February

 

The first spring flight, bee dance February 2019 – film.

 
 

When queen die in winter… February 2019 – film.

 
 

In most parts of Europe, winter usually takes place in February in the best  and no thoughts of forgiveness.

When we finally trace the weather forecast for warming and temperatures above 8’C and we will be excited again with the bee breeding we have to do some very simple things.
On the eve of the expected flight, we disconnect the pipe and pull the dead bees out of it. Gently pull the dead insects and wax from the hole in the beehive of the observation beehive.
Spring is the hardest period for bees. Tired of heavy winter, they will be forced to raise large numbers of young bees. Most of the bee colonies in this period lose a lot of their members. Old bees collecting pollen and nectar are massively killed during weather changes and simply from old age. Younger workers what are bee nurses will quickly consume their biological fat body and will  live only 6-7 weeks. So all hope go into raising the young generation of bees. The queen mother intensifies egg laying, the workers must heat up to 34’C all parts of the hive where the young bees develop. Eggs laying begin when bee foragers bring some amount of fresh pollen. It’s not happening always in February, rather in March.
Bees in the observation hive survive this period more easily than in the traditional hives. Outside temperatures often often together with strong winds make it very difficult for bees to maintain the right temperature inside the nest. This limits the amount of folded eggs and very depletes the bees. At home, temperature is easy to maintain. Just raise it above 14’C from the usual 20’C indoor. Outdoor variations may reach night temperatures of up to 40 ° C!, because there are many nights with temperature lower than -10’C and brood in the nest need 34’C.
Just like in the winter, if we observe food deficiencies in bee comb cells, we immediately add 1: 1 sugar syrup (1 part by weight beet sugar, 1 part by weight water) or invert food. We give it as usual by bottle-feeders.