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Small Scale Beekeeping by Curtis Gentry Table of contents adapted for the web by Conrad Bérubé Island Crop Management email: uc779(at)freenet.victoria.bc.ca |
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Small Scale Beekeeping by Curtis Gentry Table of contents adapted for the web by Conrad Bérubé Island Crop Management email: uc779(at)freenet.victoria.bc.ca |
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web version copyright © 2002 Conrad Bérubé, site design, concept and scripting
Printed material from Small Scale Beekeeping (by Curtis Gentry. 1982. Peace Corps office of Information Collection and Exchange, Washington, DC. Illustrated by Stacey Leslie) may be freely reproduced, without changes, for non-commercial purposes (education and development). The html version is copyrighted and may not be reproduced in electronic form without the consent of the copyright holder (but as long as you're not selling it permission to duplicate will be granted upon request-- contact me at the email address in the banner above)
Chapter 4 THE ESSENCE OF BEEKEEPING*
* Part of this material is adapted with permission from The essence of beekeeping, presented in note form by S.C. Jay in Bee World, Vol. 60: pp 140-142. 1979.
Beekeeping follows seasonal cycles. This is important for beekeepers to understand. In tropical regions, it is more difficult to note the seasonal cycles since there is no period when the colony is
totally inactive.
The yearly colony cycle can be broken into three periods: build-up, honey flow, and dearth. in temperate regions, these periods are usually well defined, with only one of each period per year. In the tropics and subtropics, however, the periods are variable, and more than one of each can occur in a yearly colony cycle.
The flowering of plants, and, more importantly, nectar flows, are influenced by seasonal weather patterns. The honey bee colony responds to these changes. When resources of both pollen and nectar are plentiful, the colony is stimulated to raise more brood and thus the colony population increases. when resources are low, brood-rearing decreases, and the colony population decreases.
Both pollen and nectar are necessary to stimulate brood-rearing. If only one is available, the colony reduces brood-rearing and stores the incoming resource. Stored provisions are used to maintain brood-rearing, but they do not stimulate increased brood-rearing.
For a high level of brood-rearing, a large quantity of incoming resources is needed. Depending on incoming resources, the workers vary the amount of food given the queen. This determines her egg-laying rate. Workers also eat eggs or young larvae to control the amount of brood reared in times of reduced resources.
Colonies with small populations emphasize brood rearing over honey storage. Such colonies tend to use most of their incoming resources to produce bees and to build comb. They have a high brood-to-adult-bee ratio; therefore many adult bees are needed in the hive to care for the brood and maintain the brood-nest temperature.
As colonies grow in population, the ratio of brood to adults decreases. After a certain point of population growth (about 40,000 with European bees under temperate conditions), the rate at which the queen lays eggs also decreases. More bees are freed from duties in the hive to become foragers. The colony then shifts its emphasis to honey storage.
Beekeeping includes understanding the seasonal colony cycle and managing the colonies in such a way as to obtain a large adult colony population to coincide with the major nectar flow in an area. Success in this results in the maximum honey flow for the beekeeper.
By having the maximum adult population during the time of the major nectar flow, the beekeeper can take best advantage of the flow. However, such conditions are also prime for swarming. A colony that swarms just before a major nectar flow usually produces no surplus honey on that flow. Rather, as the colony population is lowered by swarming, the colony uses the flow to rebuild its population. Therefore good beekeeping calls for maintaining colonies in potential swarming condition, yet controlling swarming through management practices. It is impossible to prevent all swarming, but with management it can be minimized or controlled.
Strong colonies are also important for beekeepers who are interested in using their colonies to pollinate certain crops. For this, it is desirable to have colonies that are strong yet still building up their population toward its peak when the crop is in bloom. As there is a lot of brood-rearing in such colonies, there is a big demand in the colony for pollen. Therefore the bees will be more likely to visit the desired crop.
Nectar flows are generally more predictable in temperate regions. There is usually one main flow of a sequence of plant sources which lasts for several weeks, normally in late spring and early summer.
In tropical and subtropical regions there is often one main flow with several lesser flows. The beekeeper is primarily interested in the main flow, which often follows the heavy rainy period, or may come after the initial rains following a long dry period. However, it is harder to predict flows in these regions. The beginning and end of rainy periods is often highly variable from year to year.
The relative unpredictability of nectar flows in the tropics and subtropics makes it more difficult for the beekeeper to prepare the colonies.
To achieve maximum honey flow, colonies should build up before the main nectar flow, not during it. Colonies that build up their peak population on the main nectar flow usually produce little surplus honey for the beekeeper. Since it takes about six weeks for an egg to develop into a foraging adult, the preparation of colony populations for a main flow must start six to eight weeks beforehand.
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In temperate regions the dearth period is associated with cold and a total absence of resources for the bee colony. The bees form a tight winter cluster to conserve metabolic heat, and pass the period living from stores in the hive. Brood-rearing usually ceases for a period.
In warm climates there is never an absolute absence of resources, and there is some suitable flying weather for the bees throughout the year. The dearth period in these regions is often associated with heavy rainy periods when there is less flowering, nectar quality is low (low sugar content), and flying weather is poor. Pollen resources are sometimes plentiful during nectar dearths. Brood-rearing is reduced during dearth periods, but it seldom ceases in strong colonies in the tropics and subtropics.
The different character of the dearth period is a major difference between beekeeping in temperate regions and that in warmer regions. During dearth periods in the tropics and subtropics, the colony remains active.
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Management Schemes
Honey bee colony growth and well-being are dependent upon:
*Productive Management of honey bee colonies, C.L. Farrar, American Bee Journal, vol. 108 nos. 3-10. 1968.
Management schemes in beekeeping have the objective of enhancing or improving upon these factors. The level of sophistication of a beekeeping operation determines the extent to which management operations can affect these factors.
In high-tech beekeeping, genetically-selected queens can be used, colonies can be fed sugar syrup and pollen supplements, and colonies can be moved seasonally to follow nectar flows (migratory beekeeping). Such inputs and schemes are often not available for a small-scale beekeeping venture or they are impractical because of cost.
For small farmers, the most practical management schemes are those that do not call for expensive inputs. Labor is usually the cheapest input available to these beekeepers. Management aimed at ensuring sufficient stores for the colony and providing proper space is only dependent on labor input.
Management practices which ensure sufficient honey stores in the hive for the dearth period only call for recognizing its importance. No extra effort or labor is required. However, this is probably the most neglected aspect of bee management (thus the most costly). The beekeeper is all too often the worst enemy of the bees.
The temptation to remove all of the honey at the end of the honey flow period is often too great for the beekeeper. Removing and selling honey often gives immediate gains; leaving it on the colony for the bees' use during the dearth periods is an investment in the future, or a deferred gain.
A sufficient amount of honey left on a colony for the dearth period assures that it will survive the period and be in good shape at the beginning of the next build-up period. Without sufficient stores, the colony may starve to death or may become so weak that it succumbs to predators.
Beekeeping which neglects this aspect of management could be called "accordion" beekeeping. The beekeeper spends each build-up and honey flow period in increasing the number of colonies only to lose most of them in the following dearth period. The accordion beekeeper goes back and forth between a large number and a small number of colonies.
The other management scheme most practical to small-scale beekeeping ventures is hive manipulation. This is management to increase or reduce space in the colony when and where it is needed.
Not only does the colony need extra space to store honey during the flow, but space is also needed to expand the brood nest during the build-up period. The bees themselves expand the area for the brood nest by using the pollen and honey around the periphery of the brood area. This frees these cells for the queen to lay in, but expanding the brood nest in this manner is a slow process for the colony and can restrict the laying of the queen. When this happens, the colony is said to be "honey-bound" as the brood nest is bounded or restricted by honey. A honey-bound brood nest is a major factor in stimulating swarming.
By exchanging the combs filled with honey on the edge of the brood nest with empty combs, the beekeeper can alleviate the honey-bound condition more quickly than the bees themselves can. This gives the queen more room to lay, and the colony builds up to a high population faster.
During the dearth period, on the other hand, the colony needs less space since the bee population is decreasing. The beekeeper should remove the unused space or combs in the hive. This compacts the colony and permits the bees to defend the colony better against predators.
In manipulating the hive to create or reduce space, it is important to remember that good beekeeping involves understanding the yearly colony cycle and carrying out management operations at the right time. A given hive manipulation made at the appropriate time in the cycle can be foolproof in giving the desired results. The same manipulation made at the inappropriate time is often doomed to failure.
Understanding the colony cycle and the appropriate time to make hive manipulations grows out of beekeeping experience. It is the art of beekeeping.
There are three basic management problems that beekeepers face in any situation. These are:
Determining when'The main nectar flow occurs is based on experience in an area. It calls for the beekeeper to observe the bees and their environment. Recognizing the main nectar flow is an outgrowth of a good understanding of bees and their relationship with their environment.
The following are aids to determining when the main nectar flow occurs. Most are not one-time things to be done before starting in beekeeping, but are ongoing observations to be made as one practices beekeeping.
Make surveys to identify the major nectar and pollen plants of the area. Note which plants the bees visit, especially those visited in large numbers.
Make surveys to record the flowering periods of
these plants. Note weather conditions (previous and present) which are conducive to good nectar flows from these plants.
Talk with others in the area who are involved with bees. "Oldtimers" in the area often have an astute sense of the cycle of nectar flows.
Timing of management operations is-critical in building up colony populations in preparation for the main nectar flow. Even though bees naturally build up their population during periods when resources are available, the beekeeper must ensure that peak population is reached before or during the nectar flow, not after it.
Specific management points which call for careful attention during this period are:
These will be discussed in detail in later chapters.
The post-flow care of colonies is crucial to success in beekeeping. It often receives the least attention because returns from care given during the dearth period often seem remote to the beekeeper. This is especially true with subsistence farmers whose existence and reality are based on the present.
Nonetheless, it is important to remember that this year's honey crop is made on last year's post-flow care.
The options for post-flow care are to:
In temperate regions:
In the tropics and subtropics:
The essence of development is better utilization of the given resources. The essence of beekeeping development is better utilization of the bee and melliferous flora (bee plant) resource.
Every apiary has its limit of colonies given the bee flora resources of the area; every beekeeper has a limit on amount of time to care for the colonies. Good beekeeping logically seeks to take advantage of the melliferous flora of the area with the least number of well-managed colonies. As stronger colonies produce more surplus honey, such a strategy minimizes the cost of equipment and reduces labor while increasing honey yields.
Good beekeepers understand bees, recognize the needs of the colony, and take measures to meet those needs.
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