeycomb, which still contains brood, is temporarily left in the hive. They are moved to the edge of the nest closer to the insertion board and on the upper bar the frames are placed a well-marked conventional sign. In the future, as the brood goes out, the beekeeper removes these frames from the nest and discards them.
In the middle of the nest put honeycomb with brood, and if it is small, give another 1 … 2 frames with good brown honeycombs, in which the uterus will lay eggs. At the edges of the honeycomb with brood, frames are filled with honey. At the same time, frames containing at least 2 kg of sealed honey are left in the hive. If such a framework is not enough to create a stock of 16 … 20 kg of honey in the hive, then the required number of frames with honey is taken from the stocks created in early summer, or from the second buildings. This framework is offered by students who are free from other duties.
When assembling the nest, attention is also paid to the reserves of Perga. The amount of it must in total amount to at least one complete frame per family. It is best if the pepper is present in small areas on the framework of honey. The benign frames, entirely occupied by the Perga, are stored in the warehouse until the onset of spring.
Then the family is well insulated, cuts the bottom tray and completely closes the upper one. Check if the ventilation hole in the overburden is blocked, and if there are any cracks in the hull or bottom of the hive. If necessary, correct these shortcomings, which can lead to theft among bees.
Replenishment of fodder stocks.
If honey is found in the nests with a significant admixture of the padi, it is pumped out and replaced with sugar. In order to ensure better wintering, it is recommended that in each family, bees be replaced every year with sugar with up to 6 kg of honey left in hives for the winter. Replenishment of stocks at the expense of sugar syrup can not be postponed, as bees must have time to process and seal the fertilizer well before the onset of cold weather. In addition, the distribution of fertilizing with a small bribe in nature is less attractive to bee-thieves.
Having received the task of the beekeeper to prepare the necessary amount of sugar syrup, prepare the appropriate inventory: carefully wash with boiling water a wooden barrel, milk canister, feeding troughs. Then weigh sugar on the scales and pour it into the milk can or bucket in batches. Sugar is filled with an appropriate amount of steep boiling water at the rate of 1 part water to 1.5 parts sugar. Sugar is carefully mixed with a small wooden spatula until it dissolves completely. The prepared syrup is poured into a wooden barrel, previously well insulated from the sides and from above. Then, in the same way, prepare the second, third, fourth portions of the syrup, depending on the needs of the apiary. After this, the barrel is well concealed, so that the top dressing remains hot for a long time. During this time, the sugar will completely dissolve. If this is not done,
The prepared top dressing is dispensed at the end of the day, when all other work on the apiary will be completed. For this purpose, a box-type feeder is prepared with a capacity of at least 2.5-3 liters with a tight-fitting lid. After thoroughly cleaning and washing the troughs, they are checked for leaks. If the feeder is leaking, the slots are additionally poured with molten wax. Prepared feeding troughs with rafts are placed in advance on the nests of the respective families across the frames. On each side they close with two canvases, from above put a pillow. When all the work is finished, the syrup will stand and cool down to the temperature of fresh milk, it is poured into the kettle and carefully poured into the feeder, before slightly pushing the lid off. Overnight, a good family usually chooses the full syrup and by the next evening they pour a new portion.
Sorting the honeycomb frames and preparing them for the winter.
Pre-sorting. All frames removed from the hives by students of the first two links are transferred to the fourth link. Here the frames are sorted into 3 groups depending on their further assignment.
1. Frames with a large amount of sealed honey are put in a chest. They are intended to replenish fodder stocks in families in the final assembly of nests for the winter or as stocks for the spring.
2.Malome, but well-built brown and light brown honeycomb with sealed honey put in another chest. These frames will be needed in the spring to expand the nests.
3. All other frames with a small amount of honey (especially unsealed) are pumped out on a honey extractor. Honey is handed over to the storehouse of the farm, and the freed frames are put in the nest for drying. Instead of the honey given, the beekeeper gets sugar for the stimulating additions. If sugar is not supposed to be received, these frames are also included in the house for storage. Their beekeeper will periodically expose the bees to stimulate the laying of eggs by the uterus.
Cutting and sorting sushi. Empty honeycombs after pumping and drying them with bees are sorted here by the color and quality of detuning. At the same time, all the badly rebuilt, with a large number of drone cells, and also very dark and broken honeycombs are rejected in the ditching for wax.
From the rejected frames, the honeycombs are cut out for perestopki on wax. In this case, not only honeycombs are sorted, but also individual sections of the honeycomb frame, that is, they produce the so-called cutting of the land. This is due to the fact that not all sections of the same frame are equivalent in terms of the amount of wax and non-wax impurities contained in them. For example, the middle part of the honeycomb, where the brood is mainly excreted, is always much darker than the edges and is classified in a lower grade than the upper and lower areas. The sections of the honeycomb, which are occupied by the Perga, also go below the grade, compared to the same color but not free from Perga.
In order not to lose some of the wax during sorting, this work is carried out on spread sheets of plywood or in a room with a good floor. Depending on the grade, the wood is spread over four barrels or basins.
To sushi of the 1st grade, white, yellow or amber pieces of honeycombs without perga, honey and other impurities, cut from honeycombs when pumping honey (zabrus), and various waxen growths are included.
The second grade is dark brown or dark, shining only in the bottom of the cells, without honey, perga and other impurities. This also includes a light yellow sushi, if there is an admixture of pergum in it not more than 15% of the volume of unleavened wax.
Fig. An approximate scheme for cutting land by varieties in the case of honeycombs
The third grade dry land is dark brown, black, does not shine, has a significant amount of pergia, but dry, honey-free, moths and mildew. Here also include a light land containing from 15 to 25% pergians.
The land that does not meet the specified requirements is classified as an off-shore one and added to the fourth barrel. In the process of working, the land is well tamped to make it difficult to get wax moths.
Fumigation of honeycombs.
After finishing the waxing and sorting of the wax raw, organize the fumigation of serviceable, left empty honeycomb cells with sulfur dioxide to destroy caterpillars and wax moth butterflies (if previously there were traces of damage to the moths of individual frames). To do this, select 2 … 3 free corps or an appropriate number of stores and fill them with frames so that the honeycomb does not come into contact. Extensions are stacked one on top of the other and clogged with moist clay all the cracks. Underneath the column put 2 free shells. At the bottom of the lower shell on a thick layer of sand or bricks are placed brazier. On burning coals of a brazier pour sulfur at the rate of 15 … 20 g on each case or on two shops with a land. When the sulfur is well inflamed, the bottom casing is placed under the column. From above it is closed with a lid and covered with remaining cracks.
A day later, the beekeeper dismantles the column of housings and after ventilation removes the frames in a cabinet or storage box for storage. Due to the fact that sulfur dioxide is not toxic to wax moth eggs and is not effective against pupae, fumigation is repeated after 10 … 15 days.
Preparing the winter hunter for the winter.
They help the carpenter replace the rotten logs of the lower links of the outer walls of the winter hut, and also change the worn out boards of the shelves. Carefully inspect the floor of the hibernate and, upon detection of rodent burrows, they are covered with broken glass. In the winter quarters, they deposit previously dried and passed through fine sieve sand and cover them with a layer of 10-15 cm. Then the winter quarry is fumigated with sulfur dioxide (20 g of sulfur are taken for 1 m3 of the room). Sulfur is poured on burning coals in open iron baking plates placed on bricks in different places of the winter hut. As soon as the sulfur burns, the exit doors are closed and covered with clay or prokonopachivayut and once again check whether the ventilation holes are well closed. In the hermetic state, the winter residence is left for a day, then carefully ventilated.
Sulphurous gas causes corrosion of the metal and adversely affects the tissue. Therefore, before the fumigation of sulfur from the premises, somehow the inventory, facial nets, gowns, etc., which have appeared there, are taken out for some reason.
The groups that work in the following days on the apiary produce a whitewash of the inner walls and shelves of the winter hut with 20 -30% lime milk.
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