This Month in the Apiary – July
- Keep an eye on swarming with regular inspections. Bees that have been cooped up in bad weather may swarm when the sun shines.
- Check the queen has space to lay, you may have to remove stores and if disease free give to another colony or freeze. Replace with drawn comb or foundation placed in the middle of the brood nest.
- Keeping adding supers if 6/7 fames are full, the bees need space to spread the nectar to reduce the water content.
- Consider the performance of your queens with a view to replacing them or uniting colonies.
- Prepare for extraction at the end of the month, . If you need to book the association extractor do it early.
- If jarring or bucketing honey make sure you have enough and they are cleaned and sterilised..
- Remember honey needs to be below 20% it should either be capped or no nectar runs out when shaken. Use a refractometer to check the water content.
- If extracting get clearer boards ready and with large colonies provide space for the bees to move into when you put them on.
- If possible mark each super with the hive it came from so it can be returned to the same colony. ( You can use coloured drawing pins )
- After extraction shake the bees off the brood frame s and do a full health check. Check for small off centre holes and brood that doesn’t look right. Put anything suspect in to your smoker. Look especially for EFB and AFB.
- Monitor varroa levels ready to treat. Follow treatment instructions carefully to avoid resistance and record . Remember you are required by law to keep these records for six years.
- Watch for wasps and reduce hive entrances. Put out wasp traps away from the hives.
- If you have Asian Hornet traps, change bait to protein such as cat food or tuna. You must monitor the traps daily and change the bait regularly.