The horned hive and the technology of working with bees in such a house are of interest to many novice beekeepers living in the warm regions of our country. The horned design, donated to the world by Mikhail Palivoda, is ideal for areas with moderate rainfall, hot or persistently warm weather.
Also, hives of this type are used by beekeepers with an average honey base – bees quickly fill small hulls with honey.
The content of the article
- 1 Features of beekeeping
- 2 Working with frames
- 3 Working with enclosures
- 3.1 The importance of the dividing grid
- 4 Layering and swarming
- 5 How the bottom is used
- 6 Spring work
- 7 Summer work
- 7.1 Features of nomadism
- 7.2 How to make a honey cake
- 8 Autumn and winter
- 8.1 important points
- 9 In conclusion
Features of beekeeping
Today’s article logically continues the theme of the horned hive raised earlier:
Beehive designed by Mikhail Palivoda
We remind you that the main advantages of the hive are:
- compact size;
- stability when assembled thanks to the “horns” of the bars;
- ease of transportation – the design takes up little space on the platform;
- ease of maintenance – hulls completely filled with honey are light enough;
- two people can serve from 500 to 1 bee colonies, with additional workforce connected only for the period of pumping out commercial honey.
During the season, one nest, obtained from a layer or a package, gives an average of 50-60 kilograms of honey. From May to September, bees rebuild up to six hulls of land (provided that there are both hulls and frames in stock).
Practice shows that when collecting nectar from sunflowers, strong bee colonies are poured with honey up to seven body sections within a week. Each building contains 12 kilograms of this valuable product.
With abundant honey collection, it is necessary to carefully monitor the nests, substituting new cases in time and removing those already filled with honey. The design change significantly facilitates the pumping out task – instead of 8 frames, it is recommended to mount houses of 10 or 12 hundred.
We draw your attention to the fact that industrial beekeeping implies the maintenance of bee colonies of medium strength. Such families, just, and there are in the horned houses of Palivoda.
Also, the design favors the collection of bee bread. Insects clog the lower body section with bee bread, and the queen bee sows in the second and third bodies. With an abundance of pollen in nature, eight honeycomb frames of bee bread are collected in 8-10 days in spring. It can be removed from the hive, providing the apiary with a supply of protein feed. Instead of beech frames, dry land is installed – the nest is being renewed.
Working with frames
The horned hive and the method of keeping the bees in it largely depends on the size of the frames used. These are standard shop half frames with a height of 145 mm. This size has the following advantages:
- inconsistencies do not arise in the beekeeping industry – honeycomb frames can be rearranged in different structures of houses, for example, in Dadanov extensions;
- a Dadan frame is installed in two buildings without problems – this feature is used when populating a package or a layering from a standard hive (after the young animals leave, these frames are removed from the nest so as not to reduce the productivity of the beekeeper);
- the presence of a groove in the upper bar allows you to install foundation without wire – some beekeepers use only a small strip of wax at the top, and the rest of the honeycombs are built by the bees themselves (the method helps to minimize the risk of infection of the apiary with rotten infections);
- the size of the honeycomb frame is convenient for obtaining honeycomb.
An important point: Honey is pumped out starting from the fifth building. In the lower three there is a nest – there is practically no honey here (this volume is approximately equal to the 12-frame nest in Dadan). And in the fourth section there is a strategic forage reserve of the bee colony, which must not be touched.
Working with enclosures
When working with hives, the beekeeper does not manipulate honeycomb frames, but whole sections-bodies.
Therefore, the basic rule for a horned design: there should be a lot of body sections! Their stock is especially important during the period of active honey collection. The enclosures are the basic unit of expansion.
Hives are practically not examined by frame. It is difficult to implement in practice, and it is not necessary. It is enough to pry the body section with a chisel and look inside. In the active period of the life of bee colonies, such a cursory examination helps to reveal the rebuilt swarm of queen cells – they are at the bottom of the frames and are clearly visible from below when the bodies are pushed apart.
The importance of the dividing grid
The Hahnemannian grid is the most important element of the hive. Without it, it is impossible to control the work of the “queen” – the uterus begins to sow unevenly, moving between the body sections.
This should not be allowed for three reasons:
1) the brood is destroyed during pumping;
2) the quality of honey when laying eggs by “patches” will be imperfect;
3) the female loses a lot of strength, moving idle throughout the entire volume of the house.
When populating batch bees or layering on Dadanov honeycomb frames, they act as follows:
- after the release of young animals and the removal of these frames, a body section is installed upstairs, filled with dry land and foundation;
- The “queen” goes into the upper building, the sections are swapped and a dividing grid is installed between them.
With a two-story system of keeping bee colonies, heat-resistant plastic wrap can be used as a separator.
And if you use the film as a roof cover, the bees will apply propolis to it. Collecting this bee product will become easier and easier. For the winter, a piece of polystyrene or foil insulation is laid on top of the film. Despite the fact that the bees firmly adhere the film to the upper bars of the frames, it is easier to lift it than a lap. Insects worry less on a cursory examination.
Layering and swarming
The fight against the swarm instinct is carried out, among other things, in the classical ways:
- dividing nests into layering in order to weaken families and free up space in the hive;
- and installation of a body section with a foundation against the nest for loading insects with work.
Layers are formed very simply. As soon as the family’s strength increases – the third body section is sown, the “queen” is driven down with the help of a smoker. After that the housing is removed and the dividing grid is installed. The upper section is returned to its place.
After a few days, the presence of brood is monitored. If there is fresh clutch in the upper section, the uterus has not left its usual place (it goes down from the smoke in 96% of cases!). This means that the “queen” must be found and manually moved below the grate.
After 9-10 days, only a closed brood remains at the top. The layer is ready to receive the new uterus. It is necessary to check the presence of mother liquors in it. Then a blank bottom is installed under the body or a heat-resistant film is spread. A fruitful “queen” is issued.
How the bottom is used
Working with horned hives involves changing the bottom. The set of this type of bee house includes two bottoms – mesh and blind.
The mesh is used in hot weather – it occupies the entire floor area, increasing the flow of fresh air. Installing such a bottom frees insects from forced ventilation. They calmly go for nectar and pollen, without bothering the front wall of the house.
Also, the mesh bottom helps to remove ticks – falling off the bees, they immediately find themselves outside the house. All small debris is poured down through the cells. And thanks to good ventilation, the risks of wax moth reproduction are reduced.
The blank bottom is used for the wintering period, allowing you to preserve the optimal temperature and a healthy microclimate in the nests.
Spring work
In the spring, the following works are carried out:
- An audit is underway with the replacement of the detachable bottom. The presence of brood is determined by temperature – just put your hand to the frames. Warmth indicates the normal development of the bee colony. For additional control, you can inspect one or two honeycomb frames.
- At the first whitewashing of the honeycomb with wax, you can start expanding. The section with foundation and dryness is installed at the top, the third in a row. The order of placing the frames: three waxes in the center, dry on the sides. At the same time, the first building is installed on the second floor, and the second section goes down to the ground.
- The fourth body section is placed two weeks later in the nest cut. At the same time, you can put a dividing grid under this body, having previously raised it well into the hive. But more often they practice the installation of the trellis after the flowering of acacia.
Summer work
As the honey collection increases, additional body sections are added – they are introduced through the sections with honey.
To cut off the nesting sections from honey, bee removers are installed a day or two before the honey is pumped out. This is done very carefully so that there are no gaps and theft is not provoked. Or a device for blowing insects is used directly on the day of collection of the bodies.
The honeycomb is dried after pumping out directly in the hive. They are placed above the nest and left there until September, after which they are removed and taken to a warehouse until next year.
Features of nomadism
During the wandering, horned houses can be placed in three ways:
1.In one line, placing it on the planks and pressing tightly against each other with the sides. In this case, the entrance slots look in one direction.
2. In two or three floors, also in one line. This installation method does not require unloading the cabins and is ideal for mobile platforms. When the lower colony expands, the upper houses are removed and used to form another vertical block.
This method is suitable for creating honey pots. The lower colonies are strengthened by flying insects during the movement of the upper hives to another place, since the bees cannot find their entrance in the multi-housing battery and go down. For convenience, the space on the front wall should be limited on both sides by vertical guiding planes.
3.Blocks of four. The method was proposed by Roger Delon. With abundant honey collection, three houses are moved to another place – a new block is formed there. And from the remaining hive they make a honey cake. This procedure is repeated during the entire period of migration, ensuring a good harvest of honey.
How to make a honey cake
Important! This beekeeping technique is justified in regions with abundant honey harvests.
There are three known ways to form a honey bee colony.
First – the simplest, which does not require special labor costs from the beekeeper. In the spring, a layering is created in the manner described above. Before the main bribe, the less productive “queen” is removed from the hive, and the bee colonies are united. The method shows good results.
second method – block content during the wandering (according to Roger Delon). Three hives are removed, while the fourth house is reinforced by flying insects and acts as a honey cake.
A third method – installation in two or three floors on a platform or on the ground. This method is also described above. A strong honeybee colony is created by flying bees from other hives. Its expansion during a bribe is carried out in a gap under the upper body section. Families moved to a new location are re-built for further block manipulation.
Autumn and winter
Preparation for wintering when keeping bees in horned hives is traditional: strength building, treatment against Varroa mites, and so on.
Families hibernate depending on their strength:
- cuttings made in June are placed in two hull sections;
- full-fledged families – in two or three.
Fodder stocks are concentrated in the upper section – full-fledged frames are installed here.
Top dressing in the winter is made taking into account the region. If there is a lot of honeydew in nature, all the honey is pumped out, the bee colonies are fed with syrup. In prosperous areas, feeding is done to ensure that the pets are provided with supplies in the winter. Much here depends on the preferences of the beekeeper – someone feeds, others consider the dispensing of syrup to be an empty undertaking.
At the time of feeding, an empty body section is installed on top – there is a feeder filled with syrup.
important points
Note that:
- the wide design of the taphole requires protection from rodents;
- cover the entrance gaps, depending on the wintering place – indoors or outdoors;
- hives are adapted for wintering both in Omshanik and outside;
- when wintering in a room under the bottom of the house, you can install not only a blank bottom, but also an empty store, leaving the mesh bottom – moisture will drain off, and the nest will remain dry;
- when wintering on the street, the houses are covered with a tarpaulin, foam plastic is laid on top of the frames, or an empty section with a pillow filled with moss and dry needles is placed on top.
In conclusion
Separately, I would like to note the good performance of the hive. The horned design helps out not only when keeping nomadic apiaries. Thanks to the “horns”, bee dwellings are well resistant to winds – they have little windage and a strong connection of the hulls.
The quality of fixing all the elements of the house is well illustrated by a case from beekeeping practice, when the structure slanted forty-five degrees and leaned against the fence, but at the same time did not lose its integrity.
As far as beekeeping technology is concerned, there can be no universal advice. As with any hive, the beekeeper must think with his head – take into account the breed of bees, climatic conditions, the strength of the bribe. And, of course, experiment, gaining your own invaluable experience.
