Methods of beekeeping in Siberia

2024 Author: Howard Calhoun | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 10:16

The history of Siberian beekeeping is short and hardly spans more than a couple of centuries. However, in the difficult conditions of the cold climate, the beekeepers of this region have managed to prove themselves for all this time from the best side. Siberian honey is valued not only in Russia, but also in other countries of the world. For example, in the UK it is considered a delicacy and is also served at the royal table.

Main methods

Today, even beekeeping is well developed in northern Siberia, not to mention areas of this part of the country with a warmer climate. The beekeepers of the region are constantly developing new techniques that allow to obtain a large amount of honey of excellent quality while reducing labor and financial costs. Most often at the moment in Siberia, the following bee breeding technologies are used:

• B. Chernavina.
• Warre.
• B. Cebro.
• B. G. Kashkovsky;
• Double maintenance of Polyakov and Ozerov.
• Double-hull breeding.

Honey in apiaries can, among other things, be collected according to the methodKopteva-Kharchenko. To some extent, all these technologies are based on the rules formulated back in the last century by one of the best beekeepers of the USSR, V. F. Shalygin.

V. Chernavin's method

A feature of this technology is, first of all, that insects are given a certain swarm freedom. When using the technology of V. Chernavin, the main task of the beekeeper is to combine two main goals:

• building strong families by the time of the honey harvest;
• using swarm energy in honey collection.

To replenish the apiary using this technique, primary swarms are needed. Maternal families are replenished with secondary ones. In the absence of nectar production in the meadows adjacent to the apiary, bees in apiaries are forced to drag honey from one place to another in order to create the illusion of a bribe and increase their activity.

Also, when applying the technology of V. Chernavin, it is practiced:

• active transportation of bees to places with rich nectar production;
• keep strong families from swarming by any means.

Working with swarms according to the method of this researcher is considered by beekeepers to be rather laborious. However, beekeeping in Siberia with the use of this technology in most cases becomes quite profitable. From only one family, the founder of this technique once received up to 100 kg of honey and 2.5 kg of wax.

Abbé Varre's method

This technique is used by beekeepers all over the world, including Siberia. It was developed inmiddle of the last century. When applying Warre technology, hives are used, assembled from three buildings stacked on top of each other. In this case, two compartments are assigned to the nest, and the remaining one - to the honey.

Honeycombs in such hives are built by bees on rulers - wooden slats with a wax seed about 0.005 cm high. Each body of such elements contains 8. The rulers are fixed in folds with small carnations at such a distance from each other, so that bees can freely pass between them.

The roof in such hives is arranged circulating, in the form of an attic. This allows the temperature change inside the cases to stabilize.

Hives made according to the Warré method are considered first of all very economical. They do not use frames, wire and foundation. They rarely need to be looked at. Also, the advantage of this technique is that the insects in this case are kept in conditions close to natural.

Treat the bees Varre recommended in such a way that they do not suspect the owner of the enemy. According to this abbot, insects should be disturbed only when it is really necessary. It is necessary to work with hives carefully, without making sudden movements, but at the same time quickly.

When using the Warre system, beekeepers select honey only once per season. Also, when applying this technique, beekeepers do not artificially reduce the number of drones in the hive.

Methodology of V. Cebro

Adherents of modern new beekeeping in Siberia often use this well-established technology. ForV. Cebro's methodology is characterized primarily by a multiple increase in the number of families by the time of honey collection. To achieve this goal, in this case, hives of a special design are used. In the presence of a young queen, to separate families, a second one is simply installed on top of the first case.

Queen bees when using this technique are supposed to be changed annually. Insects overwinter in apiaries organized according to the Cebro technology, in hives with double walls and an insulated lid. When keeping insects using this technology:

• pallets are inspected and the condition of the bees is assessed before the flight;
• hive cleaning in progress;
• main families align;
• families are reinforced using 4 printed brood frames;
• nests are expanded with a second ten-frame body.

Also in this case, early transplanting of queens and the formation of two layers from breeding families is practiced. The first one settles separately with an increase in summer insects. The second before the honey collection unites with the family.

Kashkovsky Method

Beekeeping in Western Siberia, as well as in Eastern Siberia, is developing quite rapidly today. Some methods of specialists from this region of Russia are adopted even by beekeepers from other countries. An example of this is the technology of Kashkovsky. The essence of this researcher's method is something like this:

• instead of four checks after the exhibition, two checks are made from the winter hut - a cursory examination and transplantation of insects into disinfectedhives;
• each family gets a couple frames of bee bread and honey.

Subsequent inspections are made only to expand the nest. When using this technology, each family has 7 frames of perga and 5 honey, which are placed on top of the existing ones.

Uterus with this technology are changed annually. Swarming is regulated by:

• hive extensions;
• womb changes;
• deleting old cells;
• loading insects on building new ones.

When applying this technique at high temperatures, the apiary is supposed to be shaded. Growth is received only from strong families, and artificial reinforcement is not used.

Double maintenance of Ozerov and Polyakov

This method, like many other modern ones, was first used in the 80s of the last century. In the double queen version, bees can be kept using two main technologies:

1. In a hive divided by a bar, two families live, each of which has a queen. Bees in this case have the opportunity to contact with each other. In this case, the queens cannot start a power struggle. Thus, families are usually united only for the duration of the honey collection.
2. A family with two queens lives in one hive. The second in most cases hatches immediately. To prevent swarming, the beekeeper divides the hive with a lattice in time. As a result, it turns out that the family remains intact and consists of the same worker bees. It is this method of double-queen content that is considered true.

This technology originated in the 90s of the XIX century. So it's not really innovative. However, adherents of this technique also made a great contribution to the development of beekeeping in Siberia in the 20th and early 21st centuries. The spring development of families using this technology has the peculiarity that in this case there is no need for an early exhibition. The first inspection is done a few days before the earliest honey plants begin to bloom.

Double-hull breeding

New methods of beekeeping in Siberia, with the right approach to business, allow you to get a lot of honey. There were many of them developed at the end of the last century. However, the most popular technology among the beekeepers of this region is still the double-case keeping of insects. This breeding method has the following advantages:

• decreased family swarming tendency;
• to the bribe the amount of brood increases;
• commercial wax output increases significantly;
• It is easier for a beekeeper to assemble nests for the winter.

There are several options for double housing bees. But the most famous technology looks like this:

• as soon as the bees begin to incubate 10-12 streets, and brood appears on frames 8-9, a second additional one is installed on the first nest box;
• transfer 2-3 brood frames to the upper body without shaking off the bees;
• new frames are not installed in the lower case, but a lattice is placed.

In the additional case, further install 6frames in the following order:

• covering honey-pergo;
• brood frames;
• with wax;
• low-copper frames.

Next, the separation board and pillow are laid. Subsequently, with an increase in the family, new frames are added to the second body until there are 12 of them. As a rule, after a while, the uterus independently passes into the upper body. Here she begins to work, laying eggs in new honeycombs.

Before the main honey collection, beekeepers, using double-shell technology, regroup. In this case, the frames with the brood are moved to the lower body. In the end, their number is brought to 12. Frames with brood and built-up combs are placed on top.

After the selection of honey, instead of the removed ones, new frames are placed in the hives. Next, the bodies are removed and begin to prepare the apiary for wintering.

Collection of honey: Koptev-Kharchenko technology

Many professionals and amateurs of the region use exactly the new methods described above. Beekeeping in Siberia, like in any other region, has some of its own characteristics. For example, there is Koptev's technology for collecting honey, developed at the end of the last century, taking into account the cold climate of the region. The main provisions of this technique are:

• minimizing swarming;
• use of artificial breeding techniques;
• replacement of low-productive families in the first year of life.

Sick families in such apiaries are destroyed immediatelysame. Honey is used for food, honeycombs are melted, and bees are burned.

In weak families, when using this technique, the brood frames are taken away, and the barren ones are replaced by sushi. After that, they are fed 10 kg of sugar for processing into honey. As a result, families wear out and they cease to exist.

The resulting frames when applying this method are transferred to other families. Only the strongest families leave for the winter. In overframe feeders, a medicinal syrup of 0.5 liters is distributed 1-2 times. Do this approximately 30 days after the start of the flight.

Industrial beekeeping in Siberia: a description of the Kemerov method

Most often, beekeepers in this region keep bees using the technologies described above. However, several even more modern methods have recently been developed that allow you to get a large amount of honey in apiaries while reducing labor costs.

For example, the technology developed by a beekeeper from Kemerovo A. N. Ermolaev deserves special attention. This technique is used in the industrial keeping of bees and gives a tangible effect if there are at least 500 colonies in the apiary. Industrial beekeeping in Siberia is currently well developed. And farms with so many hives, of course, exist in this region.

Ermolaev's technology has the following features:

• early spring family development;
• selection based on strict selection;
• getting new families using layering;
• accommodating families at 6 nomadic points to ensure highhoney collection;
• use of semi-underground concrete winter huts for all families.

The quality of the queens when using this technology is given maximum attention, annually changing more than half of the producers over the age of 2 years.

What other techniques can be used

Of course, beekeepers in this region often breed bees using various original technologies. For example, in our time, deck beekeeping is well developed in Siberia. When applying this ancient technique in the apiary, they try to create conditions that are as close to natural as possible. Bees are kept in special decks in which they build honeycombs at a distance of about 1-2 cm from each other.

Pretty well developed beekeeping in Siberia and in sunbeds. Most often, when using this technology, insects are kept in multi-hull hives with 16 frames. The advantage of using such equipment is, first of all, the improvement of the tolerance of bees to cold weather in winter.

Beekeeping in Siberia in 16-frame hives is not as well developed as, for example, the same method of keeping in two-deck hives. However, this technology also has many adherents in the region.

Which breeds are best suited for breeding in given conditions

Beekeeping in Siberia at the moment after the crisis is actively developing. Bee breeding technologies in this region may be different. But, of course, the success of the organization of the apiary not least depends on the choice of breed. It is believed that the best in this region of Russiacontain the following varieties of bees:

• Central Russian;
• karniku;
• karpatka.

Beekeeping in Siberia has been developing for several hundred years. However, new modern varieties of insects began to breed here quite recently. Therefore, difficulties for beekeepers in this region usually arise not with the choice of a particular breed, but with the search for good queens. In Siberia at the moment, unfortunately, purebred breeding is practically not carried out. You can buy to create an apiary, basically, only crossbreeds. This is especially true for the Carpathians. Of the purebred bees at the moment, only karnika is more or less available to beekeepers in the region.

Instead of a conclusion

Thus, we found out what technologies and how beekeeping can develop in Eastern and Western Siberia. Where to begin? The answer to this question in this region, as in any other, will be the choice of the breed of bees. What method to choose for keeping insects depends primarily on the personal preferences of the beekeeper himself. All the technologies described above, with the exception of the industrial Kemerovo one, are quite simple to implement, including for an amateur, and allow you to get a large amount of honey at low labor costs.