Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
After the full inspection
If you have placed your bees in a good area, there should be no need to feed them during
the spring, except when starting off a nuc or package as described in Chapter 5. If, after
this feed, an otherwise healthy and growing colony fails to gather stores in the spring
and early summer, then consideration must be given to moving them to a better area
for forage.
If you think there is a problem with the colony, ask a more experienced beekeeper
for help. You can easily misread the signs and make the wrong decision based on an
incorrect diagnosis, and I think this is one of the most important reasons why you
should be in your local beekeeping association. It doesn't matter where you live in the
world, there is likely to be one, and the members will (certainly initially) be an essential
support group for you. Not only that, with the spread of more exotic diseases among
bees and the increasing importance of honey-bee pollination to agriculture, you should
be on some recognized register for disease control, insecticide-spray monitoring and so
on. Even though beekeepers are often more individual beings than hermits, government
or club registration should be compulsory.
So that was your first full inspection of your new, young colonies. You may have sought
help and advice from an experienced beekeeper if you noticed anything amiss but, for
a young nucleus, problems should be rare. Otherwise, all is well, and you are more
conversant with your bees' activities. There is, however, one preventative measure you
must take now even if your colonies look healthy: treat them for varroa.
Treating your hives for varroa
Most beekeepers place their bees in areas where a mite - varroa destructor - is
endemic. Varroa evolved with the far-eastern honey-bee,
Apis cerana
, and, during this
process, the bee learnt to deal with it. In a hive of these far-eastern bees, therefore,
varroa lives in a form of mutual hostility with the bees and is tolerated, even though it
causes some losses. Probably due to the movement of bees around the world, the varroa
mite came into contact with
Apis mellifera
, the western honey-bee, which had evolved
no defence mechanism against it and which therefore cannot deal with it. The mite has
now managed to invade just about everywhere where bees are kept, even New Zealand
- which is as isolated as you can get.
