Altigoo-Apiculture

Les ruches dadant 10 cadres

JMF64 — 2018-08-18T10:25:56Z

Sur l'exploitation, nous travaillons principalement avec des colonies de petite taille. Nous gérons seulement 150 ruches Dadant 10 cadres, en rucher fixe. Elles remplissent plusieurs fonctions :

Elles produisent les mâles nécessaires à saturer notre zone de fécondation [1] .
Certaines sont équipées de trappes à pollen pour la production de pâte protéinée à destination des éleveuses et des ruches à gelée,
Nous tirons 1 à 2 paquets d'abeilles en début de floraison du colza pour remplir les Kielers,
Nous prélevons généralement un essaim sur 3 cadres à la fin de la saison, pour le renouvellement des cadres,
Elles assurent une production de miel en été pour dédommager les propriétaires des ruchers,

Conduite des ruches

– Remérage :
Nous nous efforçons de maintenir une très grande diversité génétique pour améliorer la rusticité des reines vis à vis des maladies. Cf les travaux de David R. Tarpy.

En début de saison, nous renouvelons 1/4 de nos ruches, en enruchant des ruchettes avec reines issues de lignées nouvellement testées.
En fin de saison, nous éliminons les reines de 2 ou 3 ans (1/4 du cheptel) en les remplaçant par des reines fécondées issues des nuclei.

NB : Pour les ruches, l'âge moyen des reines est de 2 ans ... alors que 90% des reines en ruchettes ont moins d'1 an.

– Lutte anti-varroas.

Été : 2 passages avec de l'acide oxalique en dégouttement + des langes cartonnés imbibés d'amitraze, dès la récolte des hausses (avant la ponte d'abeilles d'hiver),
Hiver : 1 application d'acide oxalique en dégouttement + langes cartonnés imbibés d'amitraze, hors couvain [2].

– Lutte contre les maladies.

Grâce à notre conduite (rotation de cadres très rapide, 90% de reines de moins d'un an ...) nous maintenons une faible pression en maladies sur l'exploitation.
Nous n'utilisons JAMAIS d'antibiotique que ce soit pour lutter conter les loques ou contre Nosema.

– Nourrissement :

Nous ne nourrissons jamais [3] les ruches. Nous ne stimulons pas les colonies non plus avec du sirop dilué.
Début mars, au tout début de la ponte des mâles, nous distribuons une peu de pâte protéinée à chaque ruche en même temps que l'introduction des cadres à mâles.

La conduite des ruches en video

Les différents formats de ruches utilisés sur notre exploitation spécialisée dans l'élevage des reines et la production d'essaims

[1] On introduit un cadre à mâle dans chaque ruche au début mars.

[2] L'arrêt de ponte est peu marqué depuis une dizaine d'année dans notre région. Nous intervenons généralement pendant la seconde quinzaine de décembre

[3] à de très rares exceptions près !

Maxi-Plus bee hives

JMF64 — 2016-11-15T20:57:53Z

"Maxi plus”, or “maxi +”, is our naming. It refers to the honey chamber's size for Dadant 6-frame hives. It is twice the volume of a size "Mini +". The frames' arrangement totally depends of your preferences. They can be placed according to the length or to the width.

A Maxi+ is made of:

12 frames of type Mini+ in a warm way,
6 shallow frames in a cold way.

The Maxi+ is the transition between the small frame size and the size of a shallow frame. The same way as the 6-frame hive allows the change from a super-frame to a brood chamber.
Since 2012, the Maxi+ honey chambers (in a cold way) are the only size we are using.

Disposition:

A 6-frame honey chamber including the queen as well as the brood frames,
A queen excluder,
A stacking of honey chambers

Advantages:

The light weight,
The colonies' dynamics,
The overwintering of inseminated queens is more certain compared to the Mini+,
– / Less sensitive to the drought occurring at the end of summer (still in comparison with Mini+)
A single type of frame (we removed the frames),
Increase the efficacy of the anti-varroa treatments on a horizontal cluster.

Risks:

The reserves' control,
Sensitivity to the cold related to the cluster disposition.

Moreover, it's in 2013 that we achieved our first tests on Maxi+.

Behaviour maxi+

The different formats of hives used on our farm specializing in queen rearing and the swarms production

The nucleus mating "Kielers"

JMF64 — 2016-11-15T18:21:57Z

We essentially produce our mated queens in Kielers.

Starting up of the Kielers:

The Kielers are put into service from mid-April (blossoms of the colzas) to mid-May (blossoms of the acacias). We remove the package bees from our 10-frame hives. With one hive, we fill up around 10 nuc, approximately the size of a 500g honey jar full of bees.

Once it has been filled, we introduce a virgin queen directly in the nucleus. Afterwards, The Kielers are transferred in a dark and cool room. They remain closed for 3 days and 3 nights in order to reduce the desertion risk.

The collection of the queens:

In general, the queens are collected 3 weeks after the virgin queen is introduced (at the start of the season) or the royal cell is inserted (for the next rotations).
The day following the crop, a new royal cell of 11 day old is introduced.

The overwintering of the Kielers:

At the end of the season, we are always left with fertilised queens bee. The loss ratio is generally very important: > 50%. Nevertheless, in only 2 seasons, we have improved our success ratio (up to 25%) by feeding abundantly our colonies during winter. The feeders are filled every 4 weeks.

Queens' breeding in nuclei Kieler Begattungskasten:

The nucleus mating "Mini plus"

JMF64 — 2016-11-15T07:49:06Z

In the past, we were using some wooden MiniPlus for the production of queens during the season. The size was sufficient to overwinter some queens with a >75% success rate.
In 2012, we stopped using them for 2 reasons:

we had to work with too many different sizes: 10-frame hives, 6-frame hives, Maxi+, Mini+ and Kielers,
we found it hard to work with the Mini+ frames. We prefer to work with the honey chambers' frames. Therefore, we sold our Mini+ and transformed our Maxi+ from a warm way (12 frames) into the cold way (6 frames).

starting up of the Mini+:

We fill up the Mini+ in April, during the colza blossoms, with package bees, or with the division of Mini+ and Maxi+ that overwintered.

Overwintering of the micro colonies:

We overwinter the colonies on 1 or 2 elements. In retrospect, we noticed that we had better results with overwintering on 1 element, providing that we followed correctly the reserves.

Behaviour of queens rearing in Mini-Plus on our bee farm

The different formats of hives used on our farm specializing in queen rearing and the swarms production

10-frame bee hives

JMF64 — 2016-11-15T07:18:24Z

We mainly operate with small size colonies. We work with only 150 Dadant 10-frame bee hives.

They produce the right amount of males required for the saturation of our fertilization zone.
A few of them are provided with pollen traps in order to produce the protein dough used for the breeders and the jelly hives.
When the colza starts to blossom, we remove 1 or 2 package bees to fill the Kielers.
At the end of the season, we generally collect one swarm on 3 different frames to renew the frames.
During summer time, they guarantee a honey income to indemnify the apiaries' owners.

Behaviour of the bee hives:

The change of queen in the hive:
We try to maintain a large genetic diversity to strengthen the queens against the diseases.

At the beginning of the season, we renew ¼ of our hives by putting queens from tested breeds in new hives.
At the end of the season, we eliminate the 2 to 3 year old queens (1/4 of the bee population) and replace them with fertilized queen bees coming from the nuclei.

N.B. The average age for a queen in the hive is two years old. In the small hives, 90% of the queens are less than 1 year old.

Anti-varroa treatments:

Summer: 2 oxalic acid treatments by drops + pieces of cardboard soaked with amitraz. The treatments start as soon as we begin the honey chambers' crop (before the winter laying)
Winter: 1 oxalic acid treatment + pieces of cardboard soaked with amitraz, out of the brood.

Struggle against diseases:

As a consequence of our good behaviour (very fast rotation of the frames, 90% of our queens are less than 1 year old…), we maintain a low rate of diseases.
-* We strictly NEVER use antibiotics even to treat the Foulbrood or Nosema.

The feeding:

We never feed the hives. As well, we never stimulate the colonies with diluted syrup.
At the beginning of March, when the males' laying starts, we distribute a little quantity of protein dough to all the hives. Meanwhile, we insert the males' frames.

Hives' behaviour:

The different formats of hives used on our farm specializing in queen rearing and the swarms production

6-frame bee hives

JMF64 — 2016-11-15T07:17:10Z

The 6-frame bee hives represent the main element of our production. We actually own more than a 1000 and overwinter more than 800 yearly.
End of March-beginning of April, while the colonies are on 5 or 6 frames, we remove 2 or 3 open frames to start a swarm in a new hive. The rest of the colony (overwintered queen + 3 brood frames and honey + the foragers) is sold on the market- in overwintered swarms.

It is on the colza blossoms that the new swarms are getting developed. We will find them on 6 frames one month and a half later.

Until 2012, we were producing a second set of swarms just before the sweet chestnut's blossoms. At the end of May-beginning of June, we were removing 2 or 3 opened frames from each colony.

we were starting a new swarm with a 11 day old royal cell able to overwinter at the end of the season,
-* the rest of the colony (spring queen + 3 brood frames and honey + the foragers) were sold in swarms of the year.
Since 2013, we are more focussed on our honey production than on our sales of swarms of the year. In parallel, the less time dedicated at the second set of swarms lets us more time for the development of more nuclei and for the sale of fertilized queens.
-* a part of the hives' population is dedicated to the pollination of semen productions,
-* the other part of the bee population is used for the production of honey in 5-frame honey chamber and also for the elite strains' testing. In 2010, the average production of a colony was of 3 honey chamber (25 kg of honey). The best one filled 7 honey chambers, which represents 55 kg of honey.

The small hives' behaviour:

Anti-varroa treatments:

Summer: 2 treatments of oxalic acid by drops + pieces of cardboard soaked with amitraz. The treatments start as soon as we begin the honey chambers' crop (before the winter laying)
-* Winter: 1 treatment of oxalic acid by drops + pieces of cardboard soaked with amitraz, out of the brood.

The feeding:

The feeding of the hives represents a major step for our production. We feed the small hives during fall: generally we need 2 to 3 kg of syrup for all the colonies and twice the quantity for the smallest swarms.
-* The second half of March is a critical period for us. In fact, the colonies expand quickly at this time and the nectar incomes are poor if the weather is bad. This is the reason why we often have to counterbalance the reserves' insufficiencies.
-* During the swarms' constitution, we systematically distribute a little quantity of diluted syrup, right after the royal cells' insertion.

The different formats of hives used on our farm specializing in queen rearing and the swarms production

Production of honey

JMF64 — 2016-11-14T22:10:13Z

Until 2010, our work was more than 90% orientated on the breeding. Since the arrival of Fabienne, my wife, and Xavier, my son, our honey production (construction of the honey house) as well as our production of royal jelly or “propolis” became most important.

Our apiaries are essentially sedentary. They are located on a perimeter of 10 km around Giroussens. We essentially find them near the forests or the banks of the Tarn, the Dadou or the Agout.

The environment surrounding us is diversified. Over seasons, the bees will find hazel trees, willows, plum trees, wild cherries, rapeseed, fruit trees, chequers trees, acacias, blackberry bushes, sunflowers, as well as Metcalfa (insect).

We basically produce all-flower honey which is rich in colours and flavours. The 2 main ones are:

all-flower honey of spring,
all-flower honey of summer.
We also move around a few hives situated in the French Pyrénées and in the “Black mountain”, in order to produce honey from only one flower, such as:
acacia honey,
sweet chestnut honey,
forest honey (honey from honeydew produced on the Tarn and Dadou banks).

Honey sale in bulk:

We commercialise a part of our all-flower honey crop in barrels of 300 kg.

Honey production:

Divisible hives

JMF64 — 2016-11-14T22:09:42Z

In July 2007, Mister Christian Nicot from Nicoplast establishment introduced me to his colonies behaviour in his Dadant 1 shallow-frame honey chambers.

Disposition:

– A honey chamber with the queen bee and the frames,
– A queen excluder,
– Pileup of honey chambers.

Since 2010, we have started using those divisible hives for our colonies. Subsequently, in 2012 and 2013, we have strongly developed colonies on divisible frames and have reduced our number of brood chamber frames.

Advantages:

– The light weight,
– The colonies' dynamics,
– High production of honey,
– A single type of frame,
– Increase the effectiveness of the anti-varroa treatments on a horizontal cluster disposition.

Risks:

– The reserves' control
– Sensitivity to the cold related to the cluster disposition.

Notice:

In the first honey chamber above the queen excluder, the bees generally leave 1 hole for the queen's laying.

The different formats of hives used on our farm specializing in queen rearing and the swarms production

Production of pollen

JMF64 — 2016-11-14T22:04:34Z

At the beginning of spring, we place the pollen traps on about 50 hives, while the willows and cistus are flowering.
– We use some pollen bottom traps
– Our hive stands have been specially designated to fit the skeps underneath the bottom
– The traps are removed in mid-June, just before the production of summer honey.

Right after the crop, the pollen is extracted manually, then frozen to assure its quality. The pollen is used in our protein mixture, joined with beer yeast or baker yeast, to feed up the nourishing bees. We also sell a part of this fresh pollen in jars of 100g.

Our production

JMF64 — 2016-11-14T22:03:25Z

We are French bee-keepers. Our whole production is located on a perimeter of 10 km around our town, Giroussens, which is a little village in the district of Tarn, in the south west of France, close to Toulouse and Albi, the main cities in our area.

There are several agricultural productions dominating the area. They are major cultivations, such as: straw cereals, irrigated corns, sunflowers and rapeseed. Besides, we also find more specialize ones. In fact, this large variety of cultivations is the result of the diversified flora which is composed of hazel trees, willows, plum trees, wild cherries, acacias, chequer-trees, cistus, blackberry bushes, sweet chestnut trees, marjoram, trees of heaven and basket flowers.
However, for the past 20 years, these lands have suffered from drought which limited the interest for beekeeping. Even if the pollen production is quantitatively modest, it is still very interesting for its diversity and continuity over seasons.

Since 2006, Philippe and I are working together on the breeding of queen bees. Our concentration is mainly on the Buckfast breed. As well, we produce and commercialise:

overwintering of swarms
virgin queens
mated queens
inseminated queens

Number of colonies:

Our number of colonies fluctuates constantly depending of the swarms' production and our sales. We overwinter a little more than 1500 colonies:

150 Dadant 10-frame hives,
800 Dadant 6-frame little hives,
300 divisible hives,
450 nuclei Maxi +,
Each season, to produce mated queen bees, we fill up 1000 polystyrene nuclei “Kieler Begattungskasten”. Afterwards, every winter, we overwinter a few of them.

Level of production:

We produce annually over 12 000 royal cells and put on the market approximately:

1000 swarms (500 overwintered swarms + 500 swarms of the year)
4500 naturally mated queens
20 inseminated queens (from the 200 produced yearly)

Development of our activities:

Since the arrival of Fabienne and Xavier, in 2012, our production significantly expanded. In fact, the output of many kinds of honey (all-flower honey, sweet chestnut honey, mountain honey, forest honey…) became for us an important activity. Meanwhile, we've developed our market on the hive's products toward the GMS on short-circuit sales.

Our production of queens :

Our production of swarms :

Presentation of our region :