Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
Chapter 6
I mentioned earlier that spring is an ideal time to commence beekeeping. It is not the
only time, but it is easily the best for a new beekeeper. The reason for this is that you can
start with a small nucleus colony on just a few frames and watch it grow through your
beekeeping. If you follow the advice in this topic, it will grow, and your experience will
grow with it. By the autumn, you will have seen colony expansion; undertaken swarm-
prevention methods; carried out manipulations to increase honey production; dealt
with any colony problems; extracted your honey crop; and perhaps split your hives so
that you'll have more next year.
You have a great deal to do in the meantime, however. Your colonies are growing and
probably wanting to swarm; varroa will be increasing in your hives; and you will have to
assess carefully the amount of room the bees need to deposit their honey. Diseases may
rear their ugly heads, and you will have to inspect your colonies at regular intervals to
make sure they are not suffering or failing in some way. This is a lot to think about for
an experienced beekeeper, let alone a new one, but, if you follow the instructions in this
chapter carefully, you and your bees will survive to the summer.
Checking the hives
So, it is springtime, and you have left your newly arrived bees for a week to settle in
to their new surroundings. You now want your colonies to expand and, hopefully to
produce a surplus of honey that you can extract. You have already helped them by
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