The history of Siberian beekeeping is short and hardly totals more than a couple of centuries. However, in difficult conditions of a cold climate, the beekeepers of this region managed to prove themselves for all this time from the best side. Siberian honey is appreciated not only in Russia, but also in other countries of the world. For example, in the UK it is considered a delicacy and is served including 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. Beekeepers in the region are constantly developing new methods that allow them to receive a large amount of honey of excellent quality while reducing labor and financial costs. The most common bee breeding technologies currently used in Siberia are:
- V. Chernavina.
- Varre.
- B. Cebro.
- V. G. Kashkovsky;
- Two-uterine content of Polyakov and Ozerov.
- Double hull breeding.
Honey in apiaries can, among other things, be collected according to the Koptev-Kharchenko method. In one way or another, all these technologies are based on the rules formulated in the last century by one of the best beekeepers of the USSR V.F. Shalygin.
Methodology of V. Chernavin
The peculiarity of this technology is, first of all, that the 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 honey collection;
- use of swarm energy in honey collection.
To replenish the apiary, using this technique, primary swarms are needed. Secondary replenished maternal families. In the absence of nectar release in bees 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 secretion;
- keeping by any means strong families from swarming.
Working with swarms according to the methodology of this researcher in beekeepers is considered a rather laborious affair. However, beekeeping in Siberia using this technology in most cases becomes quite profitable. With only one family, the founder of this technique once received up to 100 kg of honey and 2.5 kg of wax.
The way of abbot Varre
Beekeepers around the world, including Siberia, use this technique. It was developed in the middle of the last century. When applying Varreux technology, hives are used, assembled from three hulls mounted on top of each other. Two compartments are allotted for the nest, and the remaining for honey.
Bees build honeycombs in such beehives on rulers - wooden slats with a wax seed of approximately 0.005 cm high. Each body of such elements contains 8. The lines in the folds are fixed with small cloves at such a distance from each other so that the bees can pass between them. .
The roof in such hives is arranged circulating in the form of an attic. This allows you to stabilize the temperature change inside the enclosures.
The hives made by the Varre method are considered primarily very economical. They do not use frames, wire and wax. Inspect them infrequently. Also an advantage of this technique is that insects in this case are kept under conditions close to natural.
Varre recommended that he treat the bees in such a way that they would not suspect the enemy as the owner. According to this abbot, insects can be disturbed only when it is really necessary. It is supposed to work with hives carefully, without making sudden movements, but at the same time quickly.
When using the Varre 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 V. Cebro
Adherents of the modern new beekeeping in Siberia conceived use this well-proven technology. The methodology of V. Cebro is primarily characterized by a multiple increase in the number of families by the time of honey collection. To achieve this, in this case, hives of a special design are used. If there is a young uterus, a second one is simply installed on top of the first building to separate families.
When using such a technique, Queen Bees are supposed to be changed annually. Insects hibernate in apiaries organized according to the Zebro technology, in hives with double walls and a heat-insulated lid. When insects are kept using this technology:
- inspection of pallets and assessment of the state of bees before flying;
- hives are being cleaned;
- the forces of the main families are aligned;
- families are reinforced using 4 frames of printed brood;
- the nests are expanded by a second ten-frame case.
Also in this case, early uterine implantation and the formation of two layers from tribal families are practiced. The first settles separately with amplification by summer insects. The second before the medical gathering is combined with the family.
Kashkovsky technique
Beekeeping in Western Siberia, as well as in Eastern, today is developing quite rapidly. Some methods of specialists from this region of Russia are even being adopted by beekeepers from other countries. An example of this is the Kashkovsky technology. The essence of the method of this researcher is approximately as follows:
- instead of four checks after the exhibition, two are made from the winter hut - a cursory inspection and transplantation of insects into disinfected hives;
- each family is given a pair of beef and honey frames.
Subsequent inspections are made only to expand the nest. For each family using this technology, there are 7 bee bread frames and 5 honey, which are placed on top of existing ones.
The uterus, when applying this technology, changes annually. Swarming is regulated by:
- hive extensions;
- uterine changes;
- removal of old honeycombs;
- loading insects on the construction of new ones.
When applying this technique at high temperatures, an apiary is supposed to be shaded. The gain is received only from strong families, and artificial reinforcement is not used.
Two-uterine maintenance of Ozerov and Polyakov
This method, like many other modern methods, first began to be used in the 80s of the last century. In the two-uterine version, the bees can be kept according to two main technologies:
- In a hive separated by a lattice, two families live, each of which has a uterus. In this case, the bees have the opportunity to contact each other. In this case, the uterus can not begin the struggle for power. Thus, families are usually united only for the duration of the honey collection.
- In one hive lives a family with two queen bees. The second in most cases hatches right there. To prevent swarming, the beekeeper in time shares the hive with a grate. As a result, it turns out that the family remains whole and consists of the same working bees. It is this two-uterine content method that is considered true.
This technology originated in the 90s of the XIX century. So innovative, in fact, it is not. 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 flowering of the earliest honey plants.
Double hull breeding
New methods of beekeeping in Siberia with the right approach to business allow you to get a lot of honey. Developed at the end of the last century there were many. However, the two-case insect content is still the most popular technology among beekeepers in this region. This dilution method has the following advantages:
- family tendency to swarm decreases;
- the amount of brood increases for a bribe;
- the yield of marketable wax is significantly increased;
- it is easier for the beekeeper to assemble nests for the winter.
Several bee housing options can be used several. But the most famous technology is as follows:
- as soon as the bees begin to hatch 10-12 streets, and brood appears on the 8-9th frames, a second additional one is installed on the first nesting building;
- 2-3 brood frames are transferred to the upper case without shaking off the bees;
- they don’t put new frames in the lower case, but place a grid.
In an additional case, 6 frames are subsequently installed in the following sequence:
- opaque honey-pepper;
- brood frames;
- with wax;
- low-copper framework.
Next, a separation board and a pillow are stacked. Subsequently, as the family grows, new frames are added to the second building until they become 12. As a rule, the uterus after some time passes into the upper building on its own. Here she begins to work, laying eggs in a new honeycomb frame.
Before the main honey collection, beekeepers use a double-hull technology to rearrange. In this case, brood frames are moved to the lower case. In the end, their number is adjusted to 12. Upstairs are placed frames with brood and rebuilt honeycombs.
After the selection of honey, instead of the removed ones, a new framework is put in the hives. Next, the case is removed and begin to prepare the apiary for wintering.
Harvesting honey: Koptev-Kharchenko technology
Many professionals and lovers of the region use the new methods described above. Beekeeping in Siberia, as in any other area, 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;
- the use of artificial propagation techniques;
- replacement of low-productive families in the first year of life.
Affected families in such apiaries are destroyed immediately. At the same time, honey is used as food, honeycombs are melted, and bees are burned.
In weak families, using this technique, brood frames are taken away, and barren ones replace sushi. After that, they feed 10 kg of sugar for processing into honey. As a result, families wear out and they cease to exist.
The resulting framework when applying this method is passed on to other families. Only the strongest families leave for the winter. In superframe feeding troughs distribute therapeutic syrup 0.5 l 1-2 times. Do this about 30 days after the start of the flight.
Industrial beekeeping in Siberia: a description of the Kemerovo method
Most often, the beekeepers of this region contain bees precisely according to the technologies described above. However, recently, several even more modern techniques have been developed that allow you to get a large amount of honey in apiaries while reducing labor costs.
Particularly noteworthy, for example, is the technology developed by the beekeeper from Kemerovo A. N. Ermolaev. This technique is used for the industrial maintenance of bees and gives a tangible effect if there are at least 500 families in the apiary. Industrial beekeeping in Siberia is currently well developed. And farms with so many hives, of course, exist in this region.
Features Ermolaev’s technology has the following:
- early spring development of families;
- selection based on rigorous selection;
- getting new families using layering;
- placement of families at 6 nomad points to ensure high honey collection;
- the use of semi-underground concrete wintry for all families.
The quality of the uterus with the use of 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, beekeeping is well developed in Siberia. When applying this ancient technique, they try to create conditions in the apiary that are as close as possible to natural conditions. Bees are kept in special decks in which they build honeycombs at a distance of about 1-2 cm from each other.
Quite well developed beekeeping in Siberia and in the sunbeds. Most often, when using this technology, insects are kept in multihull hives with 16 frames. The advantage of using such equipment is, above all, an improvement in the tolerance of cold weather by bees in winter.
Beekeeping in Siberia in 16-frame hives is not as well developed as, for example, the same method of keeping in two-hives. However, this technology has many adherents in the region.
Which breeds are most suitable for breeding in these conditions
Beekeeping in Siberia is currently actively developing after the crisis. 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 varieties of bees in this region of Russia are:
- Central Russian;
- a strawberry;
- Carpathian
Beekeeping in Siberia has been developing for several hundred years. However, new modern varieties of insects have begun to breed here recently. Therefore, difficulties for beekeepers in this region usually arise not with the choice of a specific breed, but with the search for good queens. In Siberia, at the moment, unfortunately, purebred breeding is practically not carried out. To create an apiary, you can basically only mix. This is especially true for carpathians. Of purebred bees, only karnik is currently more or less available to beekeepers in the region.
Instead of a conclusion
Thus, we found out by 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 insect content depends primarily on the personal preferences of the beekeeper himself. All the technologies described above, with the exception of industrial Kemerovo technology, are quite simple to implement, including for the amateur, and allow you to get a large amount of honey at low labor costs.