Beekeeping Calendar

January

Highlights: egg laying (brood rearing) resumes/undertaking

On a warm day,

  • check hive weights again, and (particularly if it has been a warm winter)
  • feed light hives 1:1 or dilute 1:2 sugar syrup directly over the cluster inside an empty hive body with a jar
  • check Paramoth and stored supers for wax moth damage

Blossoming: Ironwood or Coma

February

Highlights: tracheal mite peak/drone rearing and brood nest expansion

First sunny high > 55° with little wind (mid-day),

  • very quickly check for brood and assess honey and pollen stores - once only
  • feed light hives dilute 1:2 syrup directly over the cluster inside an empty hive body with a jar
  • apply 1/2 to 1 lb irradiated pollen patty (or Feed-Bee) if there is little pollen collection or brood
  • optional Varroa mite check (IPM bottom board)
  • check Paramoth and stored supers

Blossoming: Red and Silver Maple (green pollen), 2/1 - 4/2; Willow (yellow pollen)

March

Highlights: brood nest expansion vs. swarm preps/swarms (last 2 weeks)

First week (> 60° mid-day),

  • remove empty hive bodies and jar feeders from tops of hives
  • quickly check brood, queen, and pollen stores
  • exchange 2 - 4 central upper brood chamber honey-laden frames for empty comb to prevent overcrowding swarms from "honey bound" hives
  • equalize (1 - 2 frames of) brood to boost very weak colonies
  • clean bottom screen
  • feed dilute 1:2 syrup via top feeder to stimulate brood rearing as necessary
  • set bait hives to capture swarms and check frequently
  • air out supers (remove from Paramoth)

During last 3 weeks (> 60° days),

  • check brood and queen two or three times for swarm preps
  • check for reproductive swarm preps: brood nest reduction, nectar congestion (at the top of the nest), poor foraging and/or poor wax production, queen cell royal jelly/eggs/larvae, particularly in hives with an early Spring buildup, and if present, either
  • cage and remove the captive queen, 3 frames of emerging brood, 1 empty and 1 nectar/pollen frame to a 5 frame nuc for 7 - 9 days, cut all queen cells out of the parent hive and then return the captive queen and frames, or
  • make splits or nucs from those strong colonies with queen cells
  • reverse hive bodies every 10 - 14 days; ensure central upper expansion room
  • move empty (not honey-laden) peripheral frames in from outside to expand the broodnest
  • super strong colonies in preparation of early nectar flow (Ornamental) without a queen excluder (initially), then
  • put a queen excluder between the brood chambers and the super a week after the bees have put something in the super (to coax them through it)
  • enlarge the entrance or remove the entrance reducer completely

Blossoming: Maples to 4/2; Ornamentals and Fruit Trees, 3/13; Redbud and Dandelions (orange pollen), 3/30

April

Highlights: repro. swarms/brood nest reduction for nectar

First 3 weeks,

  • enlarge the entrance if not done in March
  • check brood and queen twice as in late March for swarm preps
  • continue to reverse hive bodies every 10 - 14 days

Third week (just before major - white wax - honey flow starts, ~ 4/20),

  • check broodnest again
  • super again w/ either foundation or drawn comb in anticipation of major storage needs
  • equalize foragers by exchanging hives while foragers are out in the middle of the day

Blossoming: Black Locust, variable; Blackberry (light tan/gray pollen), 4/20 - 5/22; Clover, 4/14; Holly 4/14; Tulip Poplar (powder yellow pollen), 4/20 - 5/26; Black Gum, 4/26 - 5/10; hardwood leafout, 4/1 - 4/24

May

Highlights: brood nest reduction/honey production

Every 10 days,

  • check and add supers as necessary, move less full peripheral super frames into the middle of the existing super
  • only check the broodnest/queen once if a problem is suspected (with the honey flow)!

Later (about 5/22),

  • harvest Spring Wildflower (amber, mostly blackberry) honey - (capped frames); leave uncapped Tulip Poplar (dark) honey supers on hive
  • order Fall queens

Piedmont blossoming dates: Poison Ivy (orange pollen) to 5/23; Tulip Poplar to 5/26; American Holly, 5/1 - 5/16; Raspberry, 5/12 - 6/2; Persimmon, 5/20 - 6/2; Sumac, 5/23 - 6/10

Mountain blossoming dates: American Holly, 5/8 - 5/23; Black Locust, 5/15 - 5/28; Tulip Poplar, 5/25 - 6/18; Sourwood, 6/25 - 7/25

June

Highlights: honey production

Mid-Late (after the major honey flow is over and the bees return to Clover),

  • check the broodnest/queen once in all hives
  • put bee escapes on the day before, and/or use fume board or leaf blower
  • harvest dark Tulip Poplar honey and extract it
  • process the wax cappings

Last week,

  • ensure hives for Sourwood have broodnests full of honey and fortify them with extra bees as necessary
  • move those strong hives to the Mountains (1100 - 2200 ft) for the Sourwood honey flow
  • super each with 9 frames of drawn comb

Piedmont blossoming dates: Sumac to 6/12; Vitex about 6/10; Clover

Mountain blossoming dates: Sumac to 6/28; Sourwood, 6/26 - 7/25

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July

Highlights: Sourwood honey production

Every 10 days or so,

  • check supers, move less full peripheral super frames in, and add an additional super if necessary (existing super is over 2/3 full and has some caps)

At end of Sourwood honey flow (after 7/25 - last week),

  • harvest Sourwood supers, bring home, dry, and extract
  • return hives from Mountains at dusk
  • markedly entrance reduce weak hives to prevent robbing
  • check broodnest/queen once (at end of flow)
  • feed wet combs back to bees, and then
  • store dry supers under Paramoth

Blossoming: Sourwood to 7/25; Clover to 7/25; Coreopsis, 7/25 - 10/8

August

Highlights: brood nest expansion/overwinter broodnest location decision

drone termination/nectar dearth!!!

First week,

  • feed most colonies 1:1 or heavy 2:1 sugar syrup (particularly if weak)
  • feed each colony a 1 lb. irradiated pollen patty (or Feed-Bee)
  • find and remove old queens from hives to be requeened
  • the next day, add queens with plugs in place for 3-7 days (delayed release method)
  • Varroa mite check (IPM bottom board; possible sugar shake test)

Third week,

  • remove plugs from queen cages once they've been accepted
  • apply Apistan strips inside the periphery of the broodnest to hives that are above the treatment threshold for 3 - 6 weeks, or
  • apply 4 pieces of an ApiLife VAR tablet to the top of the broodnest edges every 7 - 9 days 3 times
  • feed heavy 2:1 sugar syrup to all colonies
  • check Paramoth!

Blossoming: Goldenrod, 8/1 - 10/15; Snowpeas before 8/14; Stickweed after 8/14

September

Highlights: Varroa mite peak/brood nest expansion/weed nectar

Early (~ 9/1),

  • check for Fall swarm preps (see late March), and if found, cut out all queen cells, and cage the queen for about a week and then re-release her
  • recheck requeened hives
  • Varroa mite check (IPM bottom board and sugar shake test) equivocal hives from August and treat colonies that are above the treatment threshold:
  • apply 4 pieces of an Apilife VAR tablet to broodnest edges every 7 - 9 days x 3 or apply Apistan strips for 4 weeks
  • reduce the entrance to the small hole

Later (~ 9/15),

  • remove Apistan strips if placed in August (after 4 weeks)
  • ensure the last ApiLife VAR tablets are gone or remove them after 12 days
  • ensure that the broodnest is in the bottom chamber (reverse if necessary)
  • Varroa mite check (IPM bottom board) all previously treated hives
  • check hive weights, and
  • continue feeding all light colonies 2:1 sugar syrup

Blossoming: Goldenrod 8/1 - 10/15; Coreopsis; Asters, 9/10 - 10/30

October

Highlights: overwinter nest preparation (aster nectar)

First week (on a warm day),

  • remove Apistan strips or remaining ApiLife VAR tablets if placed in September
  • Varroa mite check (IPM bottom board) all hives that were treated in September
  • ensure good hive ventilation (use blocks or screens)
  • continue checking hive weights
  • combine weak hives (< 5 frames of bees): remove the weakest queen and place two sheets of newspaper between the colonies 24 hours later with the remaining queen on top!
  • Fumigilin-B in 2 gallons 2:1 syrup via top feeder for each colony!

Later (about third week, also on a warm day),

  • spray every frame with Sucrocide (ABJ 12/03, BC 7/04) as a rescue for high mite counts now that there is very little brood if mites are resistant to previous treatments
  • ensure upper chamber frames in the center are open comb for Spring broodnest expansion/clustering, and
  • ensure that there is a lot (> 40 lbs.) of honey and pollen in the bottom brood chamber and that there is little or no capped brood or empty cells within the cluster (which should be located in the bottom hive body); if these conditions are not met, then
  • feed these colonies more 2:1 syrup via a top feeder
  • ensure ventilation with blocks under the back of the cover
  • reduce all entrances to the smallest hole (mouse deterrent)
  • check Paramoth

Blossoming: Asters 9/20 - 10/30; Coreopsis to 10/8; Goldenrod to 10/15

November

Highlights: fattening up with pollen/egg laying stops/cluster formation

On warm (> 60°) days (once or twice),

  • don't check for brood; the cluster defines the broodnest location
  • check hive weights again, and
  • feed light colonies with poor honey stores more 2:1 syrup via an in-hive feeder inside an empty deep hive body
  • check Paramoth and stored supers for wax moth damage

December

Highlights: clustering

On warm (> 60°) day,

  • identify the cluster as in November
  • check hive weights, but there is no point in feeding until January
  • check Paramoth
  • order queens for splits for next April

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