1.0 MANIPULATION OF A HONEYBEE COLONY
The candidate will be aware of:
1.5 the need for stores;
NOTES
Honey bees store both pollen and nectar in cells of the comb around the brood nest. Pollen is stored adjacent to the brood nest. Nectar is stored beyond the pollen stores and ripened into honey at which point it is sealed with a wax capping.
The bees require more food to be stored in the colony than is required for their immediate needs. If there is poor weather, and particularly in winter when it is too cold for foragers to fly, the bees need to have a convenient larder of food to sustain themselves and their brood.
Bees will also use their food stores to gorge themselves if they decide to abandon their colony by swarming or for any other reason. This ensures that they have enough food energy to tide themselves over until they can establish a new colony.
Ted Hooper’s book “A guide to bees and honey” recommends 40-45lb (18-22kg) weight of stores required to overwinter a National brood chamber.