Disclaimer:

This blog explains how I keep bees. It works for me, it might not work for you. Use my methods at your own risk. Always wear protective clothing and use a smoker when working bees.

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Monday, July 4, 2011

The flow

This coming weeks weather is going to be perfect for honey collection. The bees will be out working and bringing in nectar. Beekeepers need to stay ahead of the bees. Put on supers two at a time. Check hives weekly to see if more supers are needed.
Drawing comb? Put new supers with foundation on top of the brood nest. Bees reluctant to move up into the supers with a queen excluder? Remove the excluder, when the bees start drawing out the super and putting up some nectar, put the excluder back on. Don't trap the queen up in the supers, look for eggs before the hive is closed up.
Just because a beekeeper has a package, supers must go on. Bees can move swiftly to fill up supers. Without supers the bees may fill up the colony with honey, leaving no place for the queen to lay. The hives population will suffer and decline. The hive will not be able to winter.
This is the time of year that the beekeepers have spent months working for. Hopefully the bees will accommodate with a bumper crop of honey.