Heres how I do it. Start with strong bees. I only obtain local, survivor bees by doing swarm captures, trap-outs and cut-outs of bees that have survived in that location for two or more years. No chemicals introduced by beekeepers and no constant, unneeded meddling in the hive to interrupt hive scent and heat throughout the year. Next, I use hives that work the way the bees work, not the way that works best for mega honey production. I use all 5 frame hive boxes with foundation-less frames. I add new boxes to the stack at the bottom (nadiring) instead of to the top (supering) and let the bees draw combs downward as they will in a tree void. I base inspections on two internal inspections each year. One in the Spring, about late April/early May depending on the weather to do splits if necessary and to add the first new boxes to the stack. The second main internal inspection is in Late August to harvest boxes from the top and to determine colony strength going into Fall/Winter and see how much food they have stored. If need be, that is the time to combine small colonies that might struggle over-Winter on their own. the rest of the year, throughout the Spring and Summer, all inspections begin as external inspections and adding more boxes to the stack in the Spring. If the bees behavior and other notable indicators show that this is not a healthy colony then another internal inspection might be warranted. I NEVER open a hive if it is not necessary or outside the two planned inspections mentioned earlier.
Posted on: Thu, 14 Aug 2014 23:35:45 +0000
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