The Beekeeping Year
The life of a bee, and hence hive managemnt, is intimately tied to the yearly seasonal cycle. For a beekeeper, each season brings a set of tasks many of which are in anticipation of the bees' needs months down the line. Planning, discipline and observation are rewarded with healthy hives and bountiful flows of honey.
The following is a typical year for the Dallas area. The information is based on notes from a beekeping class taught by Alan Eynon at Richland College. Note that any errors or omissions are strictly our fault, not his.
| Month | Pest Control | Queens / Brood |
Nectar / Honey | Swarms | Equipment | Weather |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | Mite population growing. To prevent foulbrood treat with sugar syrup with Fumidil B |
Queen laying eggs in earnest to build up colony | Feed sugar syrup to hives running low. | Finish building, reparing and painting any woodenware. | Cold | |
| Feb | Treat for mites (checkmite, apiguard, etc.) Always follow label instructions. |
There should be lots of capped brood | Maximum swarming danger | |||
| Mar | End mite treatments. Always follow label instructions. |
Spring nectar flow | ||||
| Apr | Spring queen bees are available. Time to split hives if desired. |
Put the honey supers on the hive adding queen excluder if desired. | ||||
| May | Be on alert for late swarms. | Continue supering | ||||
| Jun | Order fall queens. | |||||
| Jul | Harvest and bottle. | Hot and dry | ||||
| Aug | Treat and store supers. | |||||
| Sep | Mite population is low. Treat for mites. Always follow label instructions. |
Requeen. Hive population is low. | Fall swarm danger | |||
| Oct | End mite treatments. Always follow label instructions. |
Fall nectar flow. This is when the hive builds up reserves for winter. | Cool and wet | |||
| Nov | Queen stops or severely curtails egg laying. Order queens and package bees for spring. |
Feed sugar syrup to hives running low. | Put on entrance reducers. | |||
| Dec | Order queens | Order new supplies. | Cold |
