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Chapter 12

Intensive spring work

From the video: Practical Beekeeping Part 12

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Transcript
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The second spring period of intensive work and growth of bee colonies. After the first early spring period, we enter the second period of growth and development of bee colonies. As you can see, the wild cherry blossom has started, and after a short while all other fruit trees have also bloomed. Pears, cherries, apples, and plums — bees are very active in this period, here on the blossoms, dandelions, and other spring flowers. Now a series of certain tasks at the apiary awaits us, according to the program entered in the logbook. Spring tasks. Here is how I do it. During the wild cherry bloom I add feeders and begin stimulating bee colonies with small amounts of thick syrup. Since there is forage in nature — we see blossoms and dandelions — bees are bringing in pollen and nectar everywhere, they mix it with the syrup, and it really helps with the intensive development of spring brood. In this period. In this period I carry out a detailed inspection of all bee colonies. Along the way, from support colonies I transfer 1-2 frames of mature brood into productive colonies, which I designate at this first inspection, And from productive colonies I transfer empty frames into support colonies in place of the taken brood, where the queen can lay in them as soon as possible. So every subsequent 12-15 days I again take 1-2 frames from support colonies and add them to productive colonies that are already designated for honey production in the current year. This procedure of taking mature brood I do along with rotating the brood box 180 degrees, and I do this during the fruit blossom. And I repeat it after 12-15 days because I work with the Farrar system, which also fits with adding brood every 12-15 days along the way. Then follows the swapping of brood box supers vertically, because at this time of year the weather is warmer. I do this so that I lead the bee colonies toward the main honey flow as quickly as possible — that means always giving the queen more room to lay. So that bee colonies don't tip toward the swarming impulse. All these various placements and use of pollen traps, horizontal and vertical rotations, Of brood box supers, adding comb foundation, adding drone combs in this second period — all reduce the swarming impulse of bee colonies. There are also a number of other factors such as genetics, queen age, nectar flow, and others. In this period I install pollen traps. In this period I have pollen traps. In this period there is an abundance of pollen in nature during the fruit blossom developmental flow phase. At the end of this second spring period, bee colonies are already entering the third period of their development, Which already means in each colony about 25,000 individual bees, or about 2.5 kg in mass. Because in this period one bee already raises 3.9 larvae — this is because in this second period the spring-summer bee has higher quality, namely youth, and because of this quality of spring bees we have intensive colony development compared to the first early spring development. This mass of bees can nurture and feed the brood of even the youngest and highest-quality queen, and that is why we enter the third, even more intensive development of bee colonies — that is roughly 15 to 20 days before the main honey flow. That is the optimal time for forming productive colonies and also for fighting varroa. Before the main honey flow or at the very beginning, in the first ten days of the main honey flow.
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Guide

Intensive spring work — Colony growth and development

After the first early spring period, the second period of growth and development of bee colonies begins. Wild cherry, pear, plum, apple, and cherry trees have bloomed. The bees are very active on blossoms, dandelions, and other spring flowers.

Syrup stimulation

During the wild cherry bloom, feeders with smaller amounts of thicker syrup are placed for stimulation. The bees bring in pollen and nectar from nature, mix it with the syrup — this significantly helps with the intensive development of spring brood.

Detailed inspection and brood transfer

A detailed inspection of all bee colonies is carried out. From support colonies, 1–2 frames of mature brood are transferred to production colonies, and empty frames from production colonies are returned to support colonies in place of the removed brood — so the queen can lay in them as soon as possible.

This procedure is repeated every 12–15 days, with rotating the brood box 180 degrees. On the Farrar hive, this fits perfectly into the rhythm of adding brood.

Super rotation and swarm prevention

Next comes vertical rotation of brood box supers — the goal is to always give the queen more space for laying and prevent the swarming impulse. All activities in this period — placing pollen traps, horizontal and vertical super rotations, adding foundation and drone combs — reduce the impulse to swarm. Swarming is also influenced by other factors: genetics, queen age, nectar flow, and others.

Entering the third period

At the end of the second period, colonies enter the third period of development with about 25,000 individuals (about 2.5 kg in mass). In this period, one bee raises 3.9 larvae — because spring-summer bees have higher quality thanks to their youth. This is the optimal time for setting up production colonies and fighting varroa, approximately 15 to 20 days before the main honey flow.

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