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January March April February the Beekeeping Year

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January March April February the Beekeeping Year The beekeeping year What will the Beehaus look like inside? This is the month by month guide to what your bees are doing, what you should be doing, and what the Beehaus should look like. The exact timing of some of the bees behaviours and the actions you take, vary according to size of colony, weather and the temperament of your bees. It starts in January and assumes that the colony has over-wintered in the hive. If you are starting with a nucleus, just go to the month that you received your bees. January What are the bees doing? The bees are still in their winter cluster. Sometime in January, the bees will raise the temperature of the cluster from the winter norm Open Closed of 15-17oC up to 33-35oC in order to stimulate the queen bee to start laying. On a clear day you should see some bees flying. These Bees clustering on 9 frames. are “cleansing” flights (bees don’t like to relieve themselves in There is also a block of fondant in case the bees need it. their own home). They may also be collecting water to dilute the stored honey. What should you be doing? March You can remove the wasp guard and clear any dead bees from the entrance using the curved end of the hive tool. You shouldn’t open the Beehaus, What are the bees doing? Unless it’s still very cold, there should be regular activity now with this will chill the bees. If there is snow on the ground, this can confuse the foragers eagerly collecting pollen and any early nectar. The queen will bees into thinking it’s a sunny day and they fly out en mass. They quickly be laying at a good rate and the colony will be increasing in size. The become cold and many will die. To prevent this shield the entrance with a bees will be consuming a lot of honey and pollen and their stores may be board to cut the light out. running low. Feed With experience, you will be able to tell by lifting one side of the Beehaus What should you be doing? Choose a warm day (at least 15oC) when the bees are flying and have a roughly how much stores the bees have left. But until you have gained quick look inside the Beehaus. If you find the stores are very low (i.e less that experience it’s better to be safe than sorry. Put some food on, than 5 kilos which is about one brood frame or two super frames) - then (fondant is best at this time of year), using the clearer board directly above you need to emergency feed with either a block of fondant on top or a the brood. liquid feed if its not freezing. You can also gain insight into the state of Health colony by watching the entrance of the hive. Bees should be coming and going with pollen for the brood. Put the inspection tray in for 6 days and then count the drop. If the mite drop over that period is greater than 3 (or more than 0.5 mites per day), you should consider lactic acid treatment. Please see the health Feed If it’s still cold and stores are running low then put some more feed on section for more information on Page 46. for your bees. What will the Beehaus look like inside? Health You should add the inspection tray and after a week count the varroa mite drop. If there ismore than 1 mite per day, prepare to cull drone brood in April. See the health section on how to do this on Page 46. If your bees are flying on warm days and you see spots and streaks on the Beehaus it may be that they have Nosema. See the health section on Page 46 for more information and treat accordingly. What will the Beehaus look like inside? Open Closed Bees clustering on 9 frames. February What are the bees doing? The bees will still be in their cluster with the queen laying at the centre of it. On a clear day you should see some bees flying. These are cleansing flights. If it’s an unusually early spring they may have started collecting Open Closed water and new pollen. What should you be doing? If warm, some early activity will be seen with bees starting to fly out. There’s not a lot to do in February but as the beekeeping season is now just around the corner you should order any new equipment you need, such as frames and foundation, to make sure you have them in time. April Feed If you put feed on in January and they are still taking it, put some more What are the bees doing? on. If you didn’t put any on in January then it’s a good idea to put some The colony will be growing daily because the eggs that the queen has fondant on now, just to make sure your bees don’t starve. been laying since January are now hatching. Some of the new bees will already have matured to foraging status so you should see a lot of bees Health out flying bringing in bags of pollen on their legs and nectar in their Nothing in particular to watch out for in February. stomachs. The queen should be laying at full speed now and the brood will increase rapidly in size. You may see the first few drones flying. Page 32 www.omlet.co.uk What should you be doing? Health A spring clean of the Beehaus and full colony inspection are in order. Take the opportunity to treat your bees for varroa during the artificial After winter the mesh floor can become littered with debris, you can give swarming procedure using the powdered sugar method. If you are the bees a hand by clearing this. It’s easier to do if you temporarily move not artificially swarming yet then repeat the process of drone brood the colony and all the frames over to the empty side of the Beehaus. removal. See artificial swarming on Page 42 and health section for Sweep the floor and make sure the entrance is completely open. You more information. should put this debris into the compost heap, don’t leave it under the Beehaus. Scrape away any brace comb from the sides and if necessary wash down with a solution of washing soda to remove propolis and then What will the Beehaus look like inside? dry. Finally, move the colony back across. Now inspect the colony. You should assess the health of the colony very carefully to ensure your bees are in tiptop condition before the population increases dramatically. Finding the queen will be reassuring but if you spot eggs or larvae in the cells you will know she is there. You should add 3 additional brood frames with foundation at the front of the brood and 3 behind, to give the queen room to expand the nest. Add 2 supers for honey storage. The bees will move any honey left in the deep frames that might otherwise restrict the queen from laying and you may be able to take advantage of an early nectar flow. Feed Open Closed There shouldn’t be any need to feed now. If your supers are becoming full, add some more on top. Health If the mite drop was more than 1 per day in March, put a brood frame at the front of the Beehaus with a 5cm starter strip of foundation in. The bees will draw out mainly drone brood in this frame. 21 days after June the drone eggs were laid remove this frame and cull the drone brood to reduce the varroa infestation. See the health section on Page 48 for What are the bees doing? more information. The bees could be making preparations to swarm. There may be a dip in nectar availability leaving a lot of bees with little to do. New queens Keep an eye out for any signs of Nosema. The tell tale signs are streaks reared under the artificial swarming technique will be ready to mate. of bee poo on the inside of the Beehaus. See the health section for more information on Page 50. What should you be doing? If you haven’t practiced swarm control because the colony was still What will the Beehaus look like inside? growing, you should now artificially swarm your bees. If you did artificially swarm your bees in May, you should unite the two colonies once the new queen’s side has produced a compact patch of brood – approximately 4-6 weeks after the original division. If the supers have capped honey in then you can collect your first honey of the season now. Feed You shouldn’t need to feed now. However, if you have taken honey from the supers and the weather then turns wet for more than a week, a big colony can run out of stores. Health Take the opportunity to treat your bees for varroa during the artificial swarming procedure using the powdered sugar method. If you are not Open Closed artificially swarming yet, then repeat the process of drone brood removal. See artificial swarming and health section for more information. Keep an If warm, some early activity will be seen with bees starting to fly out. eye out for any unusual brood patterns on the comb. Signs of foul brood are Add 3 brood frames in front and behind the brood and add some supers.
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