Pushing (a.k.a. messing with ) Your Bees to increase Honey Production

Transcription

1 Pushing (a.k.a. messing with ) Your Bees to increase Honey Production

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3 * Not Pushing * Natural variability * This is Waiting

4 Beekeepers are NOT Maple syrup producers this is why they are NOT called TreeKeepers... Weather dependent like most of us Waiters like us see RTH migration map Wait and See Get what you get NOT like us Limited tree sucking actions

5 This is Pusing (Above: 287 pound average)

6 Bee Pushing Defined Why pushing is possible? S=>R Why Push? How to Push When to Push Pushing recipes: simple, moderate, complex Examples

7 PUSHING Defined True Beekeeping (not just keeping bees) is pushing Planned management Directed management Proactive resource(s) management Monitoring changing hive conditions

8 How is Pushing even possible? Understanding the Stimulus=>Response turns keepers of bees into beekeepers Behavioral psychology S => R If => Then

9 Example S => R: Bee Space If you violate the bee space (3/8 ) any time (pic)

10 Example S=>R: Bee Racing

11 Example S=>R: OTS Queen Rearing

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14 Example S=>R: WV 2017 Fondant Stimulative Feeding Results the good the bad

15 Why Push? You already are! Bee Trees > Bee Hive. Transporting migratory For Hive Health For Hive increased hive product(s) For Additional hive products Because you can opportunism curiosity

16 Hive Products you can Push for Bees splits, pkgs, nucs, queens Honey Pollen Wax general, drawn brood/super comb Propolis Royal Jelly

17 How to push Depends on what pushing for Pay attention to 1 st Principles resources Bees! Seasonal light, temperature, rains Nectar, Pollen, Resources Nectar, Pollen Supplements

18 When to push Better seasonal times to push prime times There are wrong times Ex. Foundation

19 Pushing for Honey Reverse engineering how did we did it the recipe

20 Honey Recipe Healthy, overwintered colony (fall queens) swarming Queens monitored for egg laying viability good stock Unseasonably warm spring brood stimulation Sufficient onboard feed resources supplement Hive management brood swaps room/swarm control. Good nectar (and water) location Early supering and often stay ahead. Proper weather to extend nectar season (45+days)******* NOTE: Hive health, pests, and diseases were monitored early and regularly throughout the nectar season.

21 Pushed Honey Recipe More pre-planning and direction than regular recipe. Understand: 1 large colony > honey than 2 mediums Estimate peak nectar flow for your area. Stimulate brood to coincide with peak nectar flow Use 2+ colonies brood to build large, single production colony.

22 Ingredients explored (Hippopotamus Pie)

23 Lots of beekeeping noise out there Monitoring simplify B - Curves

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25 Monitoring to simplify the clutter Fact: Most of your total honey crop for a season is collected in 30 days

26 Internal hive populations

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29 Apis Labs Alex Zomchek

30 Apis Labs Alex Zomchek

31 Apis Labs Alex Zomchek Nutritional Monitoring

32 Once you understand B Curves you can PUSH your Bees!

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35 Caveat Garbage in.garbage out Need good ingredients to have good results

36 Recipe for Super charging colonies for honey production (a.k.a. Hippopotamus Pie ) Caveat: recipe is a guideline tailor it to your tastes and environments

37 Simple Recipe (Wait and See) Boxes Bees Forage Wait for it

38 Moderate Recipe More Boxes More Bees Better Forage Wait for it

39 Moderate + More healthier bees More boxes w/drawn comb More flowers better locations Waiting Go for it

40 Advanced Super Charged Recipe 1. Lots of Honey production bees 2. Lots of Healthy bees 3. Lots of (1) and (2) at the right age 4. Lots of (1, 2, 3) in the right place(s) Lots of (1,2,3,4) at the right time 6. RM: Sufficient & Timely supering. **Sufficient and proper honey storage be careful what you wish for

41 World distribution map of primary honey bee species (Apis genus) Apis andreniformis Apis cerana Apis dorsata Apis florea Apis koschevnikovi Apis nigrocincta Apis mellifera

42 Bee Vernacular species, races, hybrids 8 species (apis melifera)of honey bees Within the species are races Example: Apis mellifera ligustica Italians So much mixing tough to keep a pure bred Today, more interested in genetic diversity which leads to survivor stock mutts Other race examples: Apis mellifera caucasca - caucasian Apis mellifera carnica - carniolan Apis mellifera scutellata Africanized Crossing these races leads to hybrids... Examples: Cordovans, Buckfast, Russian, Starline, Minnesota Hygenic

43 Hive health you know it when you see it

44 Need lots of foragers to make lots of honey

45 Bees in right place limit! 1 colony ~ 200 pounds of honey 100 for them and 100 for you. 1 pound of honey takes the nectar from 2,000,000 flowers. So, 200 lbs of honey takes 400,000,000 flowers. An apiary of 10 colonies: 4,000,000,000 flowers. Treasure map(s)! Water, nectar, weather

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50 Pushing Honey production what type? Liquid honey production Comb honey production Hybrids Ross Rounds, Box, Plastic, etc. There are product/quantity tradeoffs

51 Pushing on Steroids - I Strong bee stock Strong over wintered colony Stimulated early with carbs, protein, vits, mins Hive management box swaps Great year. Supering

52 Pushing on Steroids - II Strong bee stock Strong over wintered colony Stimulated early with carbs, protein, vits, mins Hive management box swaps 2 Queen Systems Great year. Supering

53 Pushing on Steroids - III Good bee stock Strong over wintered colony OR Queen nucleus hive (QNH) Produce multiple nucs from QNH Stimulated with carbs, protein, vits, mins Combine frames from multiple nucs Hive management box swaps Great year. Supering

54 Plan for Success boomer colonies are made; not waited for We are not treekeepers A little luck does not hurt!

55 287 pound average

56 Your PUSHING journey can starts with a single drop

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58 Push it a little farther

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61 Push to let your imagination (and bees) fly!

62 for there is a fresh wind blowing; we may yet again do things like mountains, and music and beekeeping because they are hard, and clean, and clear in the morning! - Philip Gillett That the powerful play goes on, and you will contribute a verse. -Walt Whitman Contact Information: Alexander Zomchek zomchea@miamioh.edu