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Summer ManagementMany commercial beekeepers are
working hard to get their bees ready for pollination
Hobby Beekeepers
We Manage for:
a)Winter Survivability
b)Minimal Swarming Behavior
c)Honey Production
Brood diseases in Ohio
• 2005 Apiary Statistics• From ODA• Colonies Inspected 21,389• American Foulbrood 388 (1.8%) • European Foulbrood 31 (0.1%)• Chalk brood 396 (1.9%)• Varroa Mite 6,720 (31%)• Tracheal Mite 41 (0.2%)• Small Hive Beetle 539 (2.5%)• Wax moth 0
This doesn’t seem like much but they spread QUICKLY!
Summer Management
April/May
FEED FEED FEED
Reverse your Hive bodies
Make sure there is food in the brood chamber
Make sure that your queen is laying - look for eggs and larva
Get your Supers Ready
Prepare to SPLIT or Add Hive Body to prevent swarming
Summer ManagementHow to Check your Queen
Presence of Queen• Learn to recognize Eggs, Larva, Capped Brood vs. Capped Honey• Eggs situated in normal position• What a Queen Looks Like
Quantity of Brood• Brood Should be on several frames• Frames should be about 2/3 full of brood – corners have honey
Quality of Brood• Brood pattern should be solid – not a mixture of capped and uncapped
in the same area.• Check on honey and pollen stores as bad brood and result from
lack of food!
Summer ManagementHow to Check your Queen
For a Productive Hive – Queen MUST produce 1500 eggs/day
Replace the Queen with a newly mated Queen
Kill the Queen and allow the colony to make a new one (~40 days to Eggs)
If two very week hives, kill the Queens, combine hives, requeen
Summer Management
June
Watch for Swarming behavior and get ready to intercede!
Be Ready to add Supers when the nectar flow starts
Check for Mites and other diseases as colony expands
Summer Management
July
Check to make sure queen is still productive (requeen if necessary)
Continue checking for disease
Check stored equipment for wax moth (No Naptha)
Remove full supers and extract Honey!Place wet frames back in supers and let bees do the cleaning
Cover removed frames to prevent “Robbing”
Summer Management
Robbing
Honey bees are good at finding nectar/honey sources.
Last year my “Strong Hive” Robbed from my “Weak Hive”
I fixed them! I moved 2 frames of brood with nurse bees to the weak hive!
Summer Management
August
Add Supers and Remove Full Ones
Extract Honey
When last Super removed - FEED FEED FEED!
Honey Extraction
Removing Bees from Supers
Bee Escape
ChemicalsBeeGoHoney Robber
Shake Combs
Bee Smoker
Bee Blower
Honey ExtractionBee Blower
Leaf blower will workworks well and is convenienthurts bees and really makes them angry
Honey ExtractionChemicals
BeeGo/Honey Robber (n-butyric anhydride)
Sprinkle on Cloth and place over super
Nasty smell drives bees down out of super
Risk of contaminating Honey!
Honey ExtractionShaking
Hold frame securely and give it a couple quick shakes over Hive
Drives bees quickly off Frame
Cheap and simple
May have to brush a few bees off
Honey ExtractionChunk Honey/Cut Comb Honey
Shallow Supers with Thin FoundationHeld in Place with melted wax or wooden wedge
Place Supers above a queen excluderbait the super with honey
Place empty super on top until bottom one is ¾ full, then reverse them
Hive InspectionNothing Short of a “Home Invasion”
Beginning Beekeepers Inspect our Hives TOO MUCH
Goal is to get familiar with “outside” to tell you whatis happening on the “inside”
How does the colony behave?Are there a lot of bees coming and going?Are there dead bees/larva on the landing board?Is there a strange smell?Does it sound like a softly purring engine?
How much does your hive weigh?
Hive InspectionNothing Short of a “Home Invasion”
IF you SEE
• # of Bees seems to be decreasing• Dead Bees, larva, or pupae on the landing board• Detect a strange or foul odor• Bees that are unusually temperamental• Robbers, predators, or leaking honey• Lethargic, aimless, or deformed bees• ANYTHING out of the Ordinary
OPEN IT UP!
Hive InspectionNothing Short of a “Home Invasion”
Visually Inspect your Hives Exterior Often
BUT Removing Frames:
• Disrupts Hive activity for 4-8 hours• Agitates the Bees• Breaks Propolis Seals• Damages comb and disrupts Honey• Risks Heating or Chilling Brood• Changes the Hive Humidity – harm larva• Invites Predators into the Hive• RISKS HARMING THE QUEEN
Routine MaintenanceBe Non-Invasive!
Lift Lid and Slide Inner Cover Slightly to the Side To:
Add sugar water to the feedersAdd Pollen patties or mite treatments
Weigh Hive To: Determine Hive Health (Honey, Comb, Bees are heavy)
Look for Swarm Cells by Lifting Hive Body and Inspecting all Frame Bottoms at the same time
Look of Mites by use of Sticky Board