CATDOLL : CATDOLL: What are the key points of knowledge in raising Chinese honey bees (technology of raising Chinese honey bees)

1. What are the key management points when raising bees?

First of all, you should buy books on beekeeping, at least you should understand the theoretical knowledge of beekeeping. Communicate with more beekeepers and ask them about the problems they often encounter in beekeeping. You should also understand the sales of honey, because it is difficult to sell honey without a market. You should consider whether to raise Chinese honey bees or Italian honey bees, and you should first understand these two types of bees. According to your own conditions. Consider whether to raise bees at a fixed point or to chase bees. Some people are very allergic to bee stings, so it also depends on whether your body can raise bees. People with severe allergies cannot raise bees. Because beekeepers are often stung by bees.

If you want to raise bees at a fixed location, you need to see if there are many flowers in your area and fully understand the local pollen and nectar sources. Good flowers have pollen and honey for bees to collect. For fixed-location bee breeding, you also need a place to keep bees. Bees like quiet places, so the place where they are kept needs to be quiet. The location for placing beehives should be under the shade of trees. Fixed-location bee breeding is suitable for raising Chinese honey bees. Chinese honey bees are also the bees in our country. They are suitable for collecting scattered nectar sources.

If you raise bees by chasing flowers, you need a car to transport the bees. This way of raising bees requires traveling all over the country. You take the bees wherever the flowers are blooming. Chasing flowers is hard work, and you have to consider whether you can bear it. It is better to raise Italian bees than chasing flowers to raise bees. Raising Italian bees requires a large source of nectar and pollen, so raising Italian bees is more suitable for chasing flowers.

If you are a beginner and want to start beekeeping, I think the best way is to buy a few boxes of bees and raise them. After you have acquired certain beekeeping skills, you can consider whether to expand the scale and continue breeding.

2. Technical guide for breeding Chinese bees?

1. Nectar source: A bee farm must be built in a place with abundant nectar source. The reason is that bees cannot survive normally and make honey from collecting nectar. If there is a lack of nectar source nearby, the survival of the bee colony will be a problem, let alone expecting bees to collect nectar and make honey.

2. Environment: The apiary must be built in a quiet environment. The reason is that the microclimate near the apiary is more conducive to the reproduction of the bee colony. For example, when the temperature is high, the bees will fan or collect water to cool down, which will invisibly increase the burden on the bee colony.

3. Climate: The apiary must be established in a place with a suitable climate. The reason is that the bee colony can only develop stably in a quiet environment. Otherwise, the bee colony may not be able to collect and make honey quietly. If it is severely disturbed, the bee colony may even abandon the nest and flee.

4. Pests: Bee farms must be built in places where pests are rare. This is because there are many pests in nature that will invade and kill bees. For example, hornets will not only kill worker bees that go out to collect honey, but will also concentrate on attacking bee colonies in seasons when food is scarce.

3. Chinese bee breeding technology and management?

Chinese bee breeding is generally divided into soil breeding technology and live frame breeding technology.

To grow the plants in the soil, you only need a few wooden barrels or hollowed-out logs, which can be turned upside down or placed in front of or behind farmers' houses.

The wooden barrel needs to be boiled in a large pot, and salt, a small amount of honey, and a small amount of beeswax can be added to the water. You can also use pure Chinese beeswax to brush the boiled wooden barrel around the barrel, and brush the bottom of the barrel thicker.

In general areas, under normal temperature and nectar conditions, when the spring equinox comes, it is the peak season for the natural swarming of Chinese honey bees. Natural swarms will come to build nests, and then, after the nectar of major nectar plants has flowed, honey can be collected. In the most common case, two seasons of local honey can be collected in a year. The yield is average, the honey concentration is extremely high, the taste is good, and the flavor is mellow. Compared with the price of ordinary honey, it is slightly more expensive.

This is the breeding and management technology of native Chinese honey bees. Although the output is average, the management and operation methods are extremely simple. It is very suitable for novice beekeepers, or individual investors who raise a small number of Chinese honey bees. It is also suitable for amateur beekeepers who raise a few groups of bees to enrich their spare time.

Based on this traditional soil breeding technology, many derivative breeding technologies have been developed, such as lattice boxes, Three Gorges barrels, etc. They have one thing in common, that is, the lazy beekeeping method, which is simple to operate and has a low technical threshold.

The movable frame breeding of Chinese honeybees is a scientific breeding technology that has begun to be scaled up and industrialized.

This breeding technology is very professional and it is best to learn it under the guidance of a local, professional beekeeper so that novice beekeepers can avoid unnecessary losses and make fewer mistakes.

First of all, you need to choose an open field with nectar source, water source, light, shade and slope. Moreover, the field should be in a peaceful location without strong winds. There should be no factory pollution, poultry farms, pollution and noise from various processing plants within a radius of at least five kilometers around the bee farm. This is because bees love cleanliness and quietness, and they also want to produce better and healthier wild native Chinese honey.

Carefully understand and record in detail the nectar flow time and periodicity of local pollen and nectar source plants. You must clearly know when your local pollen and nectar source plants bloom and when they flow nectar, and keep good records. The more detailed the better. In this way, you can know when the apiary can collect honey, when the apiary can breed queens, and when the apiary can replace queens, so that you can plan and formulate methods that are suitable for your own apiary.

To raise bees well, you must know the living habits and physiological characteristics of Chinese bees. To know these clearly, you can only rely on meticulous observation, continuous research and comprehension, and accumulation over time to develop a set of Chinese honeybee breeding and management techniques suitable for your local area.

For example, the queen bee likes to lay eggs in a new nest, so the old combs should be moved out during the breeding season. For example, the Chinese honey bee likes to be quiet, so when checking the bee colony, you should check the hive purposefully, make quick decisions, disturb as little as possible, open the hive less, and learn the management techniques of observing and judging the internal situation of the bee colony from outside the hive, etc.

4. How to raise Chinese bees well?

Chinese bees refer to the Chinese honey bees, and their breeding and management are as follows;

1. Selection of beekeeping site

The apiary for releasing Chinese honey bees should be located on secluded hillsides, half-hillsides, or at the edge of forests, away from factories, mines, roads, etc., and away from harassment or vibration interference from humans and animals. There should be sufficient and clean water sources near the apiary.

Chinese honey bees are not very strict about bulk nectar sources, but they have more requirements for the types of nectar and pollen plants. The nectar source flowering period is continuous, and there is not too long a honey-free period. Because Chinese honey bees are good at using scattered nectar sources, the scattered nectar and pollen from the outside world are constantly supplied, which avoids bee theft and facilitates management.

2. Placement of bee colonies

Because Chinese honey bees have been domesticated for a short time, are wild, have poor orientation, and are easily lost, they cannot be placed in rows, neatly and closely, and in the same direction as Western honey bees. When placing Chinese honey bee colonies, the distance between colonies should be farther, staggered front and back, and the direction of the nest gates should not be consistent.

Avoid bees from different colonies from being thrown into the wrong place, which may cause fighting and killing. Especially for mating colonies, the distance between large colonies should be increased to prevent the queen bee from being killed by the wrong place. Each box should be padded with wooden stakes to prevent ants from invading the Chinese honey bee colony and causing the bees to escape.

3. Prevent contact with odor

Chinese honey bees have a keen sense of smell and are very sensitive to odors. It is best to use a beehive used by Western honey bees to raise Chinese honey bees. Or choose a new beehive made of odorless wood. Before using the new beehive, apply a small amount of beeswax to eliminate the wood odor, which will help Chinese honey bees accept it and prevent it from flying away.

Do not use drugs with strong odors to prevent and treat bee diseases. After the beehives and beekeeping tools are disinfected, the odor must be completely eliminated before they can be used again. Try to disinfect the beehives by burning to prevent the odor from irritating the bees and causing them to escape.

5. Top-secret technology of Chinese beekeeping?

1. Collecting bee colonies

Chinese honey bees are distributed in most parts of my country, especially in the southern mountainous areas where there are extremely rich wild resources. If they can be captured and artificially bred, it will undoubtedly be the best source of bee species. Currently, there are two main ways to capture wild Chinese honey bees: luring bees and collecting bees. Luring bees is to use luring beehives to lure swarms or migratory bee swarms, while collecting bees is to find the hives of wild Chinese honey bees and then capture them.

2. Bee colony transfer

There are two main ways of breeding Chinese honeybees in our country: traditional soil breeding and live-frame beehive breeding. In order to facilitate the management of bee colonies in the future, it is recommended that you try to use live-frame beehive breeding. However, whether it is a newly collected bee colony or a soil breeding to live-frame breeding, the hive transfer technology is required. When transferring the hive, the Chinese honeybees' habit of loving honeycombs is mainly utilized. In short, some honeycombs should be placed in the beehive first and then the transfer operation should be performed.

3. Artificial feeding

Chinese honey bees generally do not need to be fed artificially, but they need "reward feeding" during the spring and autumn breeding season to stimulate the queen bee to lay eggs and encourage worker bees to raise larvae. In addition, "supplementary feeding" is also needed in winter or early spring to provide the necessary food for the bee colony. The feed can be honey water, syrup or pollen. The most commonly used syrup by beekeepers is syrup made by melting white sugar with an appropriate amount of boiling water.

4. Swarming treatment

The biggest disadvantage of the Chinese honey bee is its strong swarming tendency. There are two main ways to deal with swarming: natural swarming and artificial swarming. Natural swarming is to wait for the bee colony to swarm and then capture the swarms, while artificial swarming is to artificially split the bee colony into two groups when the queen cells are mature. One group contains the old queen bee and old worker bees, and the other group contains queen cells and new worker bees (worker bees that have not recognized the nest or conducted test flights).

5. Intervention of the Queen Bee

Chinese honey bees are relatively easy to lose their queen, so beekeepers must master certain queen removal techniques. There are two types of queen removal, direct and indirect, depending on the operation. Direct queen removal is to spray the queen bee with honey water and then put it into the bee colony, while indirect queen removal is to use a queen removal device. It is worth noting that when the queen bee is surrounded, do not use your hands to move the bee colony. Use methods such as spraying smoke or sprinkling water to rescue the queen bee.

6. Spring breeding management

Spring breeding is the key task of Chinese honey bee breeding. Doing a good job in spring breeding can significantly improve the beekeeping benefits throughout the year, but Chinese honey bees should pay attention to the following four points during spring breeding. First, the time of spring breeding should be determined according to the local climate. Second, there must be "more bees than combs" during the spring breeding period. Third, "reward feeding" should be continuous during the spring breeding period to promote rapid breeding of the bee colony. Fourth, the bee colony should be kept warm during the spring breeding period.

7. Autumn breeding management

The purpose of autumn breeding is to allow the bee colony to cultivate a large number of overwintering bees of appropriate age. Simply put, the more overwintering bees of appropriate age in the bee colony before wintering, the safer the wintering. The specific management is similar to spring breeding. First, the time of autumn breeding should be determined according to the local climate. Second, "reward feeding" should be carried out continuously during the autumn breeding period to promote rapid reproduction of the bee colony. Third, the "queen" should be closed in time in the late autumn breeding period to preserve the overwintering strength of the bee colony.

8. Overwintering of bee colonies

The wintering period is the key point for the success or failure of Chinese honey bee breeding. At this time, there are two key management aspects. The first is to supplement the bee colony with enough food before wintering. Because the worker bees gather in groups and rely on eating honey to produce heat during the wintering, the bee colony will starve to death or freeze to death if there is insufficient food. The second is to keep the beehives well insulated, but the principle of insulation is "better to be cold than warm", because excessive insulation will cause the bee colony to disperse and cause wintering failure.

IX. Disease prevention and control

Disease prevention and control is the highlight of Chinese honey bee breeding. In fact, it is also the culprit for most people's beekeeping failure. Therefore, we must "prevent early, detect early, and treat early" for diseases, especially the sac brood disease and nest insects that pose the greatest threat to Chinese honey bees. Once an outbreak occurs, it can be devastating to the entire apiary. In addition, when the harm caused by enemies (mainly hornets) is serious, we must assist the bee colony in fighting against natural enemies.

6. Chinese bee breeding: What issues should be paid attention to when breeding Chinese bees in cities?

In some Western countries, it is normal to keep bees as pets. It is also completely possible to keep bees in cities. What problems should be paid attention to when raising Chinese bees in cities? Let me talk about it in detail.

First, there must be a good place to keep bees.

Bees are not real pets. They can sting people. They have to fly out of the nest and are attracted by smells or light sources. They run to other people's territory and even sting people. Bee stings are very painful, and most people are afraid of them. So if beekeeping harms neighbors and causes dissatisfaction among others, it is not good. If you want to keep bees in the city, you can't just start keeping bees on your balcony at home. You must handle the relationship with the neighbors well and make sure that people around you don't oppose beekeeping.

When raising bees in the city, it is best to choose a secluded place with no neighbors, no big light sources, no excessive vehicle noise, and not close to factories or busy areas. Bees cannot be raised in places with a large population. People are afraid of bees, and bees are also afraid of people.

Second, the beehives cannot be placed too high and cannot face the road.

The beehive should be placed in a cool, comfortable and ventilated place. If it can only be placed on the floor, do not place it on the hot balcony. It should be placed in a place that is shaded and convenient for travel. And the beehive should not be placed too high, at most three or four floors. If it is too high, it will be difficult for the bees to return to the nest. The bees will die quickly if they are too tired to collect, so the bees will not be raised well.

There are many roads in the city, so bees should not cross the road when they leave the nest. Although bees have the ability to identify obstacles, they may not be able to avoid speeding vehicles and may be hit and killed. In addition, bees will be irritable when vehicles are rolling, and they are easy to sting people.

Third, you need to investigate whether there are nectar and pollen-producing flowers that can be collected in the city.

Not all flowers have nectar for bees to collect. Many ornamental flowers do not have nectar. You can observe whether the ornamental flowers planted in the city can provide nectar for bees. Are there any pollen-rich flowers within 2 to 3 kilometers that can be collected?

It is not convenient to move bees to other places to pursue nectar sources in urban areas. If there is insufficient nectar and pollen sources, it is difficult to keep bees well by artificial feeding. Especially for Chinese bees, if they are fed with white syrup and pollen substitutes, they will not be kept well. If there is no real beekeeping technology, there must be sufficient nectar and pollen source flowers to collect.

4. There should be no lights around the beehives at night.

Bees are phototactic. If there is light illuminating the hive at night, they will fly towards the light source and will keep flying around until they are exhausted to death. In the city, there are many lights at night, whether it is lights in the home or street lights, they are very attractive to bees. We can't let the bees die of exhaustion. If the bees fly into the house, they may sting people, which will make people scared.

When keeping bees in the city, you must be careful to avoid light shining into the hive. After the bees return to the hive at night, you can use blackout materials to cover the hive door. Just block the light, but never block the hive door.

Fifth, you need to know the basic techniques of beekeeping.

Beekeeping requires skills. Although Chinese beekeeping is easier, it still requires basic skills. We must know when to focus on bee breeding and when to add honeycombs? When to raise and replace the queen? How to feed when there is a lack of honey and pollen? ...

Beekeeping is neither difficult nor easy. Only by understanding the basic operating techniques and improving through exploration and summary can we really raise bees well. Although it is relatively easy to raise Chinese bees, they have the characteristic of running around. You must be careful not to disturb the bee colony and let it run away. I will not go into details about the specific methods here. It is not something that can be explained in dozens or hundreds of words. You can read books on beekeeping technology or learn technology from beekeepers. The question and answer article I wrote talks about beekeeping technology. You should be rewarded if you understand it.

Okay, that’s all I have to say. First, you need to understand whether your conditions are suitable for beekeeping, then decide to keep bees, and then start learning beekeeping techniques before you can actually start beekeeping.