INTRODUCTION

Each season demands that you work with

your bee colonies and htve equipment. The
work you need to do each season relates to
the available flora and the cllmate and these
in turn influence the size and the activity of
the colony.

Management practices in autumn determine

the health of the brood and adults in spring.
Spring is the beekeepers busiest period
and the colony grows in size. ln winter the
population of the colony shrinks in size. Figure 25a: Two frame feeders; plastic and wood

In Australia, most honey is produced during

late spring and summer in temperate zones.

ln this section we use the term nectar flow

but it is also known erroneously as a honey
flow.lt refers to the activity you obserue when
forager bees bring large amounts of nectar
and pollen into the hive.

AIM

To manage the colony throughout the year for Figure 25b: Frame removed and frame feeder
inserted ready to be filled with syrup
maximum production.

WHAT YOU NEED

. spare Doxes

. spare frames

' spare lids

. spare bottom boards.

Figure 25c: A front feeder with a bottle of syrup !N'

attached

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Autumn

inspect the frames for food stores at the

beginning and at the end of autumn; hives
need six frames full of honey for food over
winter

if necessary, replace empty frames with

frames of honey from other hives OR
supply syrup in a feeder (two parts sugar
to one part wateo. See PHOTOS on pages
41,-42.

rnspect the queen. Check that the queen

is active on the comb, does not have worn
wings or damaged legs and that she is
laying compact areas of eggs

. re-queen if necessary

. check the brood for brood disease. Look

for a solid brood pattern, not more than
10 per cent of cells empty. See section
HEALTH PROBLEMS AND PESTS IN THE
HIVE.

Winter
. remove all supers not covered by bees

pack hives and colonies down as tight as

possible to allow for good temperature and
humidity control

check the food supply: there should be a

minimum of six frames of honey in the hive
for the colony

move the hive and colony to a sunny

position, facing north or north east; avoid
facing the hive entrance towards prevailing
winds

keep the hive and colon5r atva5,from damp

conditions; place on stancls as required
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Figure 289'. When the bees are in the box, return Figure 28j: Swarm bees not already in the box
the removed frames enter through the open entrance

. place one or two drawn combs in a box

. very lightly smoke the swarm

. shake or place the swarm into the prepared

box, lf the swarm is hanging from the limb
of a tree, or where tt can be reached from
below lift the hive body underneath the
swarm and shake the bees into or in front
of the box; a short, sharp knock that jars
the limb is best. lf the fall is a shoft one,
Figure 28h: Smoke the hive before you replace rest the box on the ground directly under
the lid the swarm; you may be able to cut the
branch supporting the swarm so that it can
be lowered into the box (check with the
person who owns the tree)

. if the bees have settled on an object too

thick or too solid to shake, carefully scrape
or brush them into the box or lift the box
over the bees and draw it sidewaYs

. leavethe boxon location until eveningto

capture the entire swarm

Figure 28i: Carefully slide the lid across the box

. if you use a make-shift box or bag, leave
it until dark, or until the bees have settled
down before you take them to your aplary

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INTRODUCTION
An inspection of the colonies at any time
of the year may reveal failing queens that
are not as productive as the next colony. In
addition, some colonies may exhibit signs of
being more aggressive than others. October
onwards is a suitable time to requeen your
hives or even increase the number of hives in
your apiary. From October through to the early
autumn months, drones are usually plentiful.
lf you are breeding queens, the virgins will be
adequately mated. lf you are buying queens,
the commercial breeder should be able to
supply a mated queen from October onwards.
lf the colony is not performing, or is
particularly savage, it needs to be re-
queened. lt may not be necessary to
re-queen every year, usually once every
two years is sufficient. The advantage of
re-queening regularly is that the vigour of
a young queen will assist the colony in
overcoming mild disease symptoms and
build up a strong populous hive capable of
collecting a large honey crop. Pafticularly
savage hives can be re-queened with a
strain of bee which is easier to handle and
manioulate.
lf the hive has disease, refer to section
Health Problems and Pests in the Hive for
information about re-queening according to
the disease status.
Select a strain of bee that
. is very easy to handle
. is less prone to swarmtng
. produces large amounts of honeY
. remains quiet on the frame.
Bees that sting frequently are hard to handle
and are highly undesirable in a populated
area. Likewise, this detracts considerably
from your enjoyment of keeping bees.
Very valuable queens should first be
introduced into a small nucleus colony, which
can later be united to the stronger colony. In
this case, the strong colony should be made
queenless one day before uniting.
AIM
To introduce a new queen bee to the hive.
WHAT YOU NEED
. A new queen bee. With some preparation
and planning, you can breed Your own
or you can buy one from a commercial
supplier, lf you purchase a queen bee she
will probably be posted to you by the queen lli'
bee producer. She will arrive in a very smal
cage and be accompanied by five to eight
escort worker bees. She will arrive with the
rest of your mail.
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. leave undisturbed for at least a week. lt check for eggs. lf there are eggs in the i
may take a few days for bees in the hive to brood combs, requeening has been
remove the plug of candy and release the successful.
oueen

Figure 31a: use the hive tool to separate two Figure 31c: Use the hive tool to keep the frames
frames of brood in the middle of the brood nest apart as you place the cage

Figure 31b: Place the mailing cage between two Figure 31d: The mailing cage in place
frames of brood in the middle of the brood nest
with the candy end slightly upwards

WORKING SAFELY
;ii'
Obserye the general safety precautions.

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