CATDOLL : CATDOLL: Technical guidance for raising Chinese bees (Summary of technical guidance for raising Chinese bees)

1. What is the whole process of Chinese bee breeding technology?

Chinese bee breeding is carried out in eight steps: the first is to place the bee colony, the second is to inspect the colony, the third is to handle the honeycomb, the fourth is to feed the bees, the fifth is to merge the colonies, the sixth is to raise the queen, the seventh is to swarm the bees, and the eighth is to handle colony abnormalities.

1. Place the bee colony

Because Chinese bees have a keen sense of smell, strong thieving instincts, and poor directional ability, the bee colony should be placed in a site with two or more main nectar sources (spring and summer, spring and autumn, spring and autumn and winter) and auxiliary nectar sources in other seasons. If the nectar source is insufficient, the bee colonies should be placed in a dispersed manner, usually in groups of 2-3 boxes. The distance between each colony is about 30 cm, and natural barriers such as trees, houses, and terrain should be used to separate the groups.

Tips: Bee colonies should not be placed on windy mountaintops, near high-voltage transformers, in places subject to vibration and smoke, or near roads with heavy traffic of people, livestock, and vehicles. Once a bee colony is placed, it should not be easily moved.

2. Bee colony inspection

There are two methods for inspecting bee colonies: outside-box observation and open-box inspection.

Observation outside the hive: If the worker bees are not active in attendance, return to the nest without pollen, and their wings are shaking in front of the nest door, and they enter and exit in a chaotic manner, it can be preliminarily judged that the bee colony has lost its queen. If there are half-dead pupae dragged out near the nest door, it indicates that there is nest insect damage; if the dragged out are larvae, the bee colony may suffer from larval disease; if there are worker bees with dark body color, swollen abdomen, difficulty in flying, and slow movements crawling in front of the nest door, and there is thin feces around the beehive, the bee colony may suffer from microsporidiosis.

Unpacking and inspection: If there is honey on the side combs, even capped, and there are 2-3 fingers of honey lines on the upper part of the central comb, it means that the feed is sufficient; otherwise, it should be supplemented in time. If the caps show "white-headed pupae" with a linear trend, the combs are uneven, and there are many wax scraps on the bottom of the box, it can be judged as nest worm disease; if the larvae are pointed and upright, and there are some irregular small holes on the surface of the capped combs, it can be judged as cystic larvae disease.

Tips: Each unpacking should have a clear purpose. If it is not necessary or the weather is not suitable, do not open the box blindly and frequently.

3. Honeycomb Processing

If the surface of the honeycomb turns white and wax spots appear on the nest frame, you can add more honeycombs, one at a time, at the edge of the nest frame, and discard the old honeycombs. The general rule for placing honeycombs is to place eggs, worms, brood and new honeycombs in the middle, and old, honey and pollen honeycombs on both sides. The distance from the bee path is 8 mm, which is reduced to 6 mm when accelerating reproduction, and widened to 10 mm when high temperature ventilation is used.

A little reminder: Depending on the situation, it is necessary to regulate and replenish the spleen.

4. Bee feeding

Bees are mainly fed sugar, pollen, water, salt, etc.

Feeding sugar: White sugar has no odor and is not likely to attract bee robbers; the syrup concentration is usually 2:1, that is, two pounds of white sugar to one pound of water, or 1:1. If honey is used, then 3 pounds of honey to one pound of water.

Feeding pollen: Pollen is usually fed during the spring breeding season, the long-term low temperature and rainy season, and when there is a lack of external nectar sources. Pollen combs can be directly inserted into the bee colony for supplementation, and natural pollen and artificial pollen can also be used for feeding.

Feeding water and salt: When the weather is hot and dry, the bee farm can set up water dispensers or drinking troughs. When feeding water, you can add appropriate salt, the ratio is to add 0.1-0.5% salt to clean water.

5. Swarm Merger

Bee colony merging refers to the process of merging two bee colonies into one. During the spring breeding season and late autumn, weak colonies, colonies with aging queens, and colonies without queens can all be merged. There are two methods of merging colonies: direct merging and indirect merging.

Tips: When merging directly, drop 4-5 drops of perfume or 10 drops of white wine on the frame beam for better results.

6. Breeding the King

Queen rearing is divided into artificial queen rearing and mating group organization. Artificial queen rearing includes three main steps: breeding drones, organizing nursery groups to breed queens, and organizing virgin queens to mate. Mating groups are bee colonies organized by inducing mature royal cells or virgin queens for new queens or virgin queens to mate. Mating groups can use special mating boxes or can be separated groups without queens.

7. Swarm

Swarming can be divided into two types: artificial swarming and natural swarming. Artificial swarming can be further divided into two types: single-colony equal swarming and single-colony unequal swarming.

Single colony equal swarming is usually carried out after a large honey flow. The original colony moves half of the box position, and an empty box is added side by side. The original honey comb and brood comb are divided into two and placed in two beehives. The left colony opens the left nest door, and the right colony opens the right nest door. One colony has an old queen. The colony without a queen will introduce a mature queen cell as a mating colony on the second day of swarming.

Unequal swarming in a single colony occurs during the period of high honey flow. For colonies that have developed swarming fever, remove the old queen and two frames of honeycombs with bees and honey-sealed lids, and choose a new site to make a breeding colony. Keep a large and straight queen cell in the original colony, or introduce a mature artificial queen cell.

8. Bee colony exception handling

The treatment of abnormal bee colonies mainly includes two types: early prevention and worker bee egg-laying treatment. Early prevention should strengthen feeding to prevent honey shortage; do not spill honey outside the hive during inspection and feeding; close the small nest door and merge weak colonies during honey shortage period. After the bee colony loses its queen, the emergency construction of the queen cell is unsuccessful. If the queen bee, queen cell or colony is not induced in time, worker bees will lay eggs. At this time, you can inject concentrated salt water to kill the egg larvae, rinse with clean water, dehydrate and move to another bee colony for use

2. The lazy person’s method of raising Chinese bees in the wild?

Step/Method 1

The lazy man's method of raising Chinese bees in soil: one is to raise them in live frames,

Step/Method 2

The second is empty box breeding.

Step/Method 3

The third is live beam breeding. Live beam breeding is an intermediate type between live frame breeding and empty box breeding.

Step/Method 4

The greatest advantage of the Chinese bee breeding method of soil hiding is that the Chinese bees will not develop living frame discomfort syndrome when hiding in the soil, and ants will not enter the beehive to harm the bee colony, even though soil hiding is equivalent to placing the beehive on an ant nest.

Step/Method 5

Cement beehives are the most suitable for the Chinese honey bee breeding. Of course, earthenware beehives are better if conditions permit. Because wooden beehives buried in the soil for a long time are easy to rot and be eaten by ants and insects, and will be scrapped in about 1 year. Of course, earthen beehives can also be built with bricks. For earthen breeding, cement beehives, earthenware beehives and brick beehives are all economical and affordable, which can be said to be a long-term plan and a permanent solution.

3. Chinese bee breeding technology?

1. Choosing the time for transfer First, the nectar and pollen source plants outside are blooming and flowing, the bees are diligent in collecting nectar, and there is a certain amount of honey accumulated in the nest. During this period, it is not easy to be stolen, and the bee colony will recover and grow quickly.

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. A technical guide to 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.

6. Chinese bee breeding technology?

Chinese bee breeding is generally divided into two methods: soil breeding technology and movable frame breeding technology.

Soil culture is the most common method in ordinary farmers' homes. It only requires a few wooden barrels, which are turned upside down in front of and behind the 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 inside the barrel, and brush the bottom of the barrel thicker.

Under normal circumstances, in general places, when the spring equinox comes, it is the peak season for the natural swarming of Chinese bees. Natural swarms of bees will come to build nests, and after the big nectar source has passed, honey can be collected. In general, two seasons of honey can be collected in a year, with average yield, extremely high concentration, good taste, and slightly expensive price.

This is the technology of raising Chinese bees in the traditional way. 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 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 live-frame breeding of Chinese honeybees is a breeding technology that has begun to be scaled up and industrialized.

This kind of breeding technology is very professional. It is best to learn under the guidance of local, professional beekeepers to avoid novice beekeepers from making mistakes.

Then, the general technology of living frame breeding of Chinese bees must understand the following outlines:

First, clarify the purpose of raising Chinese bees. That is, you need to think clearly whether you raise Chinese bees mainly to sell bee colonies, honey, or both. Only when you have clarified your ultimate cash-out goal, you will be more purposeful and selective in the actual breeding operation.

Second, you must be clear about and understand the strength of your local Chinese bee colony, its honey production capacity, and its ability to adapt to survival in the wild.

Only by knowing these clearly can the beekeeper decide what kind of bee colony to use as the breeding stock and what specifications of beehives to choose.

Third, choose the address of the apiary.

Choose a site with honey source, water source, sunlight, shade and slope. Also, the site should be free of wind, pollution from factories, noise from poultry farms and various processing plants. This is because bees love cleanliness and quietness, and they also want to produce better and healthier wild native honey.

Fourth, understand and record the cycles of local pollen and nectar plants.

Know clearly the pollen and nectar source plants in your area, when they bloom, when they produce nectar, and keep good records, the more detailed the better. This is to know clearly when to collect nectar, when to breed queens, and when to replace queens.

Fifth, learn, learn, and learn again continuously.

Learn more and communicate more from books and on the Internet. Don’t be a beekeeper who is groping in the dark, don’t be a arrogant beekeeper, and don’t be a beekeeper who works in isolation.

Sixth, observe, carefully observe the various living habits and physiological characteristics of Chinese bees.

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 bee breeding and management techniques suitable for your local area.

Seventh, prevention and treatment techniques of diseases and pests.

One of the most important reasons for putting the treatment and prevention of diseases and pests last is that, under normal circumstances, our Chinese bees do not need special drugs for treatment.

The main thing is that beekeepers, in their daily beekeeping operations, are directly related to the causes of pests and diseases. Of course, qualified beekeepers must also have the ability to treat infectious and bacterial infections.