Are you considering beekeeping as a hobby, and want to start a honeybee colony? Or have you already established one and are wondering if it’s in good shape? Either way, it’s important to understand the factors that create a strong honeybee colony. The following information–obtained while earning a degree in entomology and owning a hive–might prove useful.
Hail to the Queen. Your hive needs a prolific queen. She’ll have no time to eat–she’s fed by nurse bees within the colony–and will have no chance, once she’s mated, for checking out hunky drones (male bees). A strong queen will lay a pattern of eggs covering all but a few cells in about 14-15 frames. She maintains her status as Queen Mother by emitting a scent called Queen Mandibular Pheromone that prevents workers from reproducing.
Droning on. Drones should number no more than 800-900 during the summer. You don’t want a large proportion of drones because they don’t work and their only purpose is mating with a queen. Talk about a cushy job! Well, except for the minor fact that upon completing the task, “… the male falls back and his endophallus is ripped out of his body and remains attached to the queen.” (The Biology of the Honey Bee.) Virgin drones are pushed from the hive in the fall and die as well.
Workers, keep on working. Your colony should have 50,000-75,000 bees at its peak in summer. Of those, about 30,000-32,000 should forage in the field for nectar and pollen. The rest complete various tasks–caring for larvae, building honeycomb, cleaning the hive, making honey, or guarding the hive. In the summer, they live only 4-6 weeks. The first time most new beekeepers smoke a hive, they’re amazed at the number of bees contained in such a small area, and that the creatures are so busy. Yup, busy as bees!
About all that honey. It’s fall, and by now your hives should consist of large numbers of non-aggressive bees that have produced anywhere from 50 to 80 pounds of surplus honey, per colony. It’s easy to forget–when extracting honey–that it’s also the honeybees’ source of nourishment. Inexperienced beekeepers often remove too much honey, starving the colony during winter. The hive needs approximately 70 pounds of honey to overwinter, and you should never take honey from the brood chamber. If you’re worried about taking too much, it’s better to sacrifice your own longing for the nectar of the gods and leave extra honey for the bees, than to risk losing the colony.
Now that you know the qualities of a strong hive, there’s only one other item to discuss. In case you hadn’t thought about it, 50 to 80 pounds of honey is a lot. If you’re new at beekeeping and don’t have a market, give away the excess to friends, or sell it at swap meets. Just check city/state ordinances and comply with legal restrictions.
Sources
“Honey Bees,” National Biological Information Infrastructure.
“Interesting Honeybee Facts,” Ccbee.org.
“Pollinating Insects–Biology, Management and Systematics,” USDA.
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