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Opening and handling the bee colony: Difference between revisions
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*The queen is living easily three years and is commonly kept two seasons before changing. During collecting this material the longest reported lifespan for queen has been seven years. | *The queen is living easily three years and is commonly kept two seasons before changing. During collecting this material the longest reported lifespan for queen has been seven years. | ||
*The queen is very good at hiding herself on the comb by hiding under the worker bees, by hiding in the holes of the comb, and by moving side to side during the inspection. | *The queen is very good at hiding herself on the comb by hiding under the worker bees, by hiding in the holes of the comb, and by moving side to side during the inspection. | ||
*The queen has the same color as the worker bees, so marked queens are easier to find. | *The queen has the same color as the worker bees, so [[Marking queen|marked queens]] are easier to find. | ||
*The ''A. m. mellifera'' bees are a little bigger and darker, and have longer hairs on their body. Additionally, they don´t have any yellow stripes on the abdomen. | *The ''A. m. mellifera'' bees are a little bigger and darker, and have longer hairs on their body. Additionally, they don´t have any yellow stripes on the abdomen. | ||
*The queen usually goes to a newly supplied | *The queen usually goes to a newly supplied comb. | ||
*The colony can be sensitive to chalk brood [[Infectious diseases and parasites | disease]] in spring and early summer. The normal temperature of sealed brood is +34℃. Disease spores are activated if the sealed brood’s temperature goes down to +27 ℃. There can be more than four pupae for one worker bee to warm up in early summer. As a result, the brood area should not be opened until the temperature is at +17℃ in order to avoid a temperature drop in the sealed brood area and thereby inducing the chalk brood disease. | *The colony can be sensitive to chalk brood [[Infectious diseases and parasites | disease]] in spring and early summer. The normal temperature of sealed brood is +34℃. Disease spores are activated if the sealed brood’s temperature goes down to +27 ℃. There can be more than four pupae for one worker bee to warm up in early summer. As a result, the brood area should not be opened until the temperature is at +17℃ in order to avoid a temperature drop in the sealed brood area and thereby inducing the chalk brood disease. | ||
*Compared to other subspecies, Nordic bees usually have fewer worker bees in [[Winter to Spring|spring]], but they still collect the same amount of honey. | *Compared to other subspecies, Nordic bees usually have fewer worker bees in [[Winter to Spring|spring]], but they still collect the same amount of honey. | ||
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<embedvideo service="youtube">https://youtu.be/a2Rb-Ve8h2U</embedvideo> | |||
When opening the Nordic brown bee colony, you should have the same attitude as you do when visiting somebody’s home; don´t clank or kick, but work calmly, as if you were in a slow motion movie. | |||
#Take off the roof and give the bees a moment to adapt. | #Take off the roof and give the bees a moment to adapt. | ||
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#Keep the first frame out of the hive and put it onto a special holder or onto the roof. By doing this, you will have some extra room for handling the other frames in the box. | #Keep the first frame out of the hive and put it onto a special holder or onto the roof. By doing this, you will have some extra room for handling the other frames in the box. | ||
#Inspect one frame and put it back before taking out the next one. | #Inspect one frame and put it back before taking out the next one. | ||
#Always keep the frame with the bees above the open hive. This way, | #Always keep the frame with the bees above the open hive. This way, the bees and queen will drop back into the hive if they are clustering in the frame's corner. | ||
# | #Don't shake the same bees away from the comb several times. | ||
#Take the inspected hive body out of the hive and put it onto the roof. The roof is usually upside down. Take care to not crush the bees under the box. | #Take the inspected hive body out of the hive and put it onto the roof. The roof is usually upside down. Take care to not crush the bees under the box. | ||
#Give the hive enough room during the active season. | #Give the hive enough room during the active season. | ||