HOW TO STOCK BEES

Stocking bees can be much difficult but with the correct information you will be able to stock you hive with ease.Lets learn how to stock your hive.

HIVE STOCKING

Can be done by:

1. Trapping wild swarms
2. Making colony division

Making colony division

• Look for combs with

            Eggs

            Honey

            Larvae and pupae

• Put them in catcher box
• Place the catcher box at a strategic position near another hive
• The bees will nurture larvae/ pupa combs to raise a queen bee
• Transfer them on top of a bigger hive.

PREPARING THE TOP-BAR HIVE FOR INSTALLATION

Prepare the hive by:

1. Cleaning the beehive.
2. Be sure it contains no dirt, cobwebs, spiders or insect which might arrest any scout bee visiting the installed bee hive in the near future.
3. Bait the beehive with any one of the following materials:
4. A little raw bee wax, sweet syrup such as palm wine or molasses, granulated sugar, in the very dry areas, a dish of water.

How to bait

Wax: the best bait is beeswax, which can quickly attract a swarm of bees.

• Beeswax is the most reliable bait, because it retains its properties for a long time.
• All other baits cannot last long in the hive and must be replenished or replaced when the old supply is exhausted or destroyed.
• A small cake of beeswax rubbed against the inner walls of the hive can encourage bees to visit the hive.
• It is also important to rub the wax against the tip of the v-shaped or ridged portion and the wooden starter top-bars will guide the bees to build their combs along it.
• Otherwise, the bees might build their comb across the top bars, creating a serious problem which is difficult to correct and makes brood-nests control impossible.

Syrup:  Sweet juices and syrup can be used to bait bees.

• They can be put in a jam jar or any container.
• Twigs or sticks must be provided as landing boards so that the insects can safely take the syrup without being drowned.
• Special care must be taken to restrain other insects from visiting the syrup.

Granulated sugar: May be sprinkled on the floor of the hive.

• Lavender: Spray or sprinkle a few drops in the hive. The smell will attract honeybees to visit the beehive.
• Lime: one or two limes can be placed inside or outside the hive. Lime juice left in the hive may help.

Lemon grass: can be rubbed on the inner sides of the hive.

• Cow-dung: in the northern savannah where beekeeping is a traditional occupation, dried cow-dung is usually burned to glaze the inside of the clay-pot hive. This is said to attract bees.
• Bees always visit fresh cow-dung to obtain water during dry periods of the day.
• Intestinal waste serves the same purpose.

Water: cannot be used as bait in cities and towns where water for human consumption is abundant.

• But in the dry savannah villages where water is scarce, it can work.
• After baiting the hive and treating the top-bars, the top bars must be neatly arranged, leaving no gaps in between them.
• Check whether the top-bars fit the hive body.
• Do not leave any gaps anywhere because they will cause problems when the colony is being moved.
• Let the bees use only the entrance if possible.

How to treat grooved top-bars 

The groove in grooved-top bars should be filled with wax.

 First, melt down the wax completely in a flat tray.

 Allow it to cool and cut it into strips about 6mm wide.

 Inset the strip along the groove.

 Heat the tip of the knife and run it quickly along the wax.

This will melt some wax and allow the wax strip to stick firmly into the groove.