Dear friends of our bees and friends of the foundation,
We experienced an unusually high number of rainy days at our location in Hungary in the months of March and April. Often with temperatures between +8° and +12°. There were no bee flights on most days. The local fruit tree blossom also fell during this period. The entries therefore developed unusually weakly. This development also applies to the brood.
In the test colonies we recorded an average weight increase of only 8.5 % (cut-off date 01.04. vers. 25.02.). In the last two days of April this gave cause for concern about sufficient forage stocks, as the honey stocks from the previous year had been largely used up.
Then, almost without transition, the temperatures rose to early summer levels and the plants developed magnificently (pictures in the next blog). Now, at the end of May, we are recording a weight increase of 45 % (cut-off date 25.5. vers. 01.04.). The tendency is still rising.
In conventional beekeeping, the first honey harvest would now be carried out, which, as we know, we do not do within our research project, in the interest of bee health.
For about four weeks now, after a clear slowdown in March, very strong brood activity has been registered again. The population of the colonies has increased about sevenfold compared to February. The estimated population in the colonies varies from colony to colony between 20,000 - 30,000 (in 4 colonies) and 30,000 - 35,000 bees (in six colonies).
This has already led to the construction of queen cells in the colonies with a large population. For the less expert readers among you: new queen bees are nurtured in the queen cells. These are created by feeding the hatched bees in queen cells exclusively with what is known as royal jelly, while the other hatched bees are fed a mixture of honey and pollen. Royal jelly is a secretion produced in special glands of the nurse bees. Through this exclusive feeding, the larva develops into a queen.
In two colonies we have already observed the departure of a pre-swarm with the old queen. The new queens have hatched in the meantime. The swarm amount was about 35% of the total population of the respective colony. In the other colonies we expect a swarm formation in the next two to three weeks. In three colonies no queen cells have been discovered so far.
We would like to point out once again that in conventional beekeeping swarming is prevented in favour of a higher honey yield. This is called "breaking out" of the queen cells. We deliberately do not prevent swarming, because with the departure of the bee swarm, the population of Varroa mites is also considerably reduced. Through a subsequent massive increase in brood activity, the mite pressure on the colonies is greatly reduced.
The Varroa mite load increased in the months of March and April, by about 0.5% to a total of 0.8% by the middle of May. This corresponds to more than a doubling of the mite population. We did not carry out any mite control measures. The population in the conventionally managed test colonies is about 1.4%, despite treatment with formic acid (evaporator technique). This result is more than 40% higher than in the Foundation's test colonies. A significant difference that has an impact on bee health. We assume that the population of the test colonies will be further reduced due to the swarming activity, so that the difference will be even greater.
From our point of view, the current situation shows the first successes of species-appropriate beekeeping. We hope that this trend will continue and strengthen.
Best regards and
be(e) good
Yours
Klaus Heinzel
