Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
able protein, the building of new comb, and you, the beekeeper, all add stress to this
new colony.
Adding a honey super provides the room necessary for colony expansion. But don't
be caught short. Late spring nectar flows can be intense, and if your colony's population
is strong, the right plants in bloom, and the weather suddenly turns warm and humid,
that super can be filled in a week or ten days. It is astonishing how fast this can happen
when everything works. Being slow will reduce the honey crop at the end of the season,
but that's not a negative if you're not sure what to do with hundreds of pounds (kg) of
honey.
More likely though, nectar flows are slower, and the bees will take substantially
longer to fill these supers, mostly due to erratic weather. Another factor that can be lim-
iting is available forage. If your colony is near undeveloped land where a diversity of
blooming plants exist, the nectar flow will speed and slow as nectar-producing plants
flourish and fade. In a more developed area, nectar plants are primarily domestic and
the variety can be nearly infinite, but the quantity can be limited. You need to check on
the rate of filling in your location, and add more space either as needed or as you want
to plan your crop size.
Tip:
During stretches of bad weather, early in the season, when the bees' food sources
are compromised, continue feeding sugar syrup until the third feeding jar has fer-
mented without any feed being taken. It is the cheapest insurance you can buy for
the health and well-being of your colony. Feed pollen substitute until they haven't
eaten any for a month. Monitor the feeder and the patty. When they finally quit
eating—no more sugar feeding and no more protein feeding—they have enough
stored to last them through a bad spell, and they are comfortable with the natural
resources coming in.
When the first honey super has comb on five or six frames and honey being stored
in four or five, even if it's not yet covered with wax, it's time to add a second super for
additional space for nectar storage and, eventually, honey storage.
Keeping Records
If it hasn't occurred to you already, keeping a log of your colony's activities and pro-
gress is a good idea. Particularly for the first couple of seasons, making notes will force
you to attend to the fundamentals, and the notes remain as a record of what happened
