A: There is a legal requirement for keeping records of treatments for food producing animals in the U.K. You will have to check what the situation is elsewhere
Colony records are useful, so you know what has happened in the colony and to help you prepare for your next inspection. In our opinion the vast majority of record sheets are very complicated and in many cases the information recorded is unnecessary
A: It depends what you want. There are several areas to consider and these could include:
It is common for enthusiastic beginners to try to record far more than they need. This often results in confusion and the abandoning of recording. In my view it is better to start with simple things and make additions when you want them. It is so easy to design your own record sheet on a computer, where you can add or delete things to suit you.
A: There are some precautions you will need to take, so learn about them. In most cases the “newspaper” method is the most suitable.
A: No, you don’t need to do it but there are benefits. Marking will help you find the queen and colour coding according to age or breeding will help with management.
There is a view that clipping the queen’s wing is “mutilation”, but I suspect it has more to do with beekeepers being frightened of damaging her. However clipping has become more important as it delays the loss of a swarm for several days. The swarm comes out, but the queen can’t fly. She goes back into the hive, under the floor or crawls along the ground. The bees either go back into the hive or cluster with the queen. This gives the beekeeper more time to deal with the situation that should prevent non – beekeepers being inconvenienced by a swarm they don’t want.
A: Finding Queens is easy! but you need to know what you are looking for.
Queens will move away from the light if they can, so when you take a frame out of the brood box, it immediately exposes one side of the next frame to the light. This we term the “light” side and the “dark” side is the unexposed side. If the queen was on the light side, she will probably have moved to the dark side by the time you take it out, so that halves your work.
I look at the dark side first, round the outside first starting with the bottom, then scan the surface of the comb. Remember she is the bee with the long legs and abdomen and is often “trotting” on the comb.
A: This is one simple task we all have to do, but so many have a problem with. It depends on the fuel used, weather etc. Practice lighting it and relighting. Start a small fire in your smoker then add the slow burning fuel. Your looking for a cool smoke. Most use cardboard (stinks) but I find dry rotten wood gives the best smoke. Some use aromatics such as lavender and pine. Be careful with lit smokers as they can stay hot for a very long time.
A: Bees are generally fed for two reasons, firstly so they have enough food to survive the winter and secondly to avoid starvation. Commercial guys will feed early spring to promote early brood. Your local BKA have the best knowledge of current forage conditions and when feeding should be taking place.
There are two types of sugar syrup, 1:1 and 2:1
1:1 is one part water to one part sugar. Used as a stimulant feed or to promote wax building. Instant energy
2:1 is one part water to Two parts sugar. Used as a feed that the bees will store and use as food to take them through the winter.
A: If you feed sufficient syrup in the autumn there should be no need to use candy at all. It can be used as emergency feed if a colony runs short of food in the spring before the bees will take syrup. Commercially purchased candy also contains pollen which is good as a feed in early spring to promote brood.
I have made candy but I have other things to do with my time. If I needed it I have bought bakers fondant and I find that suitable but watch out for additives. Pollen candies are available to buy.
A: Careful! Honey can be infected with disease including one of two notifiable diseases collectively called Foul Brood. If the honey has come from a known source it will probably be O.K. otherwise I would leave it well alone. In England and Wales we have one of the world’s best bee inspection services, who help keep the levels of Foul Brood very low. In some countries Foul Brood is a widespread problem and the feeding of foreign honey may infect your bees.
A: The thinking behind changing comb is to remove some of the causative organisms of bee diseases. This is for brood comb only and the normal age is reckoned to be around 3 years. I have heard it said that if you can’t see light through a comb it is too old. There are several techniques including Shook swarm and Baily comb exchange. Attend our apiary sessions for hands on information.
A: It will depend on a lot of things including the part of the country you live in, the forage available, if you have a single crop e.g. OSR, borage, heather, etc, the strength of the colony, if the colony has swarmed, your management, etc, etc. In fact most amateur beekeepers with several colonies often have vastly differing amounts of honey on each hive. In most years you should expect some crop and although 0-100lb or more is possible, you should expect an average of perhaps 30-50lb p/a. If you work your bees for comb honey they will have to build the comb which will reduce your crop. Don’t forget when thinking how much honey you will get to subtract the amount of feeding you will have to do, as some types of bees need a lot more food than others.
A: If you live in an area with OSR, you will need to take honey as soon as possible, otherwise it will granulate solid in the comb and be difficult to extract. The main crop will be taken when there is no more coming in. This varies with the district, weather, forage etc but anywhere between late July and late August. If you live in a heather district it will be September.
A: You will need to remove the bees from the combs and there are several ways of doing this. Clearer boards are probably the easiest, but smoking, shaking, blowing, brushing is an alternative depending on number of colonies or frames.
A: If you work for extracted honey you will need an extractor of some sort. We rent extractors and this is probably the best for a beginner. See what is available locally at your BKA
A: This is quite difficult to describe here and in any case is probably better learnt at your local BKA where you should see it being demonstrated, ask questions and do it under supervision.
Taken from an article by Roger Patterson. Find more FAQ’s in the Public Section…