Laserfiche WebLink
Beekeeping in Northern Climates <br />SUPERING <br />+RQH\VXSHUVVKRXOGEHDGGHGDVQHHGHGGXULQJWKH <br />PDMRUQHFWDUÀRZ*HQHUDOO\VXSHUVDUHQHHGHGZKHQ <br />WKHWRSGHHSER[LVDERXWXVHGE\WKHEHHV <br />,IXQFHUWDLQHUURQSURYLGLQJPRUHVSDFH+DYHWKH <br />HTXLYDOHQWRIHPSW\VXSHUVRQWKHFRORQLHVGXULQJ <br />WKHPDMRUQHFWDUÀRZ7KHVDPHSUDFWLFHDSSOLHVWR <br />DGGLQJDGGLWLRQDOVXSHUVDIWHUWKH¿UVWKDYHEHHQ <br />DGGHG:KHQWKHWRSVXSHULVIXOODGGDQRWKHU <br />supers. <br />Before supering, place a queen excluder over the top <br />deep brood box. Supers containing foundation should <br />JRRQWRSRIWKHTXHHQH[FOXGHU RUXQGHUDQ\VXSHUV <br />DOUHDG\RQWKHFRORQ\ 6XSHUVFRQWDLQLQJDOUHDG\ <br />drawn comb, if you have them, can go on top of the <br />VWDFNRIRWKHUKRQH\VXSHUV <br />Sometimes the bees are reluctant to move from <br />the brood nest into supers with foundation. If that <br />happens, try temporarily removing the queen excluder <br />and spraying some sugar syrup or molten beeswax <br />on the foundation so they are attracted to the new <br />box. When the bees start to draw out comb in the <br />)LJXUH$FRORQ\RQDKRWGD\ZLWKDODUJHEHDUGRIEHHV <br />Beekeeping in Northern Climates <br />On very hot days, sometimes you will see that a <br />huge mass of bees is hanging outside the hive <br />entrance and on the front panels of the hive <br />ER[HV )LJXUH ,WORRNVOLNH\RXUFRORQ\KDV <br />JURZQDEHDUG1HZEHHNHHSHUVZRUU\WKDWWKHLU <br />bees are about to swarm, or that something <br />has gone terribly wrong. But if your bees have <br />plenty of space and it is a hot or muggy day, they <br />DUHSUREDEO\MXVW³EHDUGLQJ´ZKLFKLVSHUIHFWO\ <br />normal. <br />Some bees “beard” outside the colony so that the <br />bees in charge of temperature control have more <br />room to circulate cool air by fanning their wings <br />and evaporating tiny droplets of water throughout <br />the hive. They need to maintain the correct <br />temperature for the developing brood at all times <br /> DERXWƒ)  <br />Biology Box <br />Bearding <br />VXSHUVPDNHVXUHWKHTXHHQGLGQRWDOVRPRYHXS <br />DQGSXWWKHTXHHQH[FOXGHUEDFNRQ&KHFNIRUHJJV <br />in the supers if you are worried you may have missed <br />seeing her. If you see eggs above the queen excluder, <br />WKHQ\RXZLOOQHHGWR¿QGWKHTXHHQDQGPRYHKHU <br />EDFNLQWRWKHEURRGER[HV <br />$IWHUWKHQHFWDUÀRZUHPRYH\RXUKRQH\VXSHUV <br />IURPWKHFRORQLHV VHHVHFWLRQRQ+DUYHVWLQJ ,Q <br />Minnesota, remove supers in mid to late August. This <br />allows for the bees to store the remaining incoming <br />nectar for winter and allows you to monitor and <br />manage the varroa mite population. <br />,QWKH¿UVW\HDUDQHZFRORQ\PD\RUPD\QRW <br />PDNHVXUSOXVKRQH\0XFKRIWKHLUUHVRXUFHV <br /> FDUERK\GUDWHVIURPQHFWDU DUHXVHGIRUSURGXFLQJ <br />ZD[FRPEVUDWKHUWKDQKRQH\,QRXUGHHSV\VWHP <br />the top box of honey will be left on the bees for the <br />ZLQWHU<RXFDQUHVWHDV\WKDWWKHFRORQ\ZLOOKDYH <br />VXI¿FLHQWKRQH\WRVXUYLYHWKHZLQWHUDQGORRNIRUZDUG <br />WRKDUYHVWLQJKRQH\LQ\HDU