BEEKEEPING
A busy time in and around the hives
W
ith good rains
upon us there will
be plenty of
honey for the well managed
swarms. Activity around the
hives now becomes very busy,
when only a short while ago
during the heat wave and dry
air all looked gloom and
doom.
The nectar secreted by the
flowers in the mornings no
longer dries up by 09h00 as
during the drought times and
the bees are able to forage
practically all day. The nectar
suddenly comes pouring into
Another article in our regular series
on bees and beekeeping by Peter Clark,
chairman of the Eastern Highveld
Beekeeper!s Association
the hives, there is great
excitement inside and the
queen is laying eggs, on some
days more eggs than her own
body weight, and the bees
need space, space and more
space.
Failure to provide enough
causes the hive to become
chock-a-block with honey, no
space to lay eggs, and no
space to rest at night so the
bees rest outside and up the
front of the hive. They get
rained upon, and to keep
warm they consume more
honey than they would have
had they slept inside the hive.
They become frustrated and
convey to queen that it is
time to move on to better
conditions. Out go the scout
But there are perils aplenty.
Outside the hive ants become
a menace, and an old toad
settles comfortably under the
hive all day and snatches up
that odd sweet tasting heavily
bees and within a day or two laden worker bee tired from
the entire swarm moves away. flying and carrying that heavy
Management pointer number load of nectar.
A mouse or two will also
one is that the beekeeper
must provide this extra space sneak in during the night and
the Death’s Head moth
timeously by providing at
comes fluttering in to do her
least two supers at the early
worst.
summer period. A second
The Fork-tailed Drongo bird
good management
patrols the flight paths of the
manoeuvre is to provide the
bees and snatches up to a
hive with a deep lid that
hundred bees per day. A
creates a space of 40mm
heavy rain storm floods the
above the super frames. This
is where the worker bees rest entrance of the hive over the
height of the entrances and
at night and are kept warm
and consume a great deal less the bees suffocate and die
honey in doing so. Also in this from lack of air and the buildup of excess carbon dioxide
area the bees build combs
and store honey and it is this in the hive.
Management manoeuvre
honey they consume if they
require honey during the rest number three for the
period at night.
Continued on page 31
30
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