Monthly Beekeeping Tasks: July

Monthly Beekeeping Tasks: July

 Thanks to our friends at Hivetool.com for the following which is specific to TN

Beekeeping Calendar of Management Practices : July - All tasks for the month

• Have your bees on their new location by the first week of July.
• Extract the honey you removed in June to have the supers available for the fall  honey flow.
• Return extracted supers to the colonies just before dark to prevent robbing.
• Pack honey in a quality attractive package - all new glassware and lids with a label.
• Continue to check for swarms in mountain areas; combine swarms issuing after July 15 with weak colonies.

ALSO - Remember the bees need attention in this hot weather.

Shade and Water for Honey Bee Colonies

•  Locate colonies in areas with morning sun and afternoon shade.
• The colonies will need a good source of clean water within one-fourth of a mile from the hive. In hot weather, bees in strong colonies may need a gallon of water a day. Water is used to cool the interior of the hive.
• A container of water with a landing area enables the bees to take up water without getting wet. Wood blocks, cork blocks, rocks, gravel or burlap cloth can be used in the container to provide a stand for the watering bees.
  

Wonder How to?

 

Rendering Your Beeswax  - This is one way of rendering your wax - the internet has many reports of different ways to approach this task

• Beeswax is a valuable product of the beekeeping industry. A strong colony of honey bees will use about 13 pounds of honey per year for the production of beeswax.
• Cappings, bits of comb scraped from the frames, and old combs which are unfit for further use in the hive are the sources of beeswax. The best grade of light yellow wax is obtained from the cappings and should be processed separately from the other wax. Twenty pounds of beeswax from cappings can be rendered from every ton of honey extracted.
• Frames of honey should be uncapped over a drain board. The weight of the cappings is 50 percent or more honey. The drained cappings are ready to melt and pour into a mold. Break the pieces of comb or cappings into small pieces and soak these in warm water for a day to remove pollen and propolis. Drain the soaked pieces and place these in a weighted burlap bag. Submerge the bag in a tank of water and bring the water to a slow boil. Agitate the bag with a stick to cause the wax to float to the surface. Do not boil the water vigorously or for too long. Remove the bag, cool the water and remove the wax cake when it solidifies. Drain the wax thoroughly and store the cake.
• Beeswax cakes for competition in the fair should be made from well-drained cappings of new white comb. The wax cappings should be melted in a water bath container over an electric heater. The melted wax should be strained through fine cloth to remove foreign material. When the wax begins to solidify on the surface, pour the wax into a mold. This reduces the cracks in the finished cake. The mold should be clean, dry and aluminum, nickel, tin or stainless steel. The mold should be carefully filled with a ladle and allowed to solidify completely before removing the cake. The bottom should be scraped to remove sediment.
• Propolis lowers the melting point of beeswax and causes the beeswax to be sticky.
• The beeswax can be traded in for new foundation. The market value fluctuates.