08-26-2018, 10:18 AM
In Keaau, we have never had to feed our bees... this is something a beekeeper that has bees that have not stored nutritionally diverse nectar & pollen sources year round... seems we do have
Swarming is normally a function of a bee colony splitting, not normally because of calories (though this can happen, it is very very uncommon, esp in Hawaii), but because of the queen & colony size.... the worker bees communicate with each other by shared pheromones in trophallaxis, if the workers do not sense the queen pheromones, they will work to create a new queen.....This can happen with a super large colony or a smaller one with a queen that is older & "less fit". The queen will normally leave with some of the worker bees (those that sense the queen pheromones, from the hive (also older, as younger workers, nurse bees, do not yet fly....) This is normally done when the nurse bees have determined another queen must be made & start working on queen cells.... If the older queen does not leave by the time a new queen hatches, either the workers, or the new queen will try to kill the older one...
Here the main care is in making sure that the colony size is right for the queen, that the queen is healthy & laying eggs, that the workers are healthy & not infested with any organisms.. that the hive stays dry & is not rotting....that pigs, dogs, elements & such do not knock over or tear apart the hives, & to try to responsibly control swarming tendencies & try to monitor & collect any swarms from the hives you maintain..
Swarming is normally a function of a bee colony splitting, not normally because of calories (though this can happen, it is very very uncommon, esp in Hawaii), but because of the queen & colony size.... the worker bees communicate with each other by shared pheromones in trophallaxis, if the workers do not sense the queen pheromones, they will work to create a new queen.....This can happen with a super large colony or a smaller one with a queen that is older & "less fit". The queen will normally leave with some of the worker bees (those that sense the queen pheromones, from the hive (also older, as younger workers, nurse bees, do not yet fly....) This is normally done when the nurse bees have determined another queen must be made & start working on queen cells.... If the older queen does not leave by the time a new queen hatches, either the workers, or the new queen will try to kill the older one...
Here the main care is in making sure that the colony size is right for the queen, that the queen is healthy & laying eggs, that the workers are healthy & not infested with any organisms.. that the hive stays dry & is not rotting....that pigs, dogs, elements & such do not knock over or tear apart the hives, & to try to responsibly control swarming tendencies & try to monitor & collect any swarms from the hives you maintain..