Handling the bees Before opening a colony for examination, collect together all the things you are likely to need for the manipulation, such as hive tool, queen excluders, supers, etc. Light the smoker. The fuel used may be any solid material that lights easily and burns, or rather smoulders, producing plenty of cool smoke for a reasonably long time, so that refuelling is not a constant need. The usual fuels are corrugated paper, sacking, dried grass and rotten wood. Quite a lot of corrugated paper appears to be fireproof these days, but if it will smoulder easily it should be rolled into a cylinder to fit the firebox of the smoker. Sacking lasts longer but care should be taken that it has not been used to contain anything poisonous to the bee, such as dressed grain. I prefer grass which has been cut with a rotary grass cutter and left to dry. This can be picked up and stored in a sack, and two of these will last me a season. It has the advantage that it burns nicely and with little residue in the smoker, and if the smoke does blow back into your face when lighting it is not as vicious as sacking or paper smoke. I usually start the smoker by setting light to a small ball of newspaper. Ensure the smoker is going well; put on your veil and gloves. Make your way to the colony quietly. Do not cause disturbance by stomping around the hives, nor drop your extra equipment on to the ground: put it down quietly, as bees readily detect vibration. Gently smoke the entrance of the hive. Do not puff smoke in until the bees come out crying; let the smoke drift in. The smell of smoke causes the bees to fill themselves up with honey from the honey store, and this renders them much more amenable to handling. A full bee, like a well-fed human, is much less likely to want to start a fight. It takes about two minutes for the bees to fill up and for the full effect of the smoking to be obtained. Beginners are therefore advised to take things steadily and to wait this amount of time, giving the bees a reminder in smoke two or three times. The beekeeper, as he becomes Handling a large colony with assurance comes with practice. [...]... possible, and always with combs running fore -and- aft of the direction of travel, to prevent comb-slap Where long journeys are necessary and the bees have to remain shut in for considerable periods, they should be examined every hour or so If the colonies are producing a loud roaring buzz a couple of cupfuls of water should be poured through the screens; the bees will suck this up and become much quieter and. .. been used, using steel or nylon bands, but I have never really trusted them as a box has only to twist about \ inch to let bees out Bees escaping from hives on the move is part of beekeeping and provides many a tale and many a laugh afterwards, but I can manage without the excitement at the time I therefore like hives well stapled up with little chance of falling apart, and I still prefer the double pointed... with water and then add sugar to fill You will need 16 lb of sugar to make 2 gallons of syrup which will weigh approximately 26 lb.; when fed to the bees this will produce about 2 3-2 4 lb of stores equivalent to 20 lb of honey When feeding at any time I would give the syrup to the bees as The plastic bucket feeder is very good for contact feeding The bucket can be half filled with water, and filled... can take it down and store it where they want it, sealing it over as they would do with honey Syrup should be fed to bees in one of the many types of feeder sold for the purpose My own preference is for the Miller-type feeder, and particularly the design used by Mr David Rowse in Hampshire This feeder is shown in fig 31 Its advantage over the more usual type is that the place where the bees come up to... no possibility of movement The ventilated screen is put on and screwed down, and the entrance prepared for shutting in I normally use one of two methods, both of which are easy and efficient, to close hives and shut the bees in One is to use entrance blocks which have an entrance on one side only (see page 68 ) These can then be turned over and pushed into place to shut up the door The other method... beeswax to a point where the combs will collapse, and honey will be released over everything The bees themselves are turned dark in colour, and those that remain alive are unable to fly, so the colony soon dies It is a very sorry sight and always happens to the big, prosperous and vigorous colonies first As the normal beehive is made up of separate boxes standing one above the other, these must be fastened... done by subjecting bees to the unnatural and stressful conditions of moving On arrival at the out-apiary, the hives should be set up and the bees released as quickly as possible They will sometimes pour out with vengeance in their minds, while at others not a bee will move and no bad temper will be shown It is as well, therefore, for the beekeeper to prepare for the former reaction and get everything... something else that the bees can see through many will kill themselves trying to get out I used perforated zinc for some years and when it was in position antennae protruded from every hole as bees struggled to get out, and there was always a handful of dead bees on the floor afterwards This does not occur if light is totally excluded If colonies are being moved from an apiary and returned within a fortnight... put on the next year If supers are put away wet from the extractor, and stored over winter in this state, they will be sticky with honey at the time they are put on in the spring The reaction of bees who find honey which has suddenly arrived in the hive is to dance and stimulate others to rush out of the hive, causing quite a commotion and possible robbing If, therefore, you put wet supers on as you manipulate... only have foundation in his supers, and bees will often not go quickly through a queen excluder to get to a super of foundation Thus I would put the super on without an excluder At the next inspection the bees should be established in the super, and be drawing out the wax into comb The queen can then be found and if she is in the super be put down into the brood chamber and the excluder put in place beneath . as little fuss as possible, and always with combs running fore -and- aft of the direction of travel, to prevent comb-slap. Where long journeys are necessary and the bees have to remain shut in. younger bees drop from the comb, so a gentle shake removes the oldest bees, a moderate shake removes the old bees and a lot of the house bees, a very heavy shake will remove all the bees except. nylon bands, but I have never really trusted them as a box has only to twist about inch to let bees out. Bees escaping from hives on the move is part of beekeeping and provides many a tale and