Nomadic beekeeping - transportation of bees during the season to places with blooming honey plants. This procedure allows you to collect a large amount of honey, so you can create your own business on it. Nomadic beekeeping involves a complex lifestyle, and requires knowledge of special technologies.
Causes of the nomad apiary
Nomadic beekeeping is a difficult task even for experienced beekeepers. It takes a lot of time, effort and money to transport apiaries. But the emergence of nomadic beekeeping has a number of reasons:
- search for environmentally friendly places to collect honey;
- preservation of the required amount of honey collected;
- search for plants to collect a specific type of honey;
- the presence of a large number of competitors;
- bees do not fit the food base available in the region.
Depending on the species, some bees are not able to fly away from the hives to a sufficient distance. The standard radius of the maximum flight distance from the apiary is from 2 to 5 kilometers. If the area with flowers that the bees can process is at a greater distance, it remains untouched. For this reason, beekeepers have to move with their bees.
Some people initially create nomadic apiaries. Others are forced to switch to this type of production. Typically, the second option is preferred when the change in lifestyle has a positive effect on income.
Advantages and disadvantages of nomad apiaries
The use of nomadic apiaries includes the following benefits:
- the ability to collect a specific amount of honey in a shorter period than in a standard apiary;
- harvesting begins earlier than the standard deadline;
- honey can be harvested most of the year, starting in early spring and ending in late autumn;
- nomad apiaries are more mobile than stationary, so they can be transported to almost anywhere;
- work and harvest schedules can be controlled independently.
The list of disadvantages includes the need:
- annual transportation of beehives;
- living in the field with minimal amenities;
- spend most of the time searching for melliferous places and harvesting;
- constant supervision of the apiary;
- obtaining official permission to engage in such activities.
Nomadic beekeeping requires more physical effort than it might seem at first glance. Therefore, it is not recommended for people with health problems.
Terrain selection
One of the factors influencing harvesting is the choice of terrain. When installing a nomad apiary, you must focus on the region in which at the moment there is a large number of honey plants. The more flowering plants are located near the apiary, the more bees can bring honey.
An apiary suggests a group of hives. Therefore, the place of the planned stop should include a large platform with a flat surface where they will be installed. The area on which the apiary will be placed must be protected from:
- a draft;
- rain
- dampness;
- wind;
- direct sunlight (at high summer temperatures).
If apiaries are already located nearby, it is necessary to check whether quarantine is imposed on them due to infection. If the bees work in adverse conditions, not only will the honey harvest be reduced, but there will also be a risk of their death.
Near the apiary must have a clean pond.
Before choosing a location for an apiary, it is necessary to carefully study its honey potential. The more plants used by bees during flowering will be on it, the less often you will have to move. Beehives are recommended to be located as far as possible from roads, enterprises and places of residence of people.
Transport requirements
Nomadic beekeeping with a large number of hives provides good profitability. Therefore, their transportation will require freight transport. If the total weight of the transported beehives exceeds 750 kilograms, you must obtain category E rights. If you have category C rights, you can convert the vehicle so as not to get another category.
A tractor with a trailer can be used to transport hives. This method involves obtaining an identity. Category B and C in this case will not help, since only the trailer weighs from 300 kilograms.
Depending on how often the apiary is planned to be transported, you can save money by not purchasing your own transport, but periodically using the services of a freight company.
For nomadic beekeeping, a decommissioned bus or caravan can also be used.
Inventory
Beehives are transported using:
- nomadic mesh (provides ventilation in the hives, thanks to which the bees do not steam);
- a clip for attaching hives;
- sling net (provides external fastening, and can be used to create a canopy);
- nomadic booths;
- beams for connecting beehives.
When transporting, it is recommended to use a nomadic booth. It is required for living and staying during adverse weather conditions.
To install and maintain an apiary, a set of equipment is required, consisting of:
- main and spare smoker;
- spray gun;
- carpentry tools;
- empty hives;
- swarms;
- weights in the casing;
- lantern.
Depending on the period for which you plan to stay next to the apiary, household items may be required.
How to prepare beehives for transportation?
When transporting beehives in spring weather, when the street temperature has not yet settled down, special conditions are not required. In the hives, the frames are strengthened so that they withstand tremors while the car is moving.
For standard beehives, special frames are provided. When hives are installed in a conveyance vehicle, frames with dividers are placed around the perimeter, providing them with a stationary state. If there are no special frames, they can be replaced with timbers fastened with nails.
In the summer, many frames can already be filled with honey. During transportation, they must be selected. If this is not done, while the machine is moving, the frame may fall on brood and bees, as a result of which they will die.
After honey collection, the bees are transported not in the hives, but together with the nests, which contain honey. The hives are not fixed only if they have nailed down bottoms.
Under what conditions can bees be transported?
Transportation is recommended at night for several reasons:
- the bees are sleepy;
- the temperature is lower, thereby reducing the risk of melting and falling honeycombs;
- lower noise and traffic on the road.
After transportation, the bees should inspect and get used to the new territory. Therefore, transportation should be carried out after they get out of hibernation, or before plunging into it.
Best for this purpose is early spring or late autumn. In winter, the transport of bees is strongly discouraged.
Early spring is suitable for transportation because:
- in the hives there are not a large number of bees and brood;
- the frames are not filled with honey and have not gained weight;
- new cells have not yet been built.
The duration of the carriage should not exceed two days. The bees are able to use the provided food in two days. After that, they may die.
If transportation is made in the summer, or in the afternoon, it is better to wait for cloudy or rainy weather. High temperatures can be deadly to bees. Bees should not be transported more than two times during the season.
Nomadic Pavilions
Nomad Pavilion - a truck trailer specially equipped for transporting bees. Such a device allows mobile and quick transportation of bees from place to place. Nomadic pavilions have other advantages:
- comfortable and convenient conditions for the beekeeper;
- formation of optimal conditions for the stay of bees (cleanliness, minimum moisture level, suitable temperature);
- a simple conclusion of the uterus;
- lack of need to sort hives for honey collection;
- theft protection;
- comfortable conditions for wintering and breeding.
The main advantage of the nomadic pavilions is the lack of need for loading and unloading hives. Despite the presence of pluses, this method of transporting bees has disadvantages. The list of disadvantages includes:
- small space and amount of light;
- increased temperature in the summer;
- low level of flyby of the uterus;
- angry and irritating behavior of bees;
- a large amount of cash necessary for the arrangement;
- risk of mass incidence of bees.
The lack of light can be solved by arranging additional windows and hatches. To increase the space in the pavilion, wide and long trailers should be used. To reduce the temperature, the walls of the pavilion and the hives must be painted white, and ventilation should be arranged at the bottom of the trailer.
Do I need to take out an apiary every year?
Transportation of bees is accompanied by a complex of risks. Nomadic beekeeping is recommended to be organized only in case of full confidence in its payback. The first year will make it clear how beneficial this method of breeding bees is.
It is recommended to carry out a test export of bees in the spring in order to understand by the summer how collecting honey using such technology is cost-effective. If it does not pay off, from mid-summer you can still manage to recover financial losses.
There is not always a need to remove the entire apiary - only part of the hives can be periodically taken out. Also, you do not need to travel for the whole season - only during that period when there are no honey plants nearby.
Important nuances in the organization
Subject to the instructions for breeding nomadic beekeeping, there are a number of nuances that must be considered even by experienced beekeepers:
- Before transportation, it is necessary to verify the integrity and strength of the hives;
- in order to ensure softness and silence to bees during transportation, beehives need to be set so that they do not fight against each other;
- for ease of loading and unloading, beehives should be prefabricated from light materials;
- the hive roofs must be straight and even so that they can be installed on top of each other;
- rope and wire will help to secure the hives more securely;
- the recommended distance for transporting bees is not more than 30 kilometers;
- adhering to sanitary standards can reduce the risk of bee incidence.
Nomadic beekeeping is a way to double the amount of honey collected. Transportation of bees is accompanied by a large number of risks, so it is recommended only to experienced beekeepers who are ready to devote most of their free time to this business.
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Russia. City: Syktyvkar
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