From how to spend the winter bees depend on the results of the spring nectar flow.The stronger the bees in the spring, the more productive they will be working, giving a good collection.Therefore it is very important to the proper preparation of families for the winter.
How to prepare bees for winter
Caring for bees is in constant monitoring of the families and the creation of favorable conditions for their existence.Thus, the beekeeper must throughout the summer to prepare the nest for the winter period.The final inspection is carried out in the autumn.
During this audit beekeeper must install and want to log the following data:
- age of the uterus;
- number of brood;
- reserves of pollen and honey, their approximate number;
- bees and overall assessment of the readiness of families to be winter.
After the autumn check beekeeper corrects the identified deficiencies.From this stage begins winter feeding bees and prepare to frost.
stages of preparation for winter
- Harvesting high-quality forage.
- Capacity strength of the family.
- assembly slot.
- Therapeutic treatment of bees.
- Sanitary cleaning slot.
- Creating conditions for keeping bees in the conditions of extreme cold and frost.
A very important step is fertilization.
Why feed the bees
Winter time is conventionally divided into two periods.The first period can be called gluhozimem.Thus, in early winter bees are completely at rest.They move a little and little eating food.This period is the most economical and quiet for the whole year.In this mode, the family lived until the brood.From this point begins the second period of hibernation.
appearance of the brood completely changes the environment of the hive.Bees are becoming active and to engage in feeding the brood.This means that the feed consumption increases.Furthermore, bees expend efforts to establish a temperature and humidity in the brood area.And this they expend more energy.The ideal is a situation when the time comes the cultivation of bees closer to spring.The fact that the bees have spring forces and the more opportunities for feeding brood than in the winter.
Usually bees grow their brood in late February or March, but often there are exceptions.Therefore, feeding bees in February may be important for the development of the brood.
When it is necessary to give additional forage
Since towards the end of the winter family consume more feed, the beekeeper is important to determine when you need to carry out feeding.
Many experienced beekeepers debate on this topic.Some argue that the nest can not touch it until spring.Others advocate the need to give extra food, otherwise the bees will die.The fact that the bees instinctively the autumn harvest large reserves of honey.If it is not completely take away the bees safely survive the winter.The chance that they will die, exists only if hibernation to take all the honey, without even leaving food.Winter consumption of honey is about 1 kg per month.This means that for October, November, December and January the family to eat about 4 kg of honey.For these calculations beekeeper can roughly calculate how much honey should be left to the family through the winter.
Many beekeepers, fearing the death of insects spend the winter feeding.Experts say that it is better not to do so.Fertilizing winter can play havoc and cause premature uterine brood-rearing.Therefore, to give additional forage in the winter is not recommended.It is best to provide all the bees forage in the fall.It should be carefully calculate the amount of foods to be enough even for spring development.
Early feeding of bees carried out after an inspection of the hive.If stocks have gone, we can give the bees the honey diluted with water, or to prepare a manger.
feed or feed
main difference bee he believes that they are able to feed themselves, and even to share with people.So feed the family can only beekeepers, who are selected from all the honey hive.It is for this category of bee feeding bees sugar syrup is the main way of keeping families during the winter.Thus they create stocks of sugar honey.
Such carbohydrate diet will help a good idea to spend the winter bees, and even withstand several seasons.But because of the lack of minerals, vitamins and many other nutrients insects will weaken and degenerate.Some beekeepers feed their families even in summer syrup.In this case the honey will be with other properties.Useful it will be very small.Therefore, feeding bees syrup should be used only in case of shortage of winter stocks.
Thus, this type of dressing should be carried out only in two cases:
- When the family can not provide enough fodder.
- If you collect honey crystallizes or contains honeydew.Such honey is not suitable as a winter feed.
How to spend the winter feeding
There are times when even the proper care of bees and large stocks of food can not save the family from starvation winter.The only way out - to feed insects.As an option, you can use malomednye framework in which to add the sugar syrup and honey.If it is good to fill in all cells of one such framework goes up to 2 kg of feed, which should be enough for a family for a month.Framed be delivered, removing the empty cell, the diaphragm cover and thermal insulation pad.There are other ways of feeding.Let us dwell on them in greater detail.
Recipe
Kandy Kandy - a sugar-honey dough, which is often used when you need feeding bees.Recipes of bee food in different sources may vary.But the essence remains the same.Usually, it is prepared according to the following scheme: 1.9 kg of liquid honey to warm water bath to 50 ° C, add 8 kg of powdered sugar, 100 grams of water.Knead as usual dough and make cakes.
Honey and sugar cakes put on top of the frame.
Feeding honey
Feeding honey bee is widely used in both autumn and spring.To do this, from the hive removed the extra frame, print and con strong and average families.Frames with honey should be put into the hive off the edge of the diaphragm or the second from the edge.
When crystallized honey in the comb, such cells to print out and fill in a little warm water.Very soon it will begin to liquefy the honey and the bees will be able to start feeding.
There are situations where honey sour.Then he was in any case can not be boiled, and to give the bees as a lure.The fact is that by boiling fruit sugar is its caramelization.This honey is very dangerous for bees.
Also wintering colony can occur liquefaction unprintable honey.Frames with honey should be moved to strong families.If you do not, then at a temperature of over 10 ° C are ideal conditions for the activation of various yeasts, which are in the air and honey.As a result, it may happen fermentation or acidification honey.
If harvested feed is not enough, it is recommended to give warm in a warm room with a quality frame sealed honey.Alternatively, you can use a centrifugal honey.To make it, you need to apply an enamel or aluminum cookware honey, adding to each kilogram of a glass of water.Pan placed on a pot with water, heated to boiling and slowly stir honey until all the crystals are dissolved.The mass was then removed from the heat and pour in the feeding trough.
Ssevshiysya honey also need to prepare.Before feeding it to be preheated to dissolve all the crystals.In order to accelerate the dissolution process for each kilogram of honey added to a glass of boiling water and stir well.Then the honey is left overnight, until it is completely dissolved.The next day, it can be fed to bees in the form of heat.
feeding methods to feed honey
honey can be done in the following ways:
- With feeders specially adapted for supplying feed.Before using the feeder should be thoroughly washed and dried.Only then can fill in the cracks with wax furnace ash or rosin.
- From cans - in this case, an ordinary glass jars, pour the liquid in which solid foods (for example, sugar syrup).
- By filling cells.
protein feed
Power bees should consist not only of honey and sugar.Of great importance for the development and life of the bee colony has a protein food.That is a source of pollen.This should be taken into account when the planned feeding bees.In February, the lack of protein foods is particularly acute.As a rule, stocks closer to spring pollen already on the wane.
Lack of pollen has a negative impact on the quantity and quality of offspring.As a result, output small bee with weak muscles and lower life expectancy.Furthermore, the pollen is an important component for the isolation bees wax.Therefore protein feeding bees spring is very important, and in some cases even necessary.
proved that the addition of pollen to feed up to 11 days of life bees increases voskovydelitelnyh glands.After this period of pollen has not such effect.
But using this kind of feeding, beekeepers must adhere important rule: you can not mix protein and carbohydrate food.The fact that the two groups live hive of bees - young nurse and summer bees that feed exclusively on honey.Therefore, the excess of sugar for the first group, or an excessive amount of pollen for the second will not meet their normal diet.To meet the requirements of all the bees, should be given two types of feed separately.
Preparation of feed for Stepanenko
Among the owners of hives enjoys high esteem Russian Gennady Stepanenko beekeeper.He developed a whole system of preparation of the hives for winter.Thus, the beekeeper Stepanenko forage for the winter since the spring.After flowering acacia sainfoin and he selects from the nests of 8 frames that must contain at least 1 kg of honey sealed.This framework beekeeper places on the east side of hives.
Stepanenko explained by the fact that next to the honey bee will sunflowers.This honey will crystallize.The beekeeper places a frame with honey at the bottom of this hive, the bees during the winter ate it in the first half of winter.In the second half they will eat espartsetovym honey.When families leave enough honey, the bees feeding in February may not be necessary.
fertilizing Stepanenko holds after the last pumping honey, but no later than mid-September.According to Gennady, feeding bees in February should be carried out only for the prevention of disease and better gniltsovyh of families.For this, he is preparing cakes of therapeutic and prophylactic pastes, weighing less than 1 kg, and places them on top of the nest.Throughout the spring the family should receive three such cakes.
