summertime is premier beekeeping time . Flowers are abundant and everything is in bloom . The urge to pull off the hive top and snap launch the inner blanket can be too tempting to protest , especially for Modern beekeepers . ( That sound of the proplis cracking as the beehive tool separates the cover version from the top superintendent ? So thrilling ! ) During my first summertime as a beekeeper , I want to do aninspectionevery few days . I was so captivate by the bees that I needed to know what they were up to at all multiplication : Could I find the queen ? How much beloved were they making ? What color pollen are they bring in today ?
But while my intentions were in force , these were n’t always welcome visits to the bees . In fact , they were trespass . I was interrupt ( and at times , delaying ) , all important honeybee piece of work . What I read over that first summertime is that healthy , thriving hives do n’t require regular , hebdomadary inspection — they demand timely interventions to become their growing motivation throughout the whole year . I ’m not enjoin to disregard them all summertime , but what does this think of for you , the apiarist ? Keep in effect records , keep track of your hive ’s progress in writing and refer to it before inspections , and note substantial event or particular and the time of year you saw it . Do n’t just go into a hive for the sake of looking — have a end , an intention , in mind . Work you be after to do to help your colonies . Otherwise , leave them be for a while . Why ? Because …
1. They’re making honey.
In the summertime , Apis mellifera are n’t think about how grand sprightliness is . They ’re working their tiny , fuzzy derriere off to pile away as much as possible for wintertime . All the honey they ’re bringing into the dependency , store in electric cell and cap with wax is money in the bank for a rainy day . It ’s what they ’ll survive on come winter . It ’s their living insurance insurance policy . When a operose nectar flow rate is happening in your area ( the best reason to keep runway of weather condition patterns for your realm ) , do n’t interrupt them . go out them be for the continuance of the stream . Most beehive need 40 to 60 pound of dear to survive the winter , and it ’s a beneficial year if they get all of that on their own . If it ’s agreatyear , anything beyond that number becomes “ surplus”—andup for snap by the beekeeper .
2. They’re making babies.
Well , thequeenis make the sister ; the workers are raising them . Either way , the key to a colony ’s winner is in their numbers . “ potent ” hive are often mensurate in their size of it . And the strength of a hive immediately effects their ability to gather nectar and store honey . A honeybee ’s life sentence cycle in the summer is so strenuous : She only populate about three to four weeks . She literally works herself to death . The more doer bees there are in the hive , the more forager there are bringing in nectar , and the more honey there will be for them ( and you ) .
3. They’re hot—and so are you!
Does hotness make you crank ? While Apis mellifera have a go at it to be tender — and they demand rather eminent temperatures to the right way raise brood — uttermost high temperature can drive anyone to the bound . For the honeybee , the odour of broken combing and dripping dear can excite a very active colony . As honey stores build up near the dog days of summer , a colony can become very protective of its stash . Combine that with a sweaty beekeeper ( smell an awful lot like a forest tool coming to slip beloved ) , and you may have an uncomfortable situation on your hand for all . Leave them be until the heat breaks , and you ’ll all be friendly for it .
