BEEKEEPING
The beekeeper’s tasks for August
S
pring cleaning is that
essential annual process
to prepare the colony
for the following spring and
summer honey seasons. In
our households it is the time
and process of dusting out the
winter blues, the cobwebs
and a lick of paint here and
there to freshen up the home.
So, too, the bee colonies
need freshening up and
riddance of useless and old
combs.
At the beginning of the winter
as the inflow of the food
supply reduces, the queen
reduces her daily egg laying
area, and the bees move
honey from the super
chambers to these reduced
brood rearing cells to insulate
the small brood area. The
extent of this honey can cover
six brood frames with only a
small patch on the remaining
four brood frames of the
Essential spring cleaning around your hives, and
how to merge a weak swarm with a stronger one,
another in our series on beekeeping by Peter Clark
of the Eastern Highveld Beekeepers Association
nesting area in the centre of
the brood chamber.
August heralds the beginning
of spring, the shortest day six
weeks past, the sun is much
warmer, the days are
lengthening and there is
plenty of pollen about. This
sudden change of events
urges the queen to increase
her egg laying duties. She
needs space and the
beekeeper is driven by the
demands of Her Majesty!
He has one month to visit all
his hives to avert a mass
swarm off of his hives by the
beginning of October.
At his apiary he starts at the
farthest hive from his vehicle
and works through all hives
on the site. In this method he
cells is the first to be eliminated, and next, one of the
outside frames filled with
honey. Should there not be
that drone cell frame, then
does not pass any hives that
the other outside frame, No
he has just serviced that could 10 from where he started,
possibly interfere with him.
must go.
He smokes the hive with
He now arranges the
gentle cool white smoke (blue remaining eight frames and
smoke is hot smoke and
places the two new frames
burns the bees).
with the full foundation into
He gently removes the wellthe centre of the brood
glued-down super and lid
chamber. Whilst riffling
and into the brood chamber
through the frames it is good
he proceeds. He has to
practice to remove those
replace two brood frames
patches of drone brood
with two frames of full
comb.
foundation wax.
He replaces the super and lid
He removes frames Nos 1
and, job complete, moves on
and 2 and sets them aside
to the next hive, advancing
outside the brood chamber.
steadily towards his vehicle
He riffles through the
until all hives in the apiary
remaining eight frames to
have been visited. Fifteen
select the two worst frames.
hives would take about an
The frame with a large
hour and a half to complete.
number of the larger drone
Continued on page 23
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