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Predrag Cvetković
The
most common mistakes and omissions in beekeeping
(Trans. by
Oliver Mihajlović)
We
will take two kinds of mistakes into consideration – one in the approach and
organization of beekeeping and other in beekeeping technology. By its intensity
they both vary from small to very serious mistakes which can make small or
serious damage to a bee colony.
Every
beekeeper approaches beekeeping according to his personality, his capabilities
and expectations, while he chooses the technology according to his financial and
other means, his knowledge and natural environment. There are no strict rules in
beekeeping and the approach to it. Still, some natural laws of a bee colony
development must be respected. Therefore, this time we will not examine
beekeeping technologies, but what mistakes and omissions should be avoided.
Mistakes
in approach to beekeeping
It
is much easier to learn how to approach a hive than how to approach beekeeping
and its organization
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Lack
of love towards bees, negligence and greed are probably the biggest
mistakes in the approach to beekeeping. All others come from these. |
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An
insufficient knowledge about bees and beekeeping technology is frequent
with our beekeepers. Also, many of them stick to some errors, proclaiming
their method the best, and all others wrong. Beekeepers often do not even
try to understand the laws of a bee colony’s development. They often
wrongly acquire other people’s methods without any criteria. One must
always have some minimum knowledge. |
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Instead
of first learning about basics of beekeeping and maintaining bee colonies,
some beginners try to achieve great income with some complicated methods,
unclear even to themselves. |
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Carelessness
and negligence are definitely not the characteristics of a good beekeeper. |
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Paying
attention to details and aesthetics while overlooking the essence is also
a mistake. |
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Lacking
money or time or for other reasons beekeepers often do not do some
important things. It is much more important that all jobs be done properly
and on time, even not perfectly, than to do some jobs best possible and
miss some others. |
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The
absence of any planning or too much planning with complicating methods
does not generate good results. |
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Beekeepers
do not work hard enough on increasing production and selling honey and
other bee products, swarms and queens. That makes production less
economical and results in high and uncompetitive price. Although love
should be the basic reason for beekeeping, it is recommended that every
beekeeper, even those with fewer hives, should strive for economical
beekeeping by increasing production and producing different products. |
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Beekeepers
are often not interested in serious work and investments in beekeeping. A
strong bee colony consumes much food, but produces much more. Equally, one
should invest more in his apiary to get more. |
Mistakes
in beekeeping technology
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Making
colonies have minimum of food or not enough food for a normal activity is
one of the most serious mistakes. Bees will never consume more food than
necessary. The importance of the amount of pollen in a hive is often
underestimated. The absence of pollen is very bad for development of a
colony esp. in autumn or early spring. |
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Week
and old queens make a colony weak and unproductive, and can result in its
disappearing, esp. in autumn, winter or early spring. A beekeeper will not
make a big mistake if he makes a colony with new comb and in good honey
flow conditions bring up its own queen, although better methods for
rearing queens are known. However, a much greater mistake should be if one
does it with weak colonies, with no food, and with old and dark comb. It
is wrong to expect that queens brought up in such conditions would ever
have good brood. |
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Choosing
some complicated method of rearing queens, like implanting larvae, does
not always guarantee that queens will be good quality, since an omission
in one phase only can completely ruin the whole procedure. |
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Keeping
a weak colony is uneconomical and the expenses of maintaining it are
bigger than profit. However, swarms with young queens are not considered
weak colonies. |
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Beekeepers
often make mistakes by feeding bees late in autumn and exhausting them. |
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Bad
comb is a common mistake in beekeeping. That is old, dark damaged or
curved comb with many drone cells. Such comb will never make brood expand
like on proper new comb. Besides, there is a constant risk of diseases,
lice or wax moth. |
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Mistakes
with adding frames are also frequent. One extremity would be not to expand
brood space, or not to do it on time, while the other would be to expand
the brood excessively and slow down progress of a colony. This is esp. the
case with comb foundations. Beekeepers sometimes add foundations to weak
colonies when there is no honeyflow and when weather is cold. Some
beekeepers even put them among frames with honey. When a colony is strong
and during honeyflow it is wrong to put foundations at the end of brood,
since the queen will not have time to lay eggs there. A new foundation
should not be added to weak colonies if the previously added one is still
not drawn. |
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Insufficient
number of supers is also a frequent mistake. Strong colonies are kept from
producing more honey which is directly decreasing possible income. |
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Colonies
are not treated against diseases (esp. varroa) on time, so serious damage
is made. On the other hand, colonies can be excessively and improperly
treated, which contaminates wax and honey, weakens bees’ immunity and
make varroa resistant to medication. It is a mistake not to monitor the
performance and efficacy of a particular cure. |
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Bad
location for an apiary is a significant obstacle for successful
beekeeping. Sometimes a beekeeper cannot choose, but it is a mistake to
keep bees on locations with humid air, harsh wind, not enough sunlight, or
where the bees would be disturbed. Besides, locations for an apiary should
have rich honeyflow. |
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Mistakes
with hive inspection are the most frequent since bees are disturbed when
hives are opened too often and there is a danger of robbing when there is
no honeyflow. Handling with frames carelessly is also frequent, esp. with
young beekeepers. |
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It
can be considered a mistake if a beekeeper does not have a certain number
of accessory colonies and swarms which could be useful in many ways. |
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Having
old, damaged or nonstandard hives unsuitable for moving is considered to
be a mistake. |
We
cannot go on analyzing mistakes and omissions in beekeeping technology, since we
would have to examine all existing methods. Mistakes can be made with every step
– when hives are moved, when queens are brought up, when colonies are divided,
etc. Mistakes appear when it is not understood that beekeeping is a complex
process with many causes and consequences that must be taken care of, and when
the basic rules of life of a bee colony are not well-known. |