Clinical examination and wintering of bees | ???????? ??????? ? ??????????? ?????

Being integral part of good beekeeping practice, regular clinical examinations of honey bee colonies should be carried out at least twice a year. Before clinical examination a conversation with the owner of the apiary takes lace and taking an anamnesis that provides an insight into the condition in hives. Thereafter, a general inspection of the whole apiary is done, followed by the examination of individual colonies. The general overview of the apiary implies the determination of the apiary location and its position in relation to the roads, industrial plants, storage of organic and inorganic waste, and the proximity and diversity of bee pasture. After that, an examination of the susceptible hives is performed, whereby the exterior of the hive is observed, then the hive is opened and both adult bees and the brood are evaluated in detail, and hive parts examined. At each inspection, bee brood is analyzed including its surface, appearance and quality, as well as the ratio of open and sealed brood. When adult bees are examined, it is first necessary to evaluate whether the queen is present and whether she works properly. The assessment of worker bees should include examination of the presence of morphological changes on their bodies, and alterations in their behavior and the proportion of young to old bees. To preserve the health of bee colonies, it is necessary to respect all the principles of good beekeeping practice, which includes proper overwintering of colonies. Preparations for proper overwintering should begin at the end of July after the honey harvest. To enable optimum conditions for bees during winter, the beekeeper should provide a minimum stock of 15 kg of honey and 2-3 frames with bee bread to each hive. At the beginning of August, treatment against bee mite should be carried out, but exclusively with registered preparations. During September, autumn inspection of hives is carried out, when the health status, condition and preparedness of the colonies for wintering is determined. During this inspection, it is necessary to determine the strength of the bee colony, the presence and quality of the queen, as well as the quantity and quality of the food storage. If the bees do not have enough food, supplemental feeding must be completed no later than the first half of September. It is best to overwinter the colonies on multifloral (meadow) honey.