The Wondrous World of Honey Bees Paul Holmes Chair Kelvin Valley Honey

 Learning about beekeeping is about finding the right way for you.  “Beekeeping is an art not a science”  The only necessity is that you can see the tiny eggs – use a magnifying glass if necessary.  Any age as long as you have the time.  The amount of time your colony needs depends on the time of year and the weather. Who can become a beekeeper?

 They stay in their hive and “Cluster” together.  Shared Bodily Warmth Theory  Queen will be in the centre  Being fed by the beekeeper.  Temperature in the middle of the cluster will be a warm 90 degrees.  There are no young bees.  Numbers in the colony drop. Bees in Winter

 The winter and spring flowers are vital to the colony – the first fresh food they have had for several months.  Nectar and pollen  Carbohydrates and protein.  Pollination is only a side-effect.  A foraging worker will visit as many as 2000 flowers in one day. Visiting up to 100 flowers per trip.  The queen will start to lay eggs, she can lay up to 2000 eggs a day at the height of the nectar flow.  Roles of the bees within the hive depend on age. Spring is here.

Pollen every colour of the rainbow

 Suffice to say this is the busiest season for honey bee growth. The young bees have been emerging for a couple of weeks now and the last of the previous years colony has all bee replaced.  There is a steady supply of food and its staying dry (ha ha).  Watching the weather forecast is vital for the beekeepers to manage their colonies.  Time to dust off the smoker, wash the suit and gather up your hive tool, boots and marigolds.  With the arrival of spring the days are getting longer and the bees forage for progressively longer hours. Spring – Increase!

Egg to emergence.

 Up ‘til now its been too cold to go into the hive and have a quick check.  What are we looking for? Spring visit.

Perfect.

Find the Queen

Beekeepers cheat!

 The Queen is the life’s blood of the colony.  Laying all the eggs.  Releases of Pheromones – unique to each queen/colony.  Maintains calm and order.  Represses the laying ability of unmated workers.  Signals the need for personal attention ; feeding, cleaning etc. Role of the Queen.

 The little female worker honey bee really has a hard life.  She crams a huge amount into her brief 6 week life.  Chores include, cleaning out cells, keeping brood warm, feeding, building comb, heating and cooling the hive.  As she reaches her 2 week birthday, her wing muscles are nearly fully developed and being that bit older she becomes responsible for security and clearing out dead bees.  In the summer the worker bee lives for about 6 weeks – this is due to amount of flying she does The Role of the Worker

 The sole purpose of the drone is to mate with a virgin queens.  Upon doing so, his mating parts are ripped from his body and he falls to earth dead.  The drone is a real drain on the resources of the colony; he does not forage, clean, feed himself or perform any of the duties of a female worker bee.  He has no sting so cannot guard or protect the colony. The Drone – only good for one thing.

The 3 castes.

 If last year was anything to go by we don’t have a summer any more.  If it is a wet year like last year you need to feed bees, once they have eaten all their stored food, pollen and uncapped honey. They will simply starve to death.  Feeding a sugar solution through a rapid feeder keeps the colony going.  Hopefully we will have a good summer and fruit trees will be pollinated. Lots of pollen and nectar sources for the bees. The Summer.

 When / Why do honey bees swarm?  Lack of space – due to over population or overfeeding  The hive starts to get cramped and the workers have difficulty sensing that the queen is still in the hive.  Natural reproduction. SWARMS !!!!!!

 What do you have in your hive after a swarm?  Well…depending on how many days ago you last checked your colony.  No Queen visible but…… you will have Oh no…my hive has swarmed!

 After a patient wait, out will emerge a new queen.  After searching through the hive stinging all other queen cells that have been raised – (this can take up to 7 days).  Our new queen flies out of the hive and mates with between 12 and 15 drones A Virgin Queen!

Honey.

 Honey bees start to forage at around 3 weeks of age. They are searching for nectar (and pollen.)  The nectar is a sweet smelling liquid comprising water and sucrose, produced by plants to attract pollinators.  When ingested the sucrose mixes with an enzyme which breaks each sucrose molecule into two smaller sugar molecules, glucose and fructose.  By evaporating the excess water and converting the sucrose into smaller sugars the bees make the honey too concentrated for yeasts and other micro organisms to grow.  The bees fan their wings until the correct percentage of water is produced these cells are then capped and kept as stores for leaner times.  Nectar 83% water – Honey less than 18.6% water. What exactly is honey?

 The chances are if you suffer from hayfever that you will be familiar with Piriton and other antihistamines.  But did you know that ‘locally produced’ honey is also good for hayfever sufferers.  Honey contains miniscule particles of pollen which help lessen the body response to pollen dust in the air at peak times.  Manuka honey will only have an effect on hayfever sufferers if they live in New Zealand ie. Local Benefits of local honey.

Honey is very good for: Spots and pimples, Cuts and grazes, Burns, Sore throats and flu Having on cereal and fruit, Toast and pancakes, Honey roast ham and parsnips ….in fact it does so much more than just sweeten tea Benefits of “RAW” honey.

 Spring – oil seed rape honey – this needs to be pressed out of the frames before it goes rock solid and the only thing its good for is the bin.  Spring flowers – last years weather.  Late summer / early autumn – probably the time when the majority of honey is taken off.  Autumn – Heather honey – again this needs to be pressed out of the frames. Honey season.

 Neither did I when I started looking after bees nearly 3 years ago.  My experience up until then was Gales honey from about 60 years ago.  Local honey has a completely different flavour.  Every area will have a slightly different flavour to their honey, as it depends on the flowers upon which the bees have been foraging.  Heather honey is very strong and quite dark in colour.  Our honey is quite pale and is non plant specific so we can only call it “Blossom” Honey. I don’t like honey!

Hive > Jar.

 Most important. - Recycle Wash and dry!!!!

Fascinating insects. Thank-you for listening.