The goal of honey bee colony management is to aid the colony to build up to its maximum during the main nectar flow and to survive the dearth. Well-managed colonies assure the greatest possible return for the beekeeper.

The first management step in beekeeping is obtaining bees in a manageable hive. once the hive is established, it should be inspected regularly and managed according to its need. Specific management practices can be broken into management during the build-up, harvesting honey, and management during dearth periods.

Retrieving swarms is the easiest and cheapest way of getting bees. You have only to wait for bees to inhabit a bait hive or to hive a swarm that has clustered. if a swarm inhabits a bait hive on its own, it usually stays. Swarms that are clustered in accessible places are easily put inside a hive, though sometimes they are reluctant to stay.

Hiving a swarm involves shaking or dumping the bees into or in front of the hive. If the swarm is on a low limb or bush, remove some of the top bars of the hive, put the hive under the swarm, and shake the swarm directly into the hive. Alternatively, shake the bees in front of the hive; they will usually run in. It is also possible to cover such a swarm with a large bag, shake the swarm into the bag, and transport it to the hive. If the swarm is clustered on a high limb, cut the limb and lower it carefully with a rope.

Scoop up swarms that are clustered on a flat surface or a large object with a piece of cardboard, and dump them into the hive. Use a brush of leaves or loose grass to brush the bees into the hive. As swarms have no brood or stores to defend, they are usually docile and no smoke is needed when hiving them. However, if the swarm has been away from the colony for a while, it may be hungry, thus defensive and difficult to work with.

If the swarm is defensive, sugar water (two parts sugar to one part water) can be sprinkled on the swarm before trying to hive it. Smoke can also be used when hiving a swarm if it is defensive, but avoid excessive smoke as this may cause the swarm to leave.

(Bees that have constructed some comb and have brood are also more defensive. This is no longer a swarm. With comb and brood it is a colony, and its defensiveness is normal.)

Swarms are much more likely to stay in a hive if they are given some comb containing unsealed brood. if established hives are available, it is easy to remove such a comb from the colony, brush the bees off with loose grass or leaves, and give the comb to the swarm. (Do not transfer adult bees with the comb as they will fight with the bees in the swarm.) Comb containing eggs or young larvae gives the swarm a chance to rear a new queen in case the old queen is killed in the hiving process.

It is necessary for the queen to be in the hive if the bees are to stay. If the bees return to the original cluster site or cluster in another place, suspect that the queen is in the cluster. Try again to shake or dump the cluster in the hive.

Although it is not necessary to find the queen, it is helpful to see her and know where she is. A small screen-wire cage is handy to enclose the queen. Catch her from behind by both wings and guide her into the cage. if she is caught by one wing or by one leg she may twist and hurt herself. Never grasp the queen by the abdomen. This area is soft and you can injure the reproductive organs.

If the queen is caged, her whereabouts are known until hiving is finished. When the hive is in its final site and the bees are settled, release her.

Caging the queen also prevents her from being "balled." Under the stressful conditions of hiving a swarm, transferring the colony to new equipment, or moving the hive, the workers will sometimes cluster tightly around the queen and attempt to sting her This is called balling the queen, and the workers sometimes kill her by stinging or suffocation.

If swarm retrieval or transferring feral colonies is going to be frequent, it may be worthwhile to construct a KTBH one-half the standard length. Such a hive is usually large enough for the normal-size swarm or transfer from a feral colony. Pay special attention to making it bee-tight and easy to transport. Make a wire grid or screen to close the entrance easily.

Transfer the colony into regular-size equipment in the apiary. Swarms rapidly build up to full-size colonies, thus they will soon need more space. Hived swarms also construct or draw out comb quickly. Leaving the swarm in the small hive will restrict its build-up.

Once the bees are settled in the hive, the entrance is closed up and the colony moved. It is beat to move the colony in the late evening or at night when the bees are all inside and it is cooler. Some bees will drift back to the old site if the colony is moved less than two kilometers.

Do not leave a closed colony in the sun. if the colony is to be closed for more than fifteen minutes, use some type of screen material to close the entrance. Sprinkle water through the screen if the colony is closed for long periods. This gives the bees water to drink and helps to cool the hive.

Transferring bees from fixed-comb hives to top-bar hives is best done early in a build-up period. This gives the colony time to recover from the transfer. it will be easy for the bees to build comb and build up the population so that they can survive the dearth. If the transfer is made early enough, it may even be possible to harvest some surplus honey.

The colony population is low, and there is a minimum amount of honey in the colony at the beginning of a build-up period. This makes the transfer easier, and minimizes problems of robbing from other colonies.

Colonies that have been transferred need time before a dearth period to recover and store some honey for survival during the dearth. Transfers made during a dearth period have little chance of survival unless they are fed.

Depending for feeding for colony survival is not advisable. Buying sugar to feed bees is often not practical since a large colony can need a large amount to survive. Available cash for buying this sugar is usually lacking, and in some regions, even if the money is available, sugar is scarce.

Feeding a colony during a dearth period stimulates brood-rearing. This results in a greater amount of brood than can be maintained with available natural resources so the colony becomes dependent on feeding for survival. Assessing the feeding needs of a colony is difficult for a beginning beekeeper. Once feeding is started it is often necessary to feed continuously until a honey flow starts. This is not economically practical for most small farmers, so avoid feeding altogether. (See Chapter 7)

Transferring bees from feral colonies or from fixed-comb hives is essentially the same. The cavity must be opened and the combs cut out and attached to the new hive.

With fixed-comb hives, the colony is readily accessible, and the cavity is easily opened. Feral colonies are sometimes inaccessible in such locations as part of a wall, the roof of a house, or a large tree. It may not be worthwhile to tear down a structure or to cut down a tree for a colony. However, if the colony is in a limb you can cut the limb. Lower it carefully to the ground since letting it fall will destroy the comb.

To make the transfers, smoke the colony well, and, if possible, place the new hive where the old hive was located. Then move the old hive a few meters away. The bees are oriented to the site where their colony was located; thus they will go into the new hive quicker if it is in the old location.

Continue smoking the colony, turn it upside down, and open it if possible from the bottom. Cut out the combs. Set empty combs and combs with drone brood aside for their wax. Attach combs containing worker brood to the top bars with string or wire. Sharpened bamboo sticks or other skewers through holes in the top bars can also be used to hold the comb. Harvest most honey combs, but leave about one-half kilogram of honey for the colony.

When all of the combs are attached, shake, dump, or brush the remaining bees into the new hive. Replace all of the top bars, put on the top, and reduce the entrance with a block of wood. A reduced entrance helps the colony to defend itself and deters robbing.

If the queen is found, cage her in a match box or a similar container until all the combs are attached. It is possible that she may be balled by the bees or mashed by the beekeeper in the confusion. Caging her can prevent this.

Remove the old hive from the area so that the bees will go into the new hive quicker. If the bees start to cluster away from the hive, smoke the area and check for the queen.

Try to avoid spilling the honey and keep the honey comb in a covered container. This will help reduce robbing by other bees.

Absconding is sometimes a problem with transfers. Making sure that the colony has unsealed brood and sufficient food helps control absconding. Patience and a sense of humor also help in dealing with absconding, especially with some strains of bees.

Transferring rustic hives is traumatic for both the beekeeper and the bees. It sometimes involves a lot of work, and a little experience working with bees helps. Confused bees flying around sometimes make for confused beekeepers. Many bees are killed, and some brood and comb are lost. However, making a transfer is in itself a great learning experience. If you make it through a transfer successfully, you are definitely on the way to becoming a beekeeper.

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Inspecting the hive regularly once the colony is established is necessary to ascertain its condition and needs. During build-up periods there is intense activity in the hive, and the colony should be inspected every two weeks. Once a month is sufficient during dearth periods since the colony is less active. Colony inspections assess the status of the brood, the space needs, and the presence of adequate stores. The period of the yearly cycle determines what the beekeeper looks for.

With experience, the condition of the colony can be noted by looking at the activity at the entrance, and by removing a comb or two. However, beginning beekeepers need to make more thorough inspections while learning what to look for.

The disposition of the colony varies greatly with the strain of bees, the colony condition, and the prevailing weather.

Generally, bees are more docile on warm, sunny days during a nectar flow. On such days, a maximum number of bees are foraging. Foragers, the older bees, are more defensive of the colony as their sting glands are fully developed. In most areas, the maximum nectar flow is from early morning to mid-day. This, then, is the best time to inspect the colony since most of the foragers are away from the hive.

In areas where bees are particularly defensive, many beekeepers prefer to work with their bees at dusk. This is especially true if the hives are near houses. When night comes, the bees quickly settle back into the hive. This minimizes disturbance to neighbors and to nearby livestock. Beekeepers with highly-defensive bees also remove the honey from their colonies at night to minimize stinging.

Robbing is often a major problem when inspecting colonies during dearth periods. Bees from other colonies take advantage of the openings in the hive being inspected to rob honey. Robbing can be suspected when bees are observed fighting.

Preventing robbing is much easier than stopping it. Work fast when making inspections to minimize the time that the colony is open. Also, be careful not to drip honey about the area and do not leave honey comb exposed.

If robbing gets started, close the hive and wait until another day. If robbing is out of control, close the hive and stop up the entrance completely with grass or leaves. Also, douse the robber bees with water to help slow robbing. Remove the grass at night or the next day when the robbing has stopped. If the colony is left open, it will be robbed of all its honey and most of the bees will be killed.

The condition of the brood nest is the most important thing to note when inspecting a hive. A quick glance at a comb from the brood nest can tell you whether or not the queen is present, and by observing the brood pattern, you can determine the condition of the queen or the presence of disease.

The brood is always located on the lower portion of a brood comb. Pollen is stored around the sides and the upper edges of the brood area, and honey is found along the top edge of the comb. The layer of honey above acts-to insulate the brood nest.

A good queen lays eggs in a tight pattern. She lays one egg in a cell and lays in all the cells. once she starts laying on a comb, she moves outward on the comb laying eggs around the area containing the developing brood. When the adults emerge from the center area, she again returns to that part of the comb and begins to lay outward as the cells are emptied when adults emerge. Thus, a good brood pattern has the form of concentric circles where the rings are composed of similar-age brood.

If the queen is failing, a brood disease present, or there are laying workers, the brood pattern will appear spotty--many cells will be empty in the brood area. Temporary drops in incoming nectar and pollen can also cause a spotty brood pattern, but this has only short term effects. if there is a brood disease (see Chapter 9), some cells may contain the decaying remains of the brood.

An old or failing queen -lays eggs that do not hatch or are unfertilized (thus they produce drones). The colony will eventually supersede her, but you should replace her when you note the condition since this will give the colony a young queen sooner. You can requeen the colony by killing the old queen and allowing it to rear another, or by introducing a queen cell after killing the old queen and leaving the colony queenless for one day. If you are going to allow the colony to rear a new queen, add a brood comb containing eggs and young larvae (but no adults) from another colony so that you can be assured that the queenless colony has worker larvae of the proper age to rear queens.

The queen is normally found on comb containing brood. Some strains of bees are "runny"; they tend to run from the comb when the colony is disturbed. With runny strains of bees, finding the queen is very difficult. However, it is not necessary to find the queen each time a hive is inspected. If eggs are there in a concentrated pattern, the presence of a good queen is verified.

If a colony has been queenless for a long time, workers will start to lay eggs. Since the eggs are unfertilized, they will always produce drone brood.

A spotty brood pattern and worker cells sealed with domed cappings are signs of laying workers. Many eggs of varying sizes placed haphazardly in a cell is another characteristic of laying workers (see Chapter 3).

A colony with laying workers is in a hopeless situation; since only drones are produced, the colony will dwindle and die out. As the colony perceives that it has a queen, it will not attempt to rear queen from young larvae from another colony, nor will it accept queen cells from another colony.

When you find a colony with laying workers, combine it with a strong, queenright colony. The workers from the strong colony will take care of the laying workers.

The presence of adequate stores is another important thing to check for when you inspect the colony. There should be at least one comb containing honey on each side of the brood nest. If the colony does not have sufficient honey stores, add honey combs (without bees) from stronger colonies, or if the colony is weak, you can combine it with another colony.

Maintaining records of hive inspections is helpful to follow colony progress and to plan for future work in the apiary. Simple written records can be kept or the position of a stone or stick on the top of the hive can be used to denote the colony condition or its needs.

Management during the build-up seeks to provide space for the expanding brood nest in order to allow the colony to build up to its maximum population for the main nectar flow. Manipulations need to be made several times during the period to p-event the brood nest from becoming honey bound.

As the brood nest grows, it becomes crowded with brood, and the space available for the queen to lay eggs becomes limited. The brood nest becomes bounded by honey. The colony can expand the brood nest area by using the honey in the adjacent cells, but this is a relatively slow process.

By putting empty top bars or combs adjacent to the brood nest, you can quickly increase the area of the brood nest and alleviate the crowding. This manipulation allows the colony to build up both to a higher population and earlier than if it were left alone.

Space for the brood nest also helps to control swarming. For bee-havers, swarming is considered desirable, since it is the only way they know to increase their colonies. Swarming is undesirable for beekeepers, however, as swarms are often lost, and the reduction in colony population before the nectar flow prevents a good honey flow from the colony.

Swarming cannot be completely prevented, but it can be controlled. Beekeepers can divide their colonies to increase the number. They can control the process, doing it when they choose without the risk of losing a swarm.

If queen cells are found in a strong colony during the build-up period, the colony is probably preparing to swarm. Such queen cells are often called swarm cells and are normally found along the edges of the comb. If the colony has started the swarming process, there are two management options to prevent loss of the swarm. Either try to prevent swarming by destroying the queen cells and moving the colony, or divide the colony (artificial swarming).

Once the colony has begun the swarming process it is often difficult to stop it. Try to prevent swarming first by destroying all of the queen cells in the colony. Then switch the location of the colony which was preparing to swarm with that of a weaker colony in the apiary. Foraging bees will return to the hive site to which they were oriented. A colony-preparing to swarm is a strong colony. Thus by switching the hives, the strong colony will lose bees and the weaker one will gain them.

Switching colonies during build-up or flow conditions will not lead to fighting between the returning foragers and the strange hive bees. The foragers are returning with nectar and pollen, thus they will be readily accepted in the new hive.

Destruction of the queen cells combined with the loss of foragers will usually stop the swarming impulse in the colony. (Check the colony a few days later and destroy any new queen cells.)

Exchanging the location of colonies is an easy practice to equalize colony populations. It is good management to have colonies of similar strength in an apiary as this minimizes robbing.

Another way of equalizing colony populations in an apiary is to give combs of brood without adults to weak colonies to help them build up quicker. Be careful not to give a colony more brood than it can care for. Sealed brood which will soon emerge is best for this purpose since it only needs minimal care from the colony.

Dividing colonies or artificial swarming is another way to deal with colonies which are preparing to swarm. This is essentially the swarming process carried out under the control of the beekeeper. It is the most practical method for small farmers to increase the number of hives in their apiaries.

Strong colonies can be stimulated to construct queen cells and to rear queens if the queen is removed. These emergency queen cells are used to make further colony divisions if desired. The treatment of the queen cells and the process of division are the same whether swarm cells or emergency queen cells are used.

Divisions made with swarm cells rarely yield surplus honey. Swarming normally occurs soon before the main flow, thus divisions made with swarm cells do not have time to build up. Take care that such divisions have sufficient provisions to make it through the next dearth period.

The best time to divide colonies is early in build-up periods. If made early enough, the colony may build up sufficiently to produce some surplus honey.

Making divisions is always done at the expense of honey production from those hives. Remember that strong colonies yield more honey in relation to effort and equipment than weaker ones. The decision to divide colonies should center on the objective of the operation. is it to produce bees or to produce honey?

Harvesting honey is the beekeeper's reward. As the honey flow progresses, the outer combs of the hive will become filled with honey. Harvest these combs several times during the flow period. This prevents the colony from becoming honey-bound, and the empty space in the hive stimulates the bees to forage.

When most of a comb contains capped honey, it is ready for harvesting. The moisture content of uncapped honey is too high for the honey to be self-preserving. Such honey is called green or unpinned honey, and, if harvested, will ferment. A comb in which at least two thirds of the cells are capped contains honey that will be self-preserving. such honey is called mature or ripened honey.

Bees are best removed from the comb by brushing them off. A little smoke can be used to get them started, but using too much smoke to clear the comb of bees will give a smoky taste to the honey.

Management during dearth periods is different in temperate and tropical regions. in temperate regions, there is a dormant period in the colony. Good management in these regions entails ensuring that the colony has sufficient and properly located honey stores for the period and protecting the hive from prevailing winter winds. The hive entrance is also reduced to keep out cold and mice. (Mice will sometimes enter a colony and build nests in the comb away from the bee cluster.)

There is no dormant period in the tropics. The colony population drops, but the bees remain active throughout the dearth period. Management centers on having sufficient stores and sufficient bees to cover and protect the comb in the colony from wax moth.

Having sufficient honey stores in the colony is dependent on recognizing the need for them and not harvesting all of the honey. The amount of honey to ' different regions depending on the leave varies in length and severity of the dearth period. This is learned with experience in an area and is part of the "art" of beekeeping. if inexperienced in an area, leave at least a full comb of honey for every two frames of brood in a colony. It is better to leave too much than not enough. If the bees do not use it, you can harvest it later.

Though feeding bees is discouraged for most small-scale beekeeping projects, it may be practical in some areas or useful in certain situations. (See Chapter 7.)

To make a feeder for the KTBH, use a piece of wood the same length as a top bar and three times the width. Drill a hole in the board such that it will hold an inverted jar or bottle. Fill the container with sugar syrup (two parts sugar to one part water) and punch small holes in the top. The holes should not allow the syrup to drip once the jar is inverted. The bees will take the syrup and store it in the hive. if syrup leaks, it may draw ants or stimulate robbing. To help prevent robbing, always reduce the entrance of a colony with a block of wood or other object when you are feeding.

Protecting colonies from pests is another important aspect of management during dearth periods. Wax moth larvae are by far the most damaging pest to honey bee colonies, yet simple management practices can prevent this loss.

Wax moth adults may enter the colony to lay eggs or they may lay them along cracks on the outside of the hive. When eggs laid on the outside of the hive hatch, the larvae tunnel into the hive to the comb area.

If the colony does not have enough bees to protect the comb, larvae of the wax moth begin to develop in them. The larvae tunnel through the comb eating the wax, the pollen residues, and the cocoons left by the emerging adult bees. Wax moths need more than just wax in their diet, therefore they prefer older, darker comb. They destroy the comb, leaving behind webbed masses of excrement and bits of wax.

In weak colonies, wax moth larvae sometimes bore through the midrib of comb containing brood. The webbing that they leave behind entangles the developing bee pupae and prevents the adult bees from emerging from the cells. Patches or straight rows of apparently normal adults trying to emerge from the cells are the result. These bees eventually die and cell-cleaning workers remove them.

In warm regions and during warm periods in temperate regions, wax moths are always present and laying eggs. The bees in a strong colony are usually able to cover and protect all of the comb in the hive, thus they remove the wax moth larvae before they can do any damage.

However, if wax moth larvae become established in part of the comb, the bees tend to move away from the area, abandoning the comb to the larvae. At this point the colony is doomed, as the bees tend to lose their social organization. The population drops rapidly, and the few remaining bees are eventually pushed off the comb.

Wax moth problems are a result of poor beekeeping. The beekeeper takes too much honey from the colony, and it becomes too weak to guard the comb. Leaving too much empty comb in the hive during the dearth also causes problems with wax moth. The beekeeper must think of the strength of a colony both in terms of the absolute population and in terms of the ability of that population to protect all of the comb in the hive.

Weak colonies can be combined to make strong colonies which have a better chance of survival during a dearth period. The queen of one colony must be killed to combine the colonies. A strong colony can be divided again later during the build-up period to increase the number of colonies. During the dearth period, the objective is survival of bees, not survival of colonies. it is better to have one colony that survives rather than two that die out.