Hive management in beekeeping refers to intervention techniques that a beekeeper may perform to ensure hive survival and to maximize hive production. Hive management techniques vary widely depending on the objectives.

For honey production

The dependent factors for

honey Honey is a sweet and viscous substance made by several bees, the best-known of which are honey bees. Honey is made and stored to nourish bee colonies. Bees produce honey by gathering and then refining the sugary secretions of plants (primar ...

production are the duration and timing of the

honey flow Honey flow is a term used by beekeepers indicating that one or more major nectar sources are in bloom and the weather is favorable for bees to fly and collect the nectar in abundance. The higher northern and southern latitudes with their longer ...

in a certain area. Duration and timing of a honey flow may vary widely depending on local predominant climates, weather during the honey flow and the

nectar source A nectar source is a flowering plant that produces nectar as part of its reproductive strategy. These plants create nectar, which attract pollinating insects and sometimes other animals such as birds. Nectar source plants are important for bee ...

s in the area. Good honey production sites are the far northern latitudes. In the summer, as days grow longer, bees can fly and forage for longer hours increasing the production. Migrating

beekeeper A beekeeper is a person who keeps honey bees. Beekeepers are also called honey farmers, apiarists, or less commonly, apiculturists (both from the Latin ''apis'', bee; cf. apiary). The term beekeeper refers to a person who keeps honey bees i ...

s also take advantage of local bloom of agricultural plants or wild flowers and trees. In mountainous regions a beekeeper may migrate up the mountain as the spring and summer bloom progresses. It has been shown that a larger bee colony will produce relatively more honey. Therefore, the early buildup and spring feeding and subsequent prevention of

swarming Swarm behaviour, or swarming, is a collective behaviour exhibited by entities, particularly animals, of similar size which aggregate together, perhaps milling about the same spot or perhaps moving ''en masse'' or migrating in some direction. ...

are of high priority. Several different methods such as the Demaree method, Checkerboarding and opening up the brood nest have been advocated to prevent swarming.

Techniques to maximize extracted honey production

Once a good location for an apiary is selected, techniques under the control of a beekeeper for maximizing extracted honey production depend mostly on maximizing the number of foraging bees at the peak time of the honey flow. Techniques may include interrupting brood production right before the main honey flow to free up nurse bees for foraging. A main objective is to prevent swarming.

Techniques to maximize comb honey production

Comb honey production requires many of the same techniques that are required for the production of extracted honey. In addition, the colony must be very strong and have comb building traits.

Honeycomb A honeycomb is a mass of hexagonal prismatic wax cells built by honey bees in their nests to contain their larvae and stores of honey and pollen. Beekeepers may remove the entire honeycomb to harvest honey. Honey bees consume about of honey t ...

for direct consumption as

comb honey Comb honey is honey intended for consumption by humans, which is still contained within its original hexagonal-shaped beeswax cells, called honeycomb. It has received no processing, filtering, or manipulation, and is in the state that honey bees ...

is always created the same year it is harvested. Honey combs may also be harvested by crushing the comb and squeezing out the honey. This is the lowest cost method of producing honey. Keepers of the low-cost top-bar hives use this technique to harvest honey. The technique may also be used for the frames of

Langstroth hive In modern American beekeeping, a Langstroth hive is any vertically modular beehive that has the key features of vertically hung frames, a bottom board with entrance for the bees, boxes containing frames for brood and honey (the lowest box for t ...

s. The so-called cut comb are sections of sealed honey comb that are cut out of the frame. If the cut comb is to be consumed not crushed only the purest

beeswax foundation Beeswax (''cera alba'') is a natural wax produced by honey bees of the genus ''Apis''. The wax is formed into scales by eight wax-producing glands in the abdominal segments of worker bees, which discard it in or at the hive. The hive work ...

may be used.

Techniques for maximizing Ross rounds and cassette production

*Killion Method *Juniper Hill Method *Crowding *Shock Shook Method

For pollination

see

pollination management Pollination management is the horticultural practices that accomplish or enhance pollination of a crop, to improve yield or quality, by understanding of the particular crop's pollination needs, and by knowledgeable management of pollenizers, ...

Techniques for maximizing agricultural crops pollination

Pollinator decline Pollinator decline is the reduction in abundance of insect and other animal pollinators in many ecosystems worldwide that began being recorded at the end of the 20th century. Multiple lines of evidence exist for the reduction of wild pollinator ...

Pesticide toxicity to bees Pesticides vary in their effects on bees. Contact pesticides are usually sprayed on plants and can kill bees when they crawl over sprayed surfaces of plants or other areas around it. Systemic pesticides, on the other hand, are usually incorporate ...

Buzz pollination Buzz pollination or sonication is a technique used by some bees, such as solitary bees to release pollen which is more or less firmly held by the anthers. The anthers of buzz-pollinated plant species are typically tubular, with an opening at only ...

For queen breeding

Techniques to maximize open mating

Techniques to maximize open mating of virgin queens center around having

drone Drone most commonly refers to: * Drone (bee), a male bee, from an unfertilized egg * Unmanned aerial vehicle * Unmanned surface vehicle, watercraft * Unmanned underwater vehicle or underwater drone Drone, drones or The Drones may also refer to: ...

s of a desired parentage saturate a queen mating yard.

Techniques to maximize artificial insemination

Artificial insemination of honeybee

queens Queens is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York. Located on Long Island, it is the largest New York City borough by area. It is bordered by the borough of Brooklyn at the western tip of Long ...

is a process used for very

selective breeding Selective breeding (also called artificial selection) is the process by which humans use animal breeding and plant breeding to selectively develop particular phenotypic traits (characteristics) by choosing which typically animal or plant ma ...

of honeybee races. In the open mating of queens the source of drones cannot be fully controlled. In artificial insemination the source of drone sperm can be fully controlled and be more predictably selected than in open breeding.

For pollen production

Bee pollen Bee pollen, also known as bee bread and ambrosia, is a ball or pellet of field-gathered flower pollen packed by worker honeybees, and used as the primary food source for the hive. It consists of simple sugars, protein, minerals and vitamins, ...

is one of the byproducts of the hive. Pollen collection is usually not the main management objective. Pollen is collected by installing a pollen trap at the entrance of the bee hive. There are varying designs for pollen traps. The pollen trap makes access to the hive harder for the foraging bees. In the process of climbing through the pollen trap wires some pollen is loosened from the bee's

pollen basket The pollen basket or corbicula (plural corbiculae) is part of the tibia on the hind legs of certain species of bees. They use the structure in harvesting pollen and carrying it to the nest or hive. Other species of bees have scopae instead. Ety ...

and falls into a collection container. Varying recommendations describe leaving the pollen trap on for a few days or for more extended periods. Pollen collection works best in an area with various

pollen source The term pollen source is often used in the context of beekeeping and refers to flowering plants as a source of pollen for bees or other insects. Bees collect pollen as a protein source to raise their brood. For the plant, the pollinizer, thi ...

s throughout the year. Fresh pollen can be frozen or dried. It is used for human consumption or fed back to the colony in early spring to speed up brood production.

For propolis production

Propolis Propolis or bee glue is a resinous mixture that honey bees produce by mixing saliva and beeswax with exudate gathered from tree buds, sap flows, or other botanical sources. It is used as a sealant for unwanted open spaces in the beehive. P ...

is another byproduct of the bee hive. Certain races of bees are more prone to using propolis. Propolis can be collected on special plastic propolis screens. The tendency of the bees is to use propolis as a glue to seal openings that are too small for a bee to crawl through. A propolis screen is usually put in place of an inner cover. It has small openings that are propolized by the bees. The propolis screen can be frozen which hardens the propolis. Once the propolis is frozen it can be easily knocked off and collected. Bee races that use propolis heavily are usually not desirable as it makes other hive manipulation more difficult. There is a good market for propolis in medicinal and pharmacological industries.

For beeswax production

Beeswax Beeswax (''cera alba'') is a natural wax produced by honey bees of the genus ''Apis''. The wax is formed into scales by eight wax-producing glands in the abdominal segments of worker bees, which discard it in or at the hive. The hive workers ...

may be a major product or a minor byproduct. The management technique that yields the highest amount of wax per hive is the top-bar hive. During the harvest of the

from top-bar hives the whole honey comb is removed and crushed to extract the honey. The commercial honey producers use

frames A frame is often a structural system that supports other components of a physical construction and/or steel frame that limits the construction's extent. Frame and FRAME may also refer to: Physical objects In building construction *Framing (co ...

. The honey extraction process yields beeswax from the uncapping process. The highest quality beeswax is almost white. Lower quality beeswax from older cappings or comb is yellow or brown. Beeswax should be rendered and filtered before it is sold. The least amount of beeswax that can be used as such, is produced in Ross rounds or cassette type

production. Wax and honey are not separated and are consumed together. Tha ability and tendency to build wax comb differs between the honeybee races. It also differs between colonies. A newly hived

swarm Swarm behaviour, or swarming, is a collective behaviour exhibited by entities, particularly animals, of similar size which aggregate together, perhaps milling about the same spot or perhaps moving ''en masse'' or migrating in some direction. ...

produces wax and builds

comb A comb is a tool consisting of a shaft that holds a row of teeth for pulling through the hair to clean, untangle, or style it. Combs have been used since Prehistory, prehistoric times, having been discovered in very refined forms from settlemen ...

very quickly.

For royal jelly production

The production of

royal jelly Royal jelly is a honey bee secretion that is used in the nutrition of larvae and adult queens. It is secreted from the glands in the hypopharynx of nurse bees, and fed to all larvae in the colony, regardless of sex or caste.Graham, J. (ed.) (19 ...

is most dependent on the proper genetics of the queen. Queens and drones are selectively bred to increase the production of royal jelly. A good yield per hive is 5 kg per year.

For apitoxin production

Bee venom (

apitoxin Apitoxin or bee venom is the venom produced by the honey bee. It is a cytotoxic and hemotoxic bitter colorless liquid containing proteins, which may produce local inflammation. It may have similarities to sea nettle toxin. Components Bee venom ...

) is obtained by stimulating the bee with an

electric current An electric current is a stream of charged particles, such as electrons or ions, moving through an electrical conductor or space. It is measured as the net rate of flow of electric charge through a surface or into a control volume. The movin ...