Ecological and phenological observations during the maintenance of bee colonies in Moscow and adjacent regions made it possible to summarize many years of experience and create a visual practical guide - a plan-calendar for caring for bees. Most beekeepers, especially young beekeepers, have difficulty in determining the timing of work in the apiary, which determines the state of bee colonies, their productivity and survival. The proposed tablet not only suggests the timing of the work, depending on the conditions prevailing in the coming season, but also plans, organizes, and controls the work of the beekeeper.
For other climatic zones, such tables can be compiled by experienced beekeepers based on local ecological and phenological observations for a period of at least 10–15 years.
The tablet consists of three discs rotating relative to each other and an arrow.
The data of phenological observations are concentrated on the small disk: the timing of the flowering of honey plants, the associated periods of honey collection and the periods without crops, characteristic of Moscow and adjacent regions (according to the data of phenologist V.I. Dolgoshov). The middle disk shows the days and months of the active period of life of bee colonies and the months of the wintering period of bees. A large disk contains a list of operations for the care and maintenance of bee colonies.
With the help of an arrow made of plexiglass with a radial line printed on it, the terms and types of work on the maintenance of bee colonies are linked with the phenological calendar of flowering of honey plants in specific weather conditions (early or late spring).
When working with a tablet, you need to combine the arrow with the line on the small disk with the inscription "The beginning of flowering hazel" (or coltsfoot, where the hazel does not grow). Then, rotating the small disk with the arrow fixed on it, set the latter to the day and month indicated on the middle disk and corresponding to the flowering period of the hazel near your apiary. After that, return the middle disk with the small disk fixed on it and the arrow until the point of the arrow is aligned with the line located on the large disk and indicating the start of work on caring for bee colonies. After performing these operations with the tablet, all the terms of work in the apiary will be linked to the flowering calendar of honey plants in the current season, that is, a work plan will be drawn up for the entire upcoming beekeeping season.
The arrow can be sequentially moved relative to the fixed disks to the beginning of the next work, in order to facilitate their planning and control over them.
I want to give some clarifications to the family care work indicated on the tablet. For example, stimulation of oviposition. This includes shrinking and warming the nest in early spring and providing room for the queen to work by setting up good combs with bee cells; providing honey and bee bread in sufficient quantities; printout of honey combs removed from brood; timely expansion of the nest; provision of supporting honey collection with the help of roaming or distribution of stimulating top dressing (honey satiety, honey-pepper mixtures, biostimulating substances, sugar syrup, etc.); accommodation of two families in one hive; updating the nest by replacing old combs with newly built ones on foundation, etc. The concept of "stimulation of comb building" includes the expansion of the nest with foundation frames, the provision of honey and bee bread, and supporting honey collection (roaming or stimulating top dressing in a free period, etc.). In turn, this is an effective anti-swarm technique.
The initial investment of funds is 518,000 rubles. According to the beekeeping (apiary) business plan presented here, the net profit is within 58.6 percent per annum.
Honey is a product that has long been considered the most useful and in demand among the population of our country, but the Russian market only satisfies this need for only half, the second half is foreign supplies from a Chinese manufacturer. Therefore, the organization of a private business in the beekeeping business will be a promising solution. We propose to analyze the business plan of the apiary, deal with the costs, risks, expected profits and sales of products.
Description and objectives of the project
Honey is a product that is known to mankind as a useful delicacy with anti-inflammatory and antibacterial properties, containing a lot of minerals and enzymes. It restores strength and tones the body.
The goal of the project is to open a private apiary.
Description of the market
The Russian market represents about 300,000 tons of honey per year, but Russian production allows you to get only 150,000 tons. This is due to the lack of qualified personnel, since not a single university in our country trains beekeepers. Chinese honey has always been questioned due to the widespread use of genetically modified crops. Poor quality of foreign (Chinese) honey led to limited supplies to the US (the main buyer).
Honey is used not only for domestic consumption. A large amount of it is used in the production of food, confectionery, as a sugar substitute. Therefore, products that include honey in their composition are considered to be of higher quality and useful for the consumer.
Today, private apiaries have become the main suppliers of the product on the Russian market.
Organizational stage
The first step is the purchase of ready-made hives. The average cost of one will be about 3000 rubles. In addition, you will need to purchase a full-fledged bee family, the cost of which will be 2000 rubles. In addition to honey, bees are able to produce mead, pollen, propolis. During the season (May-August) up to 7 tons of honey is collected from the apiary.
So, the main components of the apiary are bee colonies and bee hives. Additional funds will also be required in the work - this is inventory, overalls, a beekeeper. Additional costs will be approximately 18,000 rubles.
Staff
The bee lands are usually organized by amateur beekeepers, in whom the beekeeping business is passed from father to son. But the involvement of employees from outside will also be necessary. Production will require a freelance accountant with a salary of 6,000 rubles and 2 beekeepers with a salary of 30,000 rubles. To find experienced beekeepers, you can contact the Society of Beekeepers. A good salary is an excellent means to attract an experienced beekeeper to work, but it will be correct to offer not hiring, but rather business cooperation. This type of beekeeping has a number of advantages. The partner will not only provide you with qualified services, but will also help in the organization of breeding bee colonies, the amount of honey from which will increase by 25-30%.
Honey pricing
Since 1 kg of honey on the market is estimated at 150 rubles, accordingly, the annual profit of a private apiary for beekeeping will be 1 million 50 thousand rubles. One-time costs will amount to 518,000 rubles, of which: 300,000 rubles will go to purchase hives; for inventory - 18,000 rubles; purchase of bee colonies - 200,000 rubles.
For beekeeping and the sale of honey, not only private consumers should be considered. It is worth trying to conclude contracts with confectionery factories and pharmacies.
This apiary and beekeeping business plan is designed for an annual increase in bee colonies and the number of hives. Therefore, for the sale of products will need a constant search for customers. This business can be handled by an agent, but in order to entrust him with this, you will need to set your own fixed prices.
Financial indicators
Beekeeping is a seasonal business, so the project calculation reflects the average profit. In the autumn-winter period, care for the hives is minimal, but according to financial parameters, 3,000 rubles are laid for the services of a beekeeper who monitors the condition of bee colonies.
| Month | Income | Consumption | Profit | Increasing profit |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 0 | 518 000 | -518 000 | -518 000 |
| 2 | 0 | 3000 | -3000 | -521 000 |
| 3 | 0 | 3000 | -3000 | -524 000 |
| 4 | 0 | 3000 | -3000 | -527 000 |
| 5 | 262 500 | 36 000 | 262 500 | -300 500 |
| 6 | 262 500 | 36 000 | 262 500 | -74 000 |
| 7 | 262 500 | 36 000 | 262 500 | 152 500 |
| 8 | 262 500 | 36 000 | 262 500 | 379 000 |
| 9 | 0 | 3000 | -3000 | 376 000 |
| 10 | 0 | 3000 | -3000 | 373 000 |
| 11 | 0 | 3000 | -3000 | 370 000 |
| 12 | 0 | 3000 | -3000 | 367 000 |
| Total: | 304 000 rub. (excluding taxes) | |||
The amount of tax deductions will be 6% of the total income or 63,000 rubles.
Risks
The main problem in the beekeeping industry is bad weather conditions. Droughts or rains can adversely affect the collection of honey. The nomadic method of moving hives moving to the most favorable area helps to minimize this risk. This method will increase the volume of production up to 40 kg of honey from each hive. But there will be transportation costs and the cost of renting a truck to transport "bee houses". The nomadic method is popular among Russian beekeepers, as it allows you to increase the volume of beekeeping products and the opportunity to cooperate with other entrepreneurs for a joint parking lot.
The rent for the placement of hives from beekeepers is often not taken.
Bees provide pollination of crops, so farmers are extremely interested in beekeeping. In the West, for example, farmers pay beekeepers up to 20% of their total income for bees pollinating their crops. Having received permission from the local forestry, it is possible to place bee hives in the forest. Forestry also willingly cooperates with private beekeepers.
We hope that a ready-made example of a beekeeping business plan will help you open your apiary.
The purpose of this project is the production of environmentally friendly beekeeping products based on breeding bee colonies. Entrepreneurial activity is aimed at meeting the consumer demand of the population.
Primary occupation:
- breeding bee colonies;
- obtaining bee products.
The total cost of the project is 60,000 rubles.
Net profit for 1 year - 21,290 rubles, for 2 years - 203,999 rubles.
Profitability of sales of the first year - 37%.
Profitability of sales of the second year - 53%.
Payback period of the project: 2.8 years.
2. Description of the business, product or service
Beekeeping is one of the oldest human occupations. The researchers found that in Russia they were engaged in it as early as the 11th century. In the beginning, people used honey only for food, then for treatment. Later, wax was also used. Both products are currently the most important raw materials for the food, pharmaceutical and radio-electronic industries. After the medicinal properties of insect venom were discovered and a way to obtain it in its pure form was found, people began to show even more interest in bees.
An apiary is a production unit of a bee farm or beekeeping farm, an apiary area where beehives with bee families, apiary buildings and beekeeping facilities are located. Of great importance are good access roads, the availability of drinking springs, as well as the microclimate characteristic of the natural habitat of bees. The apiary is located near the arrays of honey plants, on a dry, level place with a slight slope for the flow of melt and rainwater, well protected from winds and sun by trees and shrubs. It is impossible to place an apiary near large rivers and lakes, especially if there are arrays of honey plants on the opposite side of the river or lake. The apiary should not be located near roads, cattle yards, public places, enterprises that process sugary substances, as well as on flights (in places where bees fly over other apiaries on their way to honey plants). It is very important to place apiaries within a radius of reliable spatial isolation (5-7 km). This will enable the beekeeper (in the event that there are no contagious diseases in the apiaries) to use common feeders.
Hives in the apiary are placed at the rate of 20-40 m2 per bee colony; arrange them in rows in a checkerboard pattern - at a distance of 6 m from one another and at least 4 m between the rows, or in groups of 3-5 hives, or in pairs, but with tapholes in different directions. They install hives on stands or pegs with a slight slope forward so that rainwater does not flow into the entrances. In apiaries of the backyard type, the hives are placed more compactly. Thus, up to 15 bee families can be located in the pavilion at the same time on a plot of 3 × 5 m.
It has been established that it takes 834 minutes to serve one bee colony for one year. It takes 5-6 hours to serve 10 bee families for one week in the spring-summer period. The practice of beekeepers shows that high honey yields can be achieved if strong bee colonies are maintained. A strong family more easily endures adverse weather conditions, wintering, and is more resistant to diseases. A strong family raises offspring that are better in quality, more hardy. Since large groups of bees in a strong colony are in different physiological states, it reacts more subtly to changes in the external environment and uses bribes better. And, as a result, it collects more honey and releases more wax, pollinates agricultural crops better.
Strong colonies are the result of the beekeeper's year-round work. It is possible to have full-fledged bee colonies in the spring only if you help them get out of wintering without losses, vital (for this, first of all, you need to properly prepare the bees for living in winter conditions and organize their wintering). In the spring-summer period, it is necessary to create all the conditions for them to grow strong, full-fledged, well-developed offspring, regularly throughout the season to provide them with a stable and plentiful bribe, and maintain a working condition in families.
A huge shortage of honey is obtained in apiaries due to the fact that the roaming of apiaries is little used for honey plants. The value of this event has long been known, its application gives a huge effect. In order to get a lot of honey and wax from bee families, it is necessary, among other things, to provide the bees with an appropriate pasture, which would enable them to collect enough nectar. If there is no good pasture, then no matter how experienced the beekeeper is and no matter how strong the bee families are, the bees will not bring much nectar into the hive - they will have nowhere to take it. Beekeepers should make plans in advance for bee migrations in order to pollinate crops and use honey lands. Thoroughly prepare for the migration with bees, starting from early spring, will help the calendar of flowering honey plants on those lands where it is planned to transport bees to collect nectar. All this, in turn, will help to accurately determine the most appropriate time for swarming and growing bees in order to use them as productively as possible on the main flow. Apiary roaming for honey plants can be organized by every beekeeper, and the benefits of apiary roaming are very great: a roaming apiary always gives more honey than apiaries that stay at one point all season long.
The activity is divided into the following stages:
- equip an apiary for 8 bee colonies;
- for the season 8 bee colonies will give 280 kilograms of products in the form of honey;
- it is also planned to receive related products - propolis, wax, pollen.
- bring the apiary for the 2nd season to 53 bee colonies.
With a successful honey plant, it is planned to receive an average of 35 kg of honey per season from each bee colony. In the 1st year of the activity, it is planned to sell honey from 8 bee colonies with a total weight of 280 kg. The average price for 1 kg of honey produced by me is 200 rubles.
Product Description
Bee honey is a food product, which is a nectar partially digested in the goiter of a honey bee. Honey contains 13-20% water, 75-80% carbohydrates (glucose, fructose, sucrose), vitamins B1, B2, B6, E, K, C, provitamin A-carotene, folic acid. The special taste and aroma of honey, along with its usefulness, makes many people prefer honey to all other sweeteners.
Commercial types of honey
By commercial appearance, honey is divided into centrifugal and honeycomb. Centrifugal honey is obtained by pumping it out of honeycomb cells using a honey extractor.
Comb honey - honey not extracted from wax combs, sold in frames or small rectangular cutouts. Inside the honeycomb, honey can be both liquid and shrunken. Trade in comb honey in our country has a smaller turnover, this is due to:
- higher price of such honey per kilogram;
- inconvenience of transportation;
- loss of a valuable product - wax;
- the difficulty of obtaining marketable comb honey.
High-quality comb honey should have a solid seal (all cells are sealed with wax caps completely). White or light yellow should be not only a seal of honey, but also the actual honeycomb.
Types of honey by consistency
The consistency of centrifugal honey can be liquid or crystallized ("shrunken"). Liquid honey is the normal state of fresh honey after being pumped out of the combs (usually honey from the current beekeeping season). Liquid honey has different degrees of density (viscosity). The viscosity of honey depends on whether it contains more or less water and partly on the temperature of the surrounding air. Liquid honey can also be obtained by heating crystallized honey, while some of the beneficial properties of honey may be lost. Too liquid honey may indicate insufficient aging in honeycombs, it is called "immature".
Crystallized ("shrunken") honey is formed naturally from liquid honey with temperature fluctuations. Settled honey does not lose its properties as a result of crystallization. In shrunken honey, depending on the size of the crystals, coarse-grained, fine-grained and fat-like cages are distinguished. In coarse-grained honey, aggregates of sugar crystals are more than 0.5 mm in diameter, in fine-grained honey - less than 0.5 mm, but are still visible to the naked eye.
Types of honey by color, transparency, taste and smell
By color, honey is divided into light and dark with numerous transitional shades from white to reddish brown. The color of honey depends on the plants from whose nectar honey is obtained: relatively light honey is obtained from the inflorescences of linden, sunflower, acacia, etc., relatively dark - from buckwheat, milkweed, etc.
The transparency of liquid honey depends, first of all, on the amount of pollen that got into the honey during pumping. Honey can also become cloudy as a result of the process of its crystallization that has begun. Honey collected by bees from one particular plant usually has its own characteristic taste and aroma. To obtain a popular color and aroma, different types of honey can be mixed during pre-sale preparation.
Beeswax is a product of the vital activity of bees, a complex organic compound. Beeswax is secreted by special glands of honey bees, from which bees build honeycombs. It is a white to yellow-brown solid with a characteristic honey smell. At a temperature of 35 °C, it becomes plastic. The composition of the wax includes about 50 different chemical compounds, among them esters (up to 75%), saturated hydrocarbons (11-17%), free fatty acids (13-15%), water - up to 2.5%. Beeswax has strong bactericidal properties. It is used for the production of pharmaceuticals, in the treatment of wounds, burns, ulcers, inflammation of the skin and mucous membranes.
Propolis - bee glue, bond - a dark resinous substance produced by bees to cover cracks and isolate foreign objects in the hive. Propolis is not just a resin of plants that is collected by bees, insects modify with their enzymes the sticky substances collected from the spring buds of trees (poplar, alder, birch, etc.). Beekeepers collect propolis with special gratings, or simply scrape it off frames and walls. 50–150 g of propolis are harvested from each hive in a season. Some beekeepers melt the collected propolis in a water bath, separating it from mechanical impurities; while it almost completely retains its properties. Propolis contains more than 50 organic components and mineral elements (potassium, calcium, phosphorus, sodium, magnesium, sulfur, chlorine, aluminum, vanadium, iron, manganese, zinc, copper, silicon, strontium, selenium, zirconium, mercury, fluorine, antimony, cobalt, etc., in increased quantities - zinc and manganese), about 10 vital vitamins, including B1, B2, B6, Vitamin A, E, nicotinic, pantothenic acids, etc., 17 amino acids (asparagine, glutamine, tryptophan , phenylalanine, leucine, cystine, methionine, valine, glycocol, histidine, arginine, proline, tyrosine, threonine, alanine, lilysine).
3. Sales and marketing
4. Production plan
The total cost of the project is 60,000 rubles, of which:
- subsidy (financial assistance) for the implementation of a business project provided by the employment center - 58,000 rubles;
- own funds - 2000 rubles.
With funds received from the Employment Center, the necessary equipment, materials are purchased and 8 beehives are made.
For the production of bee honey, it is planned to purchase:
Necessary equipment, materials
No. p / p | Name | Qty | Price for 1 unit in rubles | Amount in rubles |
honey extractor | ||||
Boards for the manufacture of beehives and frames | ||||
bee colony | ||||
Chisel | ||||
Wire | 4 coils | |||
pollen trap | ||||
feeders | ||||
Overalls | ||||
honey filter | ||||
Dividing grid | ||||
bee brush | ||||
Combined ice rink | ||||
Fork for printing honey frames | ||||
barricade | ||||
Propolis collection | ||||
uterus cell | ||||
Total |
In the second year, it is planned to increase the number of bee colonies to 53.
Reproduction scheme for an apiary of 3-10 bee colonies
Number of families | Division of families pcs. | Main | Result |
|
The table serves as a guide for bee breeding activities, determines the average indicators for a normal average apiary. The block diagram of the accelerated reproduction of bee colonies gives a more accurate visual representation of this method.
Structural scheme of accelerated reproduction of bee colonies
Accelerated reproduction is based on the principle of division of bee colonies and participation in reproduction of an increasing number of queens. Young queens lay eggs for quite a long time. To prolong the laying period and entrain the brood area of the nest, it is necessary to keep the colonies compressed, 8-9 mm. According to the structural diagram, it is clear that the beekeeper has the opportunity to make the third division - the creation of additional, new young families. For this, prefabricated layers of 3-4 families with fetal queens are created. From each young family, one frame with printed brood is selected, a young queen is planted. These families in the second half of August will have to substitute honey fodder frames at the expense of the main families, on average 3-4 frames and give top dressing - 7-8 liters of syrup for each. As a rule, young queens overwinter very well.
5. Organizational structure
Entrepreneurial activity is registered with the tax authorities as an individual entrepreneur. The cost of registration for obtaining a certificate of state registration as an individual entrepreneur is 800 rubles.
Personnel: At the beginning of the activity, it is planned to manage with a small number of personnel. The entrepreneur can take over the main work. During the removal of the apiary for roaming, it is planned to hire an additional 4 workers. Attracting hired workers in the amount of 2 people is planned for the time of the roaming of the apiary.
6. Financial plan
Job specifics: Beekeeping is seasonal. The beekeeping season runs from April to October. From mid-June to August inclusive, the honey collection season continues.
Income plan
Total | 1 year | Total | 2 year |
|||||||
Honey (kg) | ||||||||||
Price, rub.) | ||||||||||
Revenue (rub.) | ||||||||||
Wax (kg) | ||||||||||
Price, rub.) | ||||||||||
Revenue (rub.) | ||||||||||
Propolis (kg.) | ||||||||||
Price, rub.) | ||||||||||
Revenue (rub.) | ||||||||||
Flower pollen (kg) | ||||||||||
Price, rub.) | ||||||||||
Revenue (rub.) | ||||||||||
Total | ||||||||||
The object of taxation is income reduced by the amount of expenses (Article 346.4 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation), the tax rate is 15%. From the moment of registration, it is necessary to pay contributions to the PFR for pension insurance and to the FFOMS for medical insurance - 23,153.33 rubles. Of this amount, a part must be transferred to the PFR - 19,356.48 rubles, and the rest to the FFOMS - 3,796.85 rubles.
Spending plan
Total | 1 year | Total | 2 year |
|||||||
Stern | ||||||||||
Medications | ||||||||||
Wage | ||||||||||
Insurance premiums | ||||||||||
Fare | ||||||||||
Manufacturing hive frames | ||||||||||
Most amateur beekeepers keep their small apiaries in the cramped conditions of garden cooperatives. At the time of the garden harvest, when there are neighbors around, you have to decide how to protect them from bees, often prone to malice and roiling.
It is very important to concentrate the work of flying bees at low altitudes in one place. To do this, you need to put the hives compactly, having previously determined the main direction of flight. This possibility is provided by linear placement, which I have been using since 1994. In addition, when the hives are arranged in a row on two bars, it is much more convenient to maintain them than when they stand separately on stands. Everything is at hand: a smoker, canvases, tools lie on the roofs of neighboring hives; beekeeper's box and so on - on the bars.
By moving the hive along the bars to the side, in the spring you can rearrange it to a clean bottom, and in the summer you can add a new hive to increase the apiary or divide the family for half a summer. If the entrances of the hives are directed in one direction, it is possible to observe the flight activity and overflights of dozens of colonies from one point. Behind the line of bee families, you can make a path of tiles or boards to make it more convenient for the beekeeper to work. I have made such a track so far only behind the third line.
Since 1988, he began to apply a number of techniques to reduce the viciousness of bees: he culled aggressive colonies, replaced queens in them, rearranged their hives away from their neighbors, protected each bee during inspections, working extremely carefully. However, everything is in vain.
The turning point came in 1998, when he began to plant queens of the Priokskaya pedigree group of the Central Russian breed, bought in the Krasnopolyansk experimental beekeeping station, into spiteful families. Thanks to this technique, over the past six seasons, the honey productivity of the apiary has not decreased, and people and bees can now work side by side.
At the same time, swarming in my apiary continued to be high until 2000. I had to disturb the neighbors by removing swarms from their apple trees. In addition, during swarming, a large number of inactive young bees accumulate in colonies, which hang in clusters on frames. He began to expand the nests of families that entered the swarm state, but this does not always help: out of 20–22 families, now it is possible to save 16–18 from it.
I do it like this. I bet on the family, in a swarm mood, one or two more hulls (I use Dadan hives) and distribute frames from the nest over them, placing honey, wax and honeycombs between them, while removing all queen cells. Clusters of bees under the frames immediately disappear, active construction of combs begins, the queen lays her eggs on the comb frames standing between the brood. The next day, at 14–16 h, the bees of this family are already flying together. It grows rapidly and, in the presence of a high-quality uterus, already occupies three buildings to the main honey collection.
For bee colonies with good young queens, one expansion is enough for them to work without swarming. Resilient families need two or three.
Bees have their own annual cycle, in which everything is strictly planned and in full accordance with nature. Therefore, the beekeeper, in order not to bring chaos into the bee life by his intervention, must adhere to the life schedule of the bee colony. For this, there is a beekeeper's calendar, and not necessarily on paper, but mostly in the head of every beekeeper who knows and respects the way of life of these intelligent insects.
During the year, the beekeeper has a lot of work to take care of the bees. This is more true for those who are engaged in industrial beekeeping.
Calendar of life of bees and work of a beekeeper
The beginning of the countdown of the new year of the bee colony begins in February, after leaving wintering, with the first cleansing flight.
February
In February, the uterus begins laying eggs, but it does this sluggishly and inactively. The air temperature in the nest is maintained at 35 °C, which is necessary for the development of the emerging brood.
During the wintering in the body of bees, a lot of waste has accumulated that disturbs them. For this, an ultra-early flight is needed, which the beekeeper organizes to alleviate the condition of the bees after a long winter.
For the bees to fly out of the nest in February, the beekeeper clears the space in front of the hive from snow or covers it with straw. If the bees overwinter in the omshanik, then the beekeeper prepares the hives for the exhibition from the winter hut.
March
In March, the beekeeper needs to conduct a cursory inspection of bee colonies in order to determine the strength of the colony after wintering, the amount of food, to determine whether there is a queen in the nest, whether she has died (this can be seen from the presence of brood).
After the inspection, the bottom of the hive must be cleaned to remove the subpestilence. In order to move the uterus to a more active egg-laying, the beekeeper adds food to the nest: honey, and if it is not available, then a dough of honey and powdered sugar, prepared in a ratio of 1 to 4 (to 1 kg of honey add 4 kg of powder and 100 ml of water , this is how kandy is prepared). The beekeeper spreads the dough in a plastic bag on top of the frames, and the bees gradually take it apart.
April
In April, the main check of the nests in the apiary (audit) is carried out, and based on its results, the beekeeper takes further steps to build colonies. Families are provided with bee bread, honey and protein feed. The hives are fully equipped with frames with dry and honeycombs. Drinking bowls with water and scales for the control hive are placed.
The hives freed from bees are cleaned and disinfected. As a rule, the nests are cleaned at the same time as the revision, so as not to disturb the insects once again. After that, the beekeeper cleans the frames. Suitable honeycombs are removed for storage, and the old ones are melted into wax.
They also take measures to warm the nest if it's cold. The thermal regime can be kept at the desired level by reducing the socket. When reducing the nest, the minimum number of frames is left, so that all of them are covered with bees. This makes it easier for the family to keep the nest warm. Carry out the restriction of bee nests according to Blinov.
May
The beekeeper expands the nests in the apiary, conducts a veterinary examination of bee colonies for the presence of diseases, evaluates the queens, breeds young ones, and forms new colonies.
According to the withdrawal of new queens, the beekeeper in May adheres to a separate calendar. When breeding queens, the origin of larvae and queen cells is kept. When performing this work, the beekeeper will have complete information about his queens.
There should be protein food in the nest at this time. To do this, the beekeeper prepares honey-pergo dough (proportion 1: 4) and spreads top dressing on the frames before setting up the grafting frame.
When expanding the nest, low-copper combs are taken, and food supplies are replenished at the same time. Empty cells in honeycombs are watered with honey full. This encourages the bees to clean the cells, and the queen to actively lay.
Bee colonies grow rapidly, overwintered bees are replaced by young ones. Families grow rapidly, bees are born much more than die. Some beekeepers start layering from 10 to 20 May.
June
The bee colonies have greatly increased, and if the beekeeper does not expand the nests in time and does not apply other methods to stop the swarming, then the swarming time will begin. This process greatly affects the honey collection. The beekeeper carries out work to expand the nests, forms layering, loads the bees with work on the honey collection, on rebuilding the combs, and removes old queens.
To prevent swarming before the bees become swarming, the beekeeper conducts artificial swarming using the following methods:
- family division,
- raid on the uterus,
- formation of layers.
Cebro V.P. proposed a rigid calendar of work in the apiary, aimed at swarm-free beekeeping. Compliance with such a work schedule is called the Cebro method.
July
At this time, the beekeeper performs work to maintain the strength of the family at a high level.
In July, the beekeeper takes the bees to nomadic places, where there are a lot of various honey plants and bee pollinators. Adds extra honeycombs to nests.
Bees spend a lot of energy processing nectar, draining it, ventilating the nest, and roaming is carried out in order to make life easier for the bees during this period.
August
At the end of the bribe, the bees stop feeding the drones, and then completely drive them out of the nest.
The beekeeper first begins to prepare for the winter in the apiary: he repairs the omshannik, if necessary, removes the store extensions and removes the cases. The strength of the family is being built up, food stocks are kept, and if there is a shortage of food, the stocks are replenished.
The beekeeper removes unfinished frames and frames with artificial foundation, reduces the width of the notch and closes the cracks in the hives.
September
An autumn check of the state of the nests in the apiary is carried out. The beekeeper evaluates the number of larvae, food reserves. Measures are being taken to strengthen the family and additional withdrawal of bees by winter.
Frames prepared in winter with bee bread and honey are placed in the nests. The combs freed from the brood are removed from the nest. Sugar syrup is being prepared to feed the bees in the winter, laid out in bags of 900 m per frame per day. In the last feeding, the bees are given a drug for nosematosis.
There is a biological process of formation of "winter" bees. Such a bee must live at least six months to overwinter, and then raise the first brood. The body of the bee is preparing for wintering: the process of removing moisture occurs, nutrients accumulate in the body, the pharyngeal glands also develop, the body accumulates fat.
October
The temperature in the apiary drops below 12 degrees. The bees begin to gather in a club. In the daytime, when it is still warm enough, the club breaks up, the bees fly out to cleanse, and when they return, they again form a club.
To form a club, the beekeeper puts empty combs at the very bottom of the hive, and the club gathers on them, honeycombs with food are placed on top.
The beekeeper is preparing for wintering: he removes store extensions until next summer, extra cases, sorts combs, melts old and damaged ones into wax, checks and preserves equipment for roaming.
November
Honeycomb frames from wax moth are processed, hives are prepared and frames are purchased for the next season, the condition of the hives and equipment in the apiary is checked.
December
The beekeeper continues to work on warming the hives, depending on the condition of the bees and the climatic conditions of the area. The hives are covered with snow, the notches are covered. Depending on the climate, in the second half of December, the hives are brought into the winter hut, provided that the bees spend the winter in the omshan.
January
In January, the bees are in the club, while maintaining the temperature from 14 ° C to 25 ° C. The surface of the club is maintained at a temperature of about 6 °C. Bees are constantly moving from the surface of the club to the center. The course of wintering families in the apiary can be controlled by determining the amount of death.
The beekeeper fulfilled his task of providing families with food (honey and bee bread), thanks to which the bees maintain the desired temperature in the nest.
For your information, all the questions of the beekeeper are guaranteed to be solved by the beekeeping methods of Vladimir Petrovich Cebro. His methods of keeping colonies in three-hued beehives in the apiary, the beekeeper's annual calendar, wintering methods are ideal for novice beekeepers.