Full Development
Verhalten der Bienen
With the first strong nectar flow the colony tips into full operation: the queen lays well over a thousand eggs a day, with sources giving figures for peak periods ranging from about 1,200 to 2,000.
With the first strong nectar flow the colony tips into full operation: the queen lays well over a thousand eggs a day, with sources giving figures for peak periods ranging from about 1,200 to 2,000. Colony strength rises within weeks to around 40,000 bees, and beyond that in top colonies, and the builder bees draw fresh wax at every free spot.
The colony now needs three things at once: space for brood, space for nectar, and space for building. If any one of them is missing, crowding results. And crowding is one of the most common triggers of swarming mood. Densely occupied combs, a beard of bees in front of the entrance, wild comb under the frames, and a brood chamber clogged with honey are the warning signs.
This is the time for weekly inspections. Expand the brood chamber, usually around cherry blossom, add the first honey super at the start of the rapeseed bloom, give each box an empty frame as a drone frame, and check the comb building. Anyone who falls a week behind here works to catch up for the rest of the season.