Continuing with the theme of spring hive management and also adding to Blog #41, another more recently published study investigated the effect of comb age on honey bee productivity. Keep reading to find out what interesting significant results are revealed, what suggestions are provided for comb rotation, and how these compare to the previously discussed publication on this topic.
As spring progresses, our bees are becoming more and more active! But as many beekeepers in the Atlantic region know, the bees are not the only ones that start to venture out of their winter homes in springtime. Bears are also coming out from their winter slumbers in the spring and a colony of bees sounds like a great treat to them! Luckily, The Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences at the University of Florida has just released a comprehensive guide for building apiary bear fences! Keep reading for more details.
Comb Age Significantly Influences the Productivity of the Honey Bee (Apis mellifera) Colony *
A honey bee colony uses beeswax combs within the hive mainly
for rearing brood and storing food. Over time, with repeated use for brood rearing,
these combs change in both color and size. This recent publication provides
insight on the topic of colony productivity in relation to comb age. The
colonies used in this study were hybrid Carniolan honey bees, and combs were
categorized as new combs (1-3 years old) and old combs (4-6 years old). In this
study, colony productivity was quantified by:
- Worker weight
- Queen weight
- Drone weight
- Royal jelly production (mg of royal jelly/queen cell)
- Worker and drone brood rearing
Through analyses of these productivity parameters, significant
results from this study were revealed:
- Colonies on new combs yielded newly emerged workers, queens, and drones with heavier body weights than those reared in colonies on old combs.
- Colonies on new combs were more active in food storage, royal jelly production, and worker and drone rearing than colonies on old combs
This study suggested these results were related to the decrease
in individual cell size over time – due to the accumulation of cocoons, wax,
and other hive debris – allowing less space in cells on old combs for brood
growth and resulting in smaller workers. The smaller population and individual
size of workers reared on old comb were physically not capable of collecting
pollen and nectar to the same extent as the larger population and size of workers
that were reared on new comb. This study concluded that “the body sizes of
individual bees were declined, and the productivity was decreased in the
colonies with the old combs.” With this conclusion, this study further suggested
that, “[replacing] combs after three years with new [combs] is recommended to
encourage colony growth and increase productivity.” *
The results and conclusions of this study agree with those
of the comb age study discussed previously in Blog #41. This study lends additional
significant results related to other parameters of colony productivity to
further support the regular rotational replacement of old comb with new comb.
It is important to note that both of these studies were carried out in Egypt,
however, still provide interesting significant results to take into
consideration when managing honey bees in the Atlantic Canada region.
* Taha, E. A., Rakha, O.M., Elnabawy, E. M., Hassan, M. M.
& Shawer, M. B. (2021). Comb age significantly influences the productivity
of the honeybee (Apis mellifera) colony, Journal of King Saud University
– Science. Full text available online.
Building Bear Fences for Your Apiary *
Many beekeepers in the Atlantic Canada region know all too
well that bees and bears are not a good mix. Bears seek out bee colonies as a
nice protein snack; they are after the protein-rich brood more than the honey,
but the honey is a sweet bonus for them! A good way to protect bee yards from
these destructive uninvited wildlife visitors is to build a proper bear fence
around the apiary. There are many ways to go about implementing some sort of
bear fence and many resources available. The University of Florida Institute of
Food and Agricultural Sciences Extension program recently put together a
step-by-step guide for building a bear fence. This guide includes:
- Background information about bears and beekeeping
- A list of supplies and tools for making the fence system
- Site considerations for choosing a bear-proof yard location
- Steps of fence installation
In the ‘Steps of Fence Installation’ section, detailed
instructions and photos are provided for every step of installing an electric
bear fence so the builder can be sure they achieve the intended result. The
general steps of fence installation are:
- Installing posts and wire
- Creating a gate
- Adding charge and ground
- Testing the fence
Another great resource for bear and bear fencing
information, especially area-specific information, is other beekeepers! A
beekeeper that has kept hives in a particular location for a few years or more
will likely be able to share some insight as to what the bear situation is in
that area.
* Post, K. K. & Jack, C. (2021). Building Bear
Fencing for Your Apiary, Entomology and Nematology Department, UF/IFAS
Extension. Full text available online.
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