Spring Management Goals

1 . What are the beekeepers’ main objectives in the spring?

• Obtain maximum colony population just prior to nectar flow

• Keep bees from swarming, which would reduce the colony population

2 . A colony of 40,000 bees in the spring during nectar flow, can hoard (produce) about how much honey?

50-130 lbs.

3 . What is the paradox with queens in the spring just before nectar flow?

Beekeepers need young, productive queens to maintain colony strength and reduce swarming. When beekeepers discourage swarming, they repress the natural queen rearing cycle. Spring management is balancing these differences- stimulation of queen rearing and repression of queen rearing and swarming.

4 . How can the beekeeper equalize the strength of all the colonies in the apiary?

Go through the apiary and count the brood frames. Divide that number with the number of colonies in the apiary and then put equal number of brood frames in each colony Different colonies will accept brood frames void of adult bees without fighting The goal is to have uniformly strong colonies with the maximum number of bees in each colony.