INTRODUCTION

Each season demands that you work with

your bee colonies and htve equipment. The work you need to do each season relates to the available flora and the cllmate and these in turn influence the size and the activity of

the colony.
Management practices in autumn determine

the health of the brood and adults in spring. Spring is the beekeepers busiest period and the colony grows in size. ln winter the
population of the colony shrinks in size.
In Australia, most honey is produced during
Figure 25a: Two frame feeders; plastic and wood

late spring and summer in temperate zones.

ln this section we use the term nectar flow but it is also known erroneously as a honey flow.lt refers to the activity you obserue when

forager bees bring large amounts of nectar and pollen into the hive.

AIM
To manage the colony throughout the year for
Figure 25b: Frame removed and frame feeder inserted ready to be filled with syrup

maximum production.

WHAT YOU NEED

. . ' .

spare Doxes spare frames spare lids spare bottom boards.

Figure 25c: A front feeder with a bottle of syrup
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Autumn
inspect the frames for food stores at the beginning and at the end of autumn; hives need six frames full of honey for food over winter

if necessary, replace empty frames with frames of honey from other hives OR supply syrup in a feeder (two parts sugar to one part wateo. See PHOTOS on pages
41,-42. rnspect the queen. Check that the queen is active on the comb, does not have worn

wings or damaged legs and that she is

laying compact areas of eggs

. .

re-queen if necessary check the brood for brood disease. Look for a solid brood pattern, not more than

10 per cent of cells empty. See section

HEALTH PROBLEMS AND PESTS IN THE HIVE.

Winter

remove all supers not covered by bees pack hives and colonies down as tight as possible to allow for good temperature and humidity control check the food supply: there should be a minimum of six frames of honey in the hive for the colony move the hive and colony to a sunny position, facing north or north east; avoid facing the hive entrance towards prevailing winds keep the hive and colon5r atva5,from damp conditions; place on stancls as required

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Figure 289'. When the bees are in the box, return the removed frames

Figure 28j: Swarm bees not already in the box enter through the open entrance

. . .

place one or two drawn combs in a box very lightly smoke the swarm shake or place the swarm into the prepared box, lf the swarm is hanging from the limb of a tree, or where tt can be reached from

below lift the hive body underneath the swarm and shake the bees into or in front of the box; a short, sharp knock that jars the limb is best. lf the fall is a shoft one,
Figure 28h: Smoke the hive before you replace

the lid

rest the box on the ground directly under the swarm; you may be able to cut the branch supporting the swarm so that it can be lowered into the box (check with the person who owns the tree)

if the bees have settled on an object too

thick or too solid to shake, carefully scrape or brush them into the box or lift the box
over the bees and draw it sidewaYs

.
Figure 28i: Carefully slide the lid across the box

leavethe boxon location until eveningto capture the entire swarm

if you use a make-shift box or bag, leave it until dark, or until the bees have settled

down before you take them to your aplary

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I I

INTRODUCTION
An inspection of the colonies at any time of the year may reveal failing queens that are not as productive as the next colony. In lf the hive has disease, refer to section Health Problems and Pests in the Hive for

addition, some colonies may exhibit signs of being more aggressive than others. October onwards is a suitable time to requeen your hives or even increase the number of hives in your apiary. From October through to the early autumn months, drones are usually plentiful. lf you are breeding queens, the virgins will be adequately mated. lf you are buying queens,

information about re-queening according to the disease status. Select a strain of bee that

. . . .

is very easy to handle

is less prone to swarmtng produces large amounts of honeY remains quiet on the frame.

the commercial breeder should be able to supply a mated queen from October onwards.
lf the colony is not performing, or is particularly savage, it needs to be re-

queened. lt may not be necessary to re-queen every year, usually once every two years is sufficient. The advantage of re-queening regularly is that the vigour of a young queen will assist the colony in overcoming mild disease symptoms and build up a strong populous hive capable of collecting a large honey crop. Pafticularly savage hives can be re-queened with a strain of bee which is easier to handle and manioulate.

Bees that sting frequently are hard to handle and are highly undesirable in a populated

area. Likewise, this detracts considerably from your enjoyment of keeping bees.
Very valuable queens should first be

introduced into a small nucleus colony, which can later be united to the stronger colony. In this case, the strong colony should be made queenless one day before uniting.

AIM
To introduce a new queen bee to the hive.

WHAT YOU NEED

A new queen bee. With some preparation and planning, you can breed Your own or you can buy one from a commercial supplier, lf you purchase a queen bee she will probably be posted to you by the queen bee producer. She will arrive in a very smal cage and be accompanied by five to eight escort worker bees. She will arrive with the rest of your mail.
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leave undisturbed for at least a week. lt may take a few days for bees in the hive to remove the plug of candy and release the oueen

check for eggs. lf there are eggs in the brood combs, requeening has been successful.

Figure 31a: use the hive tool to separate two frames of brood in the middle of the brood nest

Figure 31c: Use the hive tool to keep the frames apart as you place the cage

Figure 31b: Place the mailing cage between two frames of brood in the middle of the brood nest with the candy end slightly upwards

Figure 31d: The mailing cage in place

WORKING SAFELY
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Obserye the general safety precautions.

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