CATDOLL : CATDOLL: Beekeeping in Hunan, how to manage bees in summer

1. Beekeeping in Hunan: How to manage bees in summer

I am a rural teacher in Yongzhou City, Hunan Province. I have been teaching in the countryside for 30 years. After completing my teaching tasks, I insisted on beekeeping in my spare time. I have been doing this as an amateur for 20 years.

Yongzhou City in Hunan Province has a subtropical humid climate. Its climate features are: no extreme heat in summer, no extreme cold in winter, short winter and spring, long summer and autumn, and distinct four seasons.

The main sources of honey in Yongzhou in summer are Chinese tallow tree and Ligustrum lucidum, which bloom from May to June. After these two nectar plants, autumn honey can only be produced when the gallnut flowers bloom from the end of September to October.

Therefore, July to August in Yongzhou is a period of lack of nectar sources. This period is also the summer drought season, the weather is hot, and the temperature sometimes reaches nearly 34 degrees. This is the most critical period of the year for bee management in Yongzhou. Any negligence or poor management will lead to the weakening of the bee colony and even cause the bees to flee. So how to manage the bee colony well during this season?

I think it is necessary to ensure that the king and honey are sufficient, provide shade and sun protection, balance the group strength, and increase humidity and reduce temperature.

Queen is good and honey is sufficient: the queen replacement should be completed before the summer, and the number of new queens should reach 80% of the total number of queens during the summer. Before the summer, there must be enough honey, and the honey capped can be seen on the side of the beehive.

Shade and sun protection: Move the apiary to a cool woods if possible. Beehives should never be placed in direct sunlight. The air circulation in the apiary should be good.

Balanced colony strength: The stronger the bee colony, the stronger its ability to self-regulate the temperature and humidity in the hive. Therefore, before summer, some weak bee colonies can be merged into large colonies.

Humidification and cooling: When the temperature is high at noon, you can use artificial sprinkling to cool down, or you can wet the beehive with water and cover it with cloth to increase humidity and cool down.

In addition, in the midsummer season, pay attention to using the outside of the box to observe the production and living conditions of the bees in the box as much as possible, reduce observation inside the box, and prevent bee theft. At the same time, when the temperature is high in summer, it is the period of rapid development of nest insects, so at this time, you must also pay attention to controlling nest insects from harming the brood combs.

2. How do you trap a wild bee queen?

Safe trapping of queen bees

1. Safety Lure King Method

1. Nest door luring queen method: In the evening, gently catch the queen bee to be lured in, put it on the nest door, and let it slowly crawl into the nest. Or drop a few drops of honey on the queen bee's body, and then let it crawl into the nest, let the worker bees lick it, and eliminate hostility. This method is simple and has a high acceptance rate, but it is limited to use during the honey flow period. If there is no honey and pollen source outside and the bee thieves are rampant, this method should not be used.

2. The method of spraying smoke at the nest entrance to lure the queen: Take out 2 frames of bees from the receiving colony, shake them at the nest entrance, and then use a smoker to gently spray smoke at the nest entrance a few times. While the bee colony is in chaos, place the queen bee at the nest entrance and let her enter the nest entrance with the worker bees, and then sprinkle some thin honey water into the box.

3. Matchbox method to lure the queen bee: drill a few small holes on the top and both ends of the matchbox, put the queen bee into the matchbox, then drip a few drops of honey on both ends and the top of the box, and sandwich it between two honeycombs. As the worker bees suck the honey, they will gnaw the holes and come into contact with the queen bee without any hostility.

4. Mailing the queen bee: When mailing the queen bee, first tidy up the bee colony, transfer in 1 frame of honey and pollen combs and 2 frames of old combs, then put the mailing cage between the two combs, watch for 5 minutes, if there is no queen bee, close the box lid, check again the next day, if there is no queen bee, release the queen bee and take out the queen cage. You can also drip a few drops of honey on the queen cage, which is more acceptable to worker bees.

5. The method of luring the queen bee with old sealed combs: Take out 1-2 frames of old sealed combs that are leaving the hive from a large (strong) colony, shake off the bees on the combs, and place them in the prepared beehive (pay attention to heat preservation when the temperature is low). After 1-2 hours, lure the queen bee directly into it. After 1-2 days, open the box for inspection and add honey and pollen combs and old sealed combs without bees. This method is used for mail-order queen bees. It is safe to lure in and lay eggs quickly.

6. The method of luring the queen bee with a trap: Use a trap to hold the queen bee in a place with honey in the honeycomb. After one day, when no worker bees surround and bite the trap and they start to feed the queen bee, you can open the trap and release the queen bee.

7. Newspaper method to lure the queen bee: drill some small holes in the newspaper, then roll it into a tube and put the queen bee in it. Seal both ends and put it into the receiving colony. Wait for the queen bee to bite through the small tube of newspaper and crawl out by herself.

2. Tips for Seducing the King

1. Induce the queen according to the biological characteristics of the bee colony: for example, during the honey flow period, the external honey source is abundant, the bees concentrate on collecting, and their awareness of theft and vigilance are relaxed. At this time, the queen is easily accepted and the success rate is high, so large-scale queen replacement should be carried out during the honey flow period. If it is necessary to replace the queen during the period without pollen and honey for some reason, appropriate protective measures should be taken to ensure the safety of the queen.

2. Before luring in the queen bee, be sure to completely remove the queen cells: the time of losing the queen cannot be less than 24 hours, but the queen substances left in the nest must be completely eliminated to strengthen the bee colony's desire for a queen and to facilitate the acceptance of the foreign queen bee.

3. The best time to lure a queen is in the evening: at this time, the bee colony has stopped its activities, the stealing bees have disappeared, and the bee colony is less vigilant, so it is more likely to accept a queen bee.

4. It is not advisable to open the box for inspection frequently: After the queen bee is lured in, it should be observed outside the box. If dead bees are dragged out of the hive, it means that the queen bee is surrounded and the box should be opened for inspection. If no queen bee corpse or other symptoms are found, it means that the queen bee has been successfully lured.

There is no secret. Just wear a mask, smoke the bees with wood smoke for a while, so that the bees lose their ability to attack, and then use a hollow bamboo or basket to catch them. You may not be able to catch them! Because you may not know the queen bee! For wild bees, just put sugar water in a bucket or a box, and you may attract the queen bee! For domesticated bees, the queen bee is bought or cultivated by yourself! OK

You may not be able to catch it! Because you may not know the queen bee! Wild bees can attract the queen bee by putting sugar water in a bucket or a box! For domesticated bees, the queen bee is bought or cultivated by yourself!

There is no secret. Just wear a mask, smoke the bees with firewood for a while to make them lose their ability to attack, and then catch them with a hollow bamboo or basket.

You on the third floor are so talented!

3. Can Linglongzhi be grown in Yongzhou area?

Linglongzhi grapes can be grown in Yongzhou, Hunan. There is a lot of information on the Internet, or you can buy books about growing grapes and read them yourself. You can go to your local academy of agricultural sciences to consult experts.