For beekeepers, the April work is important, since it is during this period that the apiary expands due to the generation of young insects. Those who are engaged in beekeeping should carry out cleaning work in the spring season, provide insect nests with a sufficient amount of food. The beekeeper should be ready for the first inspection of the hives, for additional feeding, since bees in April need support and additional feeding.
Works in April at the apiary
With the onset of warmth, beekeepers begin work in the apiary in April. Before resuming work, you must prepare enough sushi. Beekeepers use sushi to expand bee colonies, but honey frames help strengthen weakened colonies.
Food Is an important part in maintaining the health of bees, and experienced beekeepers know that a minimum of a kilogram of feed is required to feed the insects sufficiently. Suitable as a nutrient bee bread in combs or honey, harvested since the end of the summer season. If the weather is still cold, then you need to make sure that the feeding for the bees – syrup, nectar, clean water, is warm, and this feeding serves to stimulate the laying of eggs.
April – time to carry out preventive work to prevent the development of nosematosis. To get rid of ticks, a special mesh is used, which is placed on the bottom of the hives.
When and how to exhibit beehives
In order to determine when it is possible to exhibit hives, it is necessary to observe the behavior of the bees.
Important!
If the bees behave passively and calmly, then you can postpone the exhibition, but starting from mid-April, when the temperature reaches 12 degrees Celsius, you can start an exhibition of insects.
The exhibition is carried out in the following way – first, the entrances are closed, then pillows are placed to keep warm, at 11 am you can already put the hives in their original place.
The flight of bees begins when the air temperature warms up, but here the beekeeper must carefully ensure that not all entrances are open. During the flight, it is possible to determine the state of the families, for example, healthy bees begin to clean the hive on their own, work intensively. If there is lethargy, weakness in the behavior of bees, then it is better to immediately take appropriate measures.
As soon as the flight stops, after that it is necessary to reduce the size of the entrance by about 3 cm. On the same day, the beekeeper checks the insect families in order to establish whether there is honey in the hives or not, whether there is a queen bee. During the inspection, you should also remove the frames, insulate with pillows.
Spring revision bee families
In Russia, and especially in the middle lane, the revision of bee colonies is carried out almost in mid-April, when the air temperature rises above 14 degrees. Revision is an important stage in the development of beekeeping, since it is during this period that vitality is determined bee families… For the development of beekeeping, the following conditions should be provided:
- The presence of young insects and a good uterus.
- Providing warmth.
- 10 kg of honey and 2 frames with pergoy provide good nutrition bee families.
- Nice and clean nest.
To protect bees from viral diseases, it is necessary to move the colonies to disinfected hives. During the transplant, you must adhere to the following instructions:
- About 3 puffs of smoke are given in the notch, after which the cover should be removed and placed behind the hive.
- Then the hive with the bees is transferred.
- As soon as space becomes free, you need to put another hive, the same color and warmed up in the sun.
- After the performed manipulations, you should disassemble the nest, determine its suitability. The beekeeper knows that there should be as many frames as there were originally the streets of the families.
During the exhibition, you should be less disturbed, it is better to carefully clean the frame, then shake off the bees in a new hive. After removing the frames, you need to put a diaphragm, insulate the hive.
How to avoid theft
During such a phenomenon as theft, the beekeeper may face such a problem as loss bee families… If the beekeeper notices the theft, then he must take appropriate measures, but a sharp cold snap can help to avoid this. In order to prevent the bees from stealing in April, it is necessary to shorten the entrance, or cover it with a net. The beekeeper must observe the hive, if a large number of thieves accumulate there, then the hive should be tilted and the thieves should be taken down with a strong stream of water.
How to provide a stock of honeycombs
If the beekeeper is engaged in professional breeding of bees, then for each bee family there are at least 20 hundred. All combs should have a pleasant brown color, the look must be new, and in order to achieve a good stock of combs, the old combs should be replaced with new ones every year. In the spring month, the construction of new honeycombs begins and this is due to the fact that during this period the wax glands in bees are developed. One insect family on average can build more than 10 new honeycombs.
When can you start wandering
As soon as the flowering of hazel, long-eared willow, maple, lungwort, birch begins, you can begin to migrate. Points can be prepared in an area close to fields and tracts in which these plants bloom. A family of bees should be at a distance of no more than 2 km from the nectar source, if this distance is large, this leads to an additional load on the bees. On new points can be moved in the evening.
Tips for novice beekeepers
Beginners in this business should adhere to the following rules:
- Make sure no family member is allergic to bee venom.
- Determine the purpose of breeding bees – commercial benefits, obtaining honey, wax, etc.
- Get rid of poisonous plants so that the bees do not get poisoned.
- You should also read the instructions for keeping the hive.
- Obtain a veterinary passport.
Thus, breeding bees requires attention and care, measures, so before deciding to start beekeeping, it is better to weigh the pros and cons.
