Tips & Advice - Colony Management

Wellington Beekeepers Association Inc.

General

Producing Populous Colonies

A General Guide to Beekeepers in the Wellington District

The following table provides an indication of how an average hive in the Wellington region should build up during the spring in preparation for the main honey flow, which generally occurs in early December.

Date	Frames of Bees	Frames of Brood	Amount of Honey	Size of Entrance	Supers Occupied
July 20^th	4 – 5	2–3 patches	12 – 14 Kg	10 x 75 mm	1
Aug 20^th	6 – 7	2–3 frames	5 – 7 Kg	10 x 75	1
Sept 15^th	6 – 7	4 – 5 frames	5 Kg	10 x 75	1
Oct 6^th	7 – 8	5 – 6	2 Kg	10 x 75	1
Oct 20^th	8 – 10	7 – 8	2 Kg	10 x 75	1
Nov 1^st	10	9	-	10 x 75	2
Nov 15^th	12 – 16	10 – 14	Stimulate	10 x 75	2
Nov 24^th	20	14 – 16	Stimulate	10 x 75	3
Dec 8^th	25 – 30	16 – 18	Flow started	10 x 75	3 – 4
Dec 12^th(1)	30 +	16 – 20	Flow on	20 x 75	4 – 5
Dec 20^th	30+; 60 – 80,000 bees	Queen under excluder	20 – 30 Kg	20 x 75	As required

Note (1) Crowded conditions – Demaree if required.

Extract or add supers up to January 8^th then allow bees to complete and seal combs. The above data is a general average, and would be exceeded in some areas with a good flow, such as Karori and parts of the Hutt Valley.

Frank Lindsay

Colony Preparation for the Honeyflow

A calendar of events for hives being managed to maximise honey collection capability.

Weekly Periods

August September October

4 11 18 25 1 8 15 22 29 6 13 20 27

Drone egg production Queen rearing Queen cell introduction Mated Queen introduction

Nectar Sources

Heath, Five-finger, Konini Willow, Kowhai, Barberry Dandelion, Fruit trees, Buttercup

November December January

3 10 17 24 1 8 15 22 29 5 12 19 26

Critical 7-9 week colony build-up period Honey flow (the 1st December has assumed to be the start of the major honey flow, however variations accur about New Zealand)

Nectar Sources

Rewa rewa, Tawari, Berry fruit White Clover, Thistle, Catsear

For a full strength colony at the start of the anticipated major honey flow:

Encourage vigorous brood production for 7 – 9 weeks beforehand

Introduce mated queens, make divisions, replacements, 7 – 9 weeks beforehand

Undertake queen rearing 12 – 13 weeks beforehand

Stimulate drone egg production 16 – 19 weeks beforehand

Frank Lindsay

Honey Production Depends on Colony Size

Adult worker population
10,000

20,000

30,000

40,000

50,000

60,000

Honey per colony (Kg)
4

14

23

32

41

50

Honey per bee (g)
0.40

0.70

0.77

0.80

0.82

0.83

Practical Beekeeping in NZ – Andrew Matheson

Bee Brood Stages

The following table provides an indication of the length of time that different type of brood spend in each of the stages during their development into adults.

(days)
Egg

Larva

Pupa

Total

Queen
3

5 ½

7 ½

16

Worker
3

6

12

21

Drone
3

6 ½

14 ½

24

During the lava stages, each bee will moult four times (about once per day), before the cell is sealed. They will moult once inside the sealed cell, and again for the sixth time when emerging as an adult.

Drones that do not mate usually live for about three to four weeks in spring and mid-summer, though this can be up to about three months in autumn. With the shortening days and reducing food supplies in autumn, drones are usually expelled from the hive before winter. New drones are reared again in the spring.

A plentiful supply of drones in spring and summer is very important to the survival of the honey bee species and beekeepers are wrong to think of them as being unnecessary to the colony. Squashing drone brood and culling drone comb are particularly futile actions, as bees expend a lot of effort to repair the damage. Colonies in hives with lots of drone comb do not produce less surplus honey than those with no drone comb, and bees seem to require a certain percentage of drone brood.

Practical Beekeeping in NZ – Andrew Matheson

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