Offshoots (beekeeping)
An offshoot (usually a Brutableger ) is understood in beekeeping to mean a new colony of bees created by beekeeping intervention . New bee colonies can be created with offshoots; the swarming instinct of bee colonies is dampened; Under the aspect of varroa control , offshoots and swarms are equally positive. Offshoots can be formed permanently or only for a limited time.
Offshoots and swarms
The formation of offshoots is the alternative to catching naturally formed swarms. Swarms, on the other hand, are created without beekeeping intervention due to the bees' natural swarming instinct .
Although swarms already have a queen bee and under beekeeping care they can relatively safely reach a colony size that can be overwintered by autumn, the swarming must be noticed, the swarm discovered and often caught under very adverse circumstances. On the other hand, the formation of offshoots usually means more work for the beekeeper, but it reduces the risk that swarms go unnoticed and he can control the formation of young colonies in this way.
Offshoots as a method of propagation
Offshoots are formed by far predominantly as eggs, which means that the new bee colony receives honeycomb frames with young, uncovered brood (eggs or young larvae) when it is formed . If an offshoot is formed without brood (driftwood) , a young queen must be added to the offshoot so that it can survive. The driftwood is a special form of cupping of bee colonies, in that some brood combs with young larvae from the brood chamber are hung in an immediately ejected frame with still moist honeycombs. Young nurse bees are drawn into the honey room by the brood in order to feed and warm the larvae. After 24 hours the hive is completely tipped over and further bees are "driven" from the brood chamber up into the honeycomb covered with brood by gentle puffs of smoke from the smoker . Immediately afterwards, the honeycomb with the brood and young bees can be removed and moved to a distant stand as an offshoot.
If one uses the breeding egg formation as a method for reproduction, one takes from a colony that is very strong enough brood and bees that a new colony capable of survival can be formed. You take two to three frames with brood from the beehive; open brood with the bees sitting on it, who are already busy with brood care , should also be taken along. The brood frames are then placed in the middle of the new hive - that is, the box in which the bee colony is housed. Two to four frames with honey serve as a basic supply for the people. The honey frames are placed on the left and right of the brood frames. If you use a branch box, it is already full. In a normal magazine, the rest of the prey is filled with so-called “empty frames with central walls” so that the bees do not develop any game.
According to general opinion, the offspring should be at least three, better five kilometers away from the original location so that the bees do not fly back to their old location. However, some beekeepers are of the opinion that the colonies do not have to be spatially separated from one another, at least not if a enthusiastic colony is given as offshoots in a hive. It should remain at the new stand for about 14 days so that the people can wean themselves from the old stand. After getting used to it, you can bring the people back to the old location if this comes from z. B. organizational reasons is necessary.
When creating offshoots, you should avoid taking the queen with you if possible . However, this is often difficult to see. It can therefore happen that the queen accidentally ends up in the offspring. Therefore one observes whether new brood is formed there. If this is the case, the queen was accidentally taken away and there is now a people without a queen at the old location. This behaves more restlessly, which is noticeable after about half an hour. The people are restless, it becomes audibly loud. Queen cells are created within nine days , from which a new queen ("queen") hatches. This can be recognized on the one hand by the conspicuous empty queen cells, on the other hand by the fact that fresh, new broods are discovered a few days later, as the queen usually goes on mating flight immediately in good weather and then begins to brood.
Offshoots to dampen the swarm instinct
Intermediate offshoots are formed to make room in the hive of a very numerous people and to prevent swarming, not to form a new people. At the end of the season (end of July) both parts of the people should be reunited.
In order to achieve this, one checks regularly (about every seven to nine days) whether queen cells are formed in the offshoot; if a queen cell is found, it is destroyed by cutting it out. After a few repetitions, the bees stop producing queen cells. Instead, they are increasingly turning to honey production. These intermediate offshoots usually produce more honey than the original colony. At the end of the season, the offshoots are reunited with the original colony and the bees can hibernate together.
literature
Gerhard Liebig: Simply beekeeping . 2nd edition, self-published, Aichtal 2002.