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| 4 Italian colonies in Chanhassen |
It is 46F (8C) here and winds at 12 miles per hour! It is cold!!! If I feel cold what do you think the bees are doing? No, not knitting blankets .... but they may:)
For one thing they are not foraging to much, not only because it is cold but it is also gray with no sign of the sun, so they are staying inside their hives. Cleaning, feeding the brood, tending the queen and most importantly keeping warm.
The workers keep the brood (eggs, larvae and pupae) between 91-97 F (32-36C) in any type of weather. To achieve that goal, the workers have to eat a lot, especially when it is cool outside.
However, some queens like the Russian will lay less eggs, or stop if the temperature dips too much; therefore controlling the size of the nest to keep warm.
When I open a colony this is what I look for: The brood pattern
Is there any eggs, larvae, capped brood? Pollen? Nectar?
Is there any room (cells available) for the queen to lay more eggs?
How many frames are covered with bees?
For a new colony: is there enough food inside the hive? What is the forecast for the next 7 days ?
These few questions will guide the beekeeper during his/her inspection.
Taking notes for each colony is also important because each "house" may behave differently.
The brood pattern means, how is a frame organized? In the middle of the brood box, one should see 3-4 frames looking like an oval shape of mostly capped brood, with eggs, and larvae. As you take the frames on each side of the largest oval, the subsequent frames ( as you go towards the outside of the box) have smaller ovals.
(Just like a loaf of bread, as you cut the slices become smaller). This pattern is the brood, the nest. Around this shape on the frame, there is some pollen (colorful cells: yellow, white, dark yellow, orange), around this layer: some cells with nectar, and if lucky some already capped nectar cells call honey! This whole pattern on a frame looks like a "rainbow". This is the perfect brood pattern.
If you could see through the wooden box you could see: small brood shape, medium brood shape, large brood shape, medium brood shape and small again. And every frame with pollen, and nectar/honey, around. This is a perfect honey bee nest!
The outside frames are usually all honey and/or pollen mix (their pantry).
I know what I describe requires a lot of imagination...but you will get there.
The workers keep the brood (eggs, larvae and pupae) between 91-97 F (32-36C) in any type of weather. To achieve that goal, the workers have to eat a lot, especially when it is cool outside.
However, some queens like the Russian will lay less eggs, or stop if the temperature dips too much; therefore controlling the size of the nest to keep warm.
When I open a colony this is what I look for: The brood pattern
Is there any eggs, larvae, capped brood? Pollen? Nectar?
Is there any room (cells available) for the queen to lay more eggs?
For a new colony: is there enough food inside the hive? What is the forecast for the next 7 days ?
These few questions will guide the beekeeper during his/her inspection.
Taking notes for each colony is also important because each "house" may behave differently.
The brood pattern means, how is a frame organized? In the middle of the brood box, one should see 3-4 frames looking like an oval shape of mostly capped brood, with eggs, and larvae. As you take the frames on each side of the largest oval, the subsequent frames ( as you go towards the outside of the box) have smaller ovals.
(Just like a loaf of bread, as you cut the slices become smaller). This pattern is the brood, the nest. Around this shape on the frame, there is some pollen (colorful cells: yellow, white, dark yellow, orange), around this layer: some cells with nectar, and if lucky some already capped nectar cells call honey! This whole pattern on a frame looks like a "rainbow". This is the perfect brood pattern.
If you could see through the wooden box you could see: small brood shape, medium brood shape, large brood shape, medium brood shape and small again. And every frame with pollen, and nectar/honey, around. This is a perfect honey bee nest!
The outside frames are usually all honey and/or pollen mix (their pantry).
I know what I describe requires a lot of imagination...but you will get there.
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| See the pattern? Brood ( center), pollen (next arc) and nectar/honey Next layer: Beautiful |
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| See the eggs |
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| Left side: Larvae in royal jelly. Right side: eggs |
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| Honey bee tending a larvae |
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