Exposing bees from the winter hut is an important event that affects the health and melliferousness of each buzzing family. It is important to take into account all the details, since it is in the period before the exhibition that weak families die. To get a good start to the season, you need to choose the right time for the exhibition, a place for hives and understand the intricacies of the process.
When do you need to set up hives?
There is no specific date or a single sign, focusing on which you can take out the hives from Omshanik (winter hut). To determine the best moment you need to consider the following factors:
- weather on the street and features of the breed of bees;
- conditions in the winter house;
- health status of bees.
Usually the time when the snow melts and the rivers open up is considered a sign of the right time for the beginning of the working season of bees. These events occur at the end of March, but do not rush to take out the hives - the weather is still unstable, there are not many flowering plants.
If there are no problems with the climate in the winter house and the condition of the bees, it is better to wait until mid-April - the time when the vine and hazel are blooming. The optimum temperature is considered to be 8-12 degrees.
The optimum temperature is different for different bee breeds. For example, Italian bees and yellow Caucasian bees love warmth, while Central Russian and Ukrainian steppe bees are resistant to cold.
Another factor that influences the start date of the apiary season is the climate at the wintering site. If for some reason the room temperature is kept at +5 degrees (despite the fact that it is considered ideal up to +2 degrees), and humidity exceeds 70%, Omshanik ceases to be a comfortable place for winter recreation. On the contrary, this state of affairs can lead to the death of bees.
In some cases, the landing can be delayed, cooling the room. Some beekeepers open their doors at night: this normalizes the temperature, while there is no light that could disturb insects.
Another reason that influences the date of removal of hives is the well-being of the bees. If they are restless, buzzing, flying out of the hives, leaving fecal stains, they are most likely unhealthy. If you do not carry out a cleansing flight as soon as possible, there is a great risk of suffering great damage. It is especially worth thinking about this if a sufficiently good feed was not prepared, the proportion of honeydew honey exceeds 5-10%, and the family went into wintering weakened.
If the bees were taken out, and the weather outside on that day was not warm enough, it is uncritical to leave the hives in the apiary for 2-3 days.
Site selection, hive preparation and removal
If the apiary has many years of experience, then it is best to put the hives in their old places - this will help the bees to navigate. If for some reason this is not possible, you need to find a good place before the start of the working season.
Seat selection
The place must first of all be reliably protected from the winds - they are undesirable neither in the summer nor during the demi-season. It is good if the hives stand among shrubs or trees - low so that the bees can easily fly around them.
It is important that there are no factories, routes, production facilities associated with wax or large livestock farms nearby. If it is impossible to avoid such a neighborhood, the apiary should be protected with a two-meter fence.
It should be sunny at the apiary site: this will help maintain optimal temperature and humidity in the hives. In addition, the sun will provide early flowering of snowdrops, dandelions and coltsfoot right in the apiary.
Experienced beekeepers recommend installing the hives so that in the morning and evening they are in the sun, and at noon they were covered by shade from bushes or trees - this will avoid overheating of the bees in the summer.
It is good if there is a garden or a field with melliferous plants nearby, so that the bees do not have to fly far for nectar and pollen. It is true that they can cover a distance of 3-5 kilometers, but if they have to do it regularly, many bees will die. In addition, from such a distance, they can only bring 30% of the nectar.
You should also think about water - you need to prepare drinkers in advance. If there is a stream or a small river nearby, that's good. But it is better not to put hives near wide rivers and lakes - the bees may try to overcome them and die.
Training
If you already have a place, you need to prepare it. First of all, remove the snow, if it has not yet completely melted. Areas that cannot be removed are covered with ash or roofing material - this will accelerate melting.
Then you need to install the stands - they differ for each type of houses. They need to be installed in groups, so that later they quickly put the hives. It should be noted that the hives should have a slight slope towards the entrance (about 2%).
Near the stands, around the place where the hives will be, the earth should be covered with straw, sawdust or covered with a sheet of plywood. This is important, because if a weakened bee cannot reach the hive and simply fall to the ground, it will immediately freeze.
Hive placement rules
There are several ways to arrange hives. Some simply set them in rows, others in a checkerboard pattern.
A dense installation of the same type of hives makes it difficult for bees to find their own. This is bad, since some bees are aggressive towards strangers. In addition, families may merge: especially often in early spring, when bees simultaneously fly out for nectar. Then weak families unite with strong ones. As a result, strong families become even stronger, and weak ones finally weaken.
If the territory allows, it is better to arrange the hives in groups - in each group there are 3 pieces. Hives in one group can be located at a distance of half a meter from each other. It is better to place such groups at a distance of 6-8 meters from each other. When placing hives, one should take into account the vegetation around, the fall of shadow and light.
If it is not possible to group hives into groups, you should make sure that they have different colors.
Taking out hives
This procedure should be carried out with the expectation that the first flight should take place in the warmest time of the day, and before it the bees need to calm down. Therefore, for a small apiary, it is better to start taking out early in the morning in order to be in time before 10-11 o'clock, provided that the first flight will be at 12-13.
If there are a lot of beehives, it is better to start making them in the evening. The advantage of the evening takeaway is that during the night the bees will calm down and the flyby will go better.
Before taking out the hives, the beekeeper enters the winter house and tightly closes the entrances - with a bar or bundle of straw, so that the bees do not attack people while they are moving the hive. It is worth inspecting the hives for damage.
To carry out the bee houses, a stretcher is needed: 2 two-meter poles with transverse ropes, which pick up the hive under the bottom so that it does not fall out. The letch is always directed backward: firstly, this will help to avoid strong rocking of the honeycomb, and secondly, the person walking behind will immediately notice if the bees have an opportunity to get out.
Carrying out the hives, you need to go smoothly, in a step, without jerks and noise, so as not to disturb the bees even more. After installing the house, the entrance is not opened immediately - you need to wait until the bees calm down. This will be heard: the indignant hum will subside.
It is impossible to release all the bees at once, otherwise they will mix. Firstly, this can lead to a merger of families. Secondly, the first cleaning flight is a demonstration one, and each family must be watched separately.
Features of the early exhibition of hives
If the temperature and humidity in the winter house do not meet the requirements or traces of bee diarrhea are noticeable, an early exhibition may be required - that is, the removal of the hives before the snow melts. To do this, choose a site on the southern side of some building. It is important that this place is sunny and calm. You should measure the temperature in it in advance during the day - it can be 5 degrees higher than outside the corner, and when the thermometer reaches 10 degrees, you can make an early flight.
The preparation of the place is similar: to clear it of snow, cover it with ash, lay on plywood. To speed up the flight process, you need to expand the entrance and remove the cover. The sun and warmth will lure insects out into the street.
While the bees are cleaning, you need to remove the debris from the hive, fix the problems (if any), and add feed or kandy. After a cleansing flight, it will be easier to help the affected family. A hive with a weak family must be brought into the winter house before the evening cold snap.
Some beekeepers practice early flyby for strong families. There are several reasons for this:
- the temperature in hives with such families is higher, since they have more offspring;
- the first flight tunes the bees to a working mood and further enhances reproduction;
- in some areas, honey plants begin to bloom early, before the onset of stable heat.
An early flight itself does not have negative consequences. On the contrary, it is thus easier to calculate sick families and help them, and strengthen the stronger even more. It is much worse to keep insects in a warm, damp and stuffy room.
However, in order for early removal to be really useful, you should take care of abundant food, because bees will not be able to find it from the outside in sufficient quantities. In addition, the hives should be insulated with some kind of synthetic covering - it is better not to use straw and sawdust, since straw attracts rodents, and sawdust quickly damp. Do not forget about ventilation.
The first spring departure of bees
The cleaning flight is a labor holiday of the beekeeper. At the same time, observation data is entered in the apiary diary - this helps to plan further actions.
There are signs that require special attention:
- putrid odor and traces of diarrhea - probably nosematosis;
- bees crawl weakly with swollen abdomens - an infectious disease or excessive dampness in the hive;
- the bees do not take off, and spreading their wings fall to the ground and crawl - probably acarapidosis;
- insects do not even try to take off, crawl sluggishly - the family is starving;
- the bees run restlessly on the landing board, are active, but do not fly away - there is no queen in the family.
Just because the bees do not want to fly out does not necessarily mean that everything is bad with them. Sometimes the opposite happens: the climate in the hive is good, there is a lot of food. In this case, they can fly over in a day or two.
An exhibition of bees from the wintering house will be successful if you choose a dry and warm place for the hives, carefully transfer them, and, in case of an early exhibition, provide sufficient food. If the family flies amicably and for a long time, then it has safely survived the winter.