| Bees are now producing around 250-500 eggs a day as the queen bee goes into autumn laying mode. If your bees have quality sources of nectar & pollen at this point they can be at honey production levels for one LAST harvest ONLY if you don't have a cold front coming!
Ensure you have left some honey for the bees so they have food to sustain themselves through the colder nights and days that lie ahead. Remember, whenever you open the hive you break the seals the bees built to create a closed internal climate they can insulate and keep warm with the least amount of energy being used in the cold winter nights.
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Upcoming Crops
~ Aloe Davyana ~ Aloe Davyana is starting now in some parts of South Africa and if you keep bees on these then be sure not to inspect them or harvest from them until the flow is over. The bees will become very aggressive on Aloe Davyana. BEFORE you move them from the site however you should perform a full inspection a week after the flow ends. This is to seek out any Capensis present in your colonies and deal with them accordingly.
It means you should check for multiple eggs in brood cells especially eggs in the super chambers as signs of Capensis being present. If you have a large presence of mostly black bees in your colony and a lack of a queen bee you should consider termination of the colony before moving them off of the Aloe site and spreading the Capensis to another area.
~ Macadamia ~ If you are in the Mpumalanga Province then soon the first Macadamia bloom will start. Be sure to discuss pesticide spraying with the farmer and to avoid at all costs contact for your bees with the pesticide, despite whether the farmer tells you what the pesticide representative told him that it may be safe for bees.... It's not safe.
Remember, there are different cultivars of Macadamia and even if some don't require pollination they still benefit from cross pollination. There's a 12-15% increase in nut production when honeybees are used with blossoming Macadamia trees.
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~ Bees and Winter Solstice -------------->
We have had the longest night of winter and it signals the turn of the season to spring. The Winter Solstice, 21 June, marks the peak of winter. The shortest day and longest night in the southern hemisphere and the opposite in the northern hemisphere.
It marks the time for beekeepers to get moving and shaking with regards to the coming spring. As some crops or flowers are currently about to start flowering in parts of the country you can be making your plans to take advantage of the new season. Aloe Davyana is starting to flower and Macadamia will start soon too with some cultivars.
Be sure not to open your hives regularly now as by doing so you will break the propolis seals that bees put in place to keep the internal climate insulated and closed from the outside cold especially at night.
Entrance feeders and external feeding is a good practice to be putting to use over this period if you feel your bees are not getting enough food. By watching them, you can get a good indication of what your bees are gathering and bringing back to the hive. Usually there will be yellow or red pollen coming back with foragers. If no pollen is noticed then it is very likely that forager was collecting nectar and or water for the colony.
If you can see pollen being brought in then it is very unlikely that they need pollen feeding or pollen substitute. Remember although bees require pollen in their diet to keep themselves warm and feed the young larvae. The thing to remember is that during this time all energy is usually utilised for keeping the colony warm at night with low priority on breeding new bees at this time.
The more we feed pollen/pollen substitute during this time the more pressure we can be seen to be putting on the bees unnaturally over a period of time bees normally have much more subdued activity levels and lower larvae production. When feeding, aim to feed enough to help the bees sustain themselves at this point but not so much that they will artificially push to increase population numbers. The chances of these 'excess bees' being properly used when there is a winter dearth or low or no nectar period during the winter months.
There is an argument, however, to start feeding pollen + 1:1 sugar feeding syrup in August so that gives the bees enough time to take advantage of the extra food to make the spring time bee foragers.
You see, it takes about 18 days for new worker bees to get from being laid to emerge. Those newbie bees first start off working on chores in the hive for the colony before they can 'earn' their 'wings' to leave the hive and start foraging. This chore duty schedule usually runs about 10 days. By starting in the first week of August to feed the bees the queen will begin laying eggs for the next generation of Spring workers.
Aim to plan your feeding with this in mind. Just avoid any cold fronts...
ALERT:> Ants can become a major risk when feeding sugar water to so make sure not to spill sugar water around or in the hive.
P.S. We also feel it is important to inform customers that our contact details by phone line are 012 771 4288 and 012 757 5538 to speak with Vic and Shirley or contact Shirley on 083 308 0042 at the Bee WARE Centurion Shop.
Our email address is buzz@beeware.co.za at the shop.
Contact details for Bee WARE
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