Step by step monthly beehive tasks

[greig1983]

I found this online and as I'm new to bee keeping I did get my first hive (poly) in September/November and want to make sure this year I do things correctly.

Do you agree to these monthly tasks?

Jan Check roofs and entrances for blockages by leaves or snow.

Feb Check hives for food, feed as necessary

March Change/clean floor
Continue to monitor food levels
Monitor Varroa levels, this continues through the season from now on. High levels of mites found will need treating sooner rather than later.

April First inspection on mild day, checking health, food, queen is ok (Queenright),
Replace old comb

May Start weekly swarm prevention inspections
Add supers (honey boxes) as necessary
Start to breed new queens as part of your swarm prevention and good management.
With planning, now is the time to increase your hive count on your terms (ie not the bees terms ...you are the boss)

June Continue weekly swarm prevention inspections and add supers.

July Still adding supers and inspecting for swarming

Aug Remove main honey crop
Best time to treat for Varroa by using Varroacides
Restrict the entrance to prevent other bees or wasps from robbing your hives

Sept Feed for the winter
Remove any Varroa strips at end of treatment period
Sort out how many hives you want to start next year with by reducing your hive count, combining two into one.

Oct No further internal inspections from now on
Fit mouse guards for the onset of winter

Nov Check externals routinely especially after severe weather in case of storm damage.

Dec As October but you should be attending your local association meetings and making your plans for next year based on this year experiences.
Possible to treat Varroa with organic acids

 

[pargyle]

Whilst they are all beekeeping tasks virtually the first thing you learn in beekeeping is that you cannot do things by the calendar ... different years, different hive styles, different bees, differing weather, disease, mite infestation, age of the colony, fecundity of the queen ... need I go on ??? All contrive to require a thinking beekeeper to modify what he does and when ... you need to get used to watching your bees and reading what they are up to by regular inspections - commencing when the time is right - not on a date of your choosing. What you should do and when is not really up to you - it's the bees timetable you need to plug in to.

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

Pargyle has said it all really - you cannot keep bees by the calendar.

And this statement:

on your terms (ie not the bees terms ...you are the boss)

Makes me wonder whether the author has actually kept bees for any length of time him/herself

Not a bad list if you take away all the dates though and forget about things like 'spring cleaning' the hive and the authors obvious obsession with using hard chemicals to treat varroa

 

[Finman]

.
Replace old combs in April ?... How it is possible if combs are full of brood?

Why don't you replace then previous summer?

Take off main cropp in August... Quite late. Yield has not been good.

Addng suoers in July.

This guy is not an experienced beekeeper, I think...
.

 

[alldigging]

I can recommend the Haynes bee manual. That has a chapter on the beekeeping year.
But says: Bear in mind the actual timings will vary according to where you live. Take them as a guide and apply your local knowledge [1] and common sense.


It also says to keep records and then you can compare this year with last year.

[1] Look out of the window and take notice of what your weather is like.

 

[greig1983]

I can recommend the Haynes bee manual. That has a chapter on the beekeeping year.
But says: Bear in mind the actual timings will vary according to where you live. Take them as a guide and apply your local knowledge [1] and common sense.


It also says to keep records and then you can compare this year with last year.

[1] Look out of the window and take notice of what your weather is like.

Thanks for that. I'll look into the book.

 

[greig1983]

Would feeding be too early to open the hive? I can put in fondant, I don't think syrup water would be good due to the fact I think frost is still to come here.

 

[Finman]

, I don't think syrup water would be good due to the fact I think frost is still to come here.

How it is connected to frost?.

And if you give syrup in early feeding, give 1:2 stuff.
.

 

[greig1983]

How it is connected to frost?.

And if you give syrup in early feeding, give 1:2 stuff.
.

The weather has been ok so far but usually gets bad in the next couple of months. If the syrup freezes will it not damage the poly feeder frame as ice expands.

 

[alldigging]

Would feeding be too early to open the hive? I can put in fondant, I don't think syrup water would be good due to the fact I think frost is still to come here.

http://www.nationalbeeunit.com/index.cfm?pageid=167
Best Practice Guidelines No. 7 a) - Feeding Bees - sugar (created July 2012)

Don't feed them syrup. It's winter still.

 

[Millet]

The weather has been ok so far but usually gets bad in the next couple of months. If the syrup freezes will it not damage the poly feeder frame as ice expands.

I stopped using syrup around the back end of October, most folk stick bakers fondant in at this time of the year to stop any damp issues in the hive.

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

Would feeding be too early to open the hive? I can put in fondant, I don't think syrup water would be good due to the fact I think frost is still to come here.

If you think they need supplementary feeding at this time of the year, fondant is the safer bet, you don't have to open up the hive. If you have a crownboard with holes in (which, if you have half a brain you will have closed off with a piece of slate or thin plywood) you can fill a plastic tub (the type you get your chinese takeaways in and which are cheap enough in Wilco, homebargains or pound shops) with fondant, invert it then slide over one of the holes sliding the slate/board whatever to one side - when it is emptied you can replace by sliding another over the hole to replace the empty one. You can either put an empty shallow box on top of the crownboard to make room for the carton and pack some insulation around it or you can get a piece of 50mm Kingspan/Celotex the size of the crownboard and cut a hole in the middle to make room for the carton

 

[greig1983]

If you think they need supplementary feeding at this time of the year, fondant is the safer bet, you don't have to open up the hive. If you have a crownboard with holes in (which, if you have half a brain you will have closed off with a piece of slate or thin plywood) you can fill a plastic tub (the type you get your chinese takeaways in and which are cheap enough in Wilco, homebargains or pound shops) with fondant, invert it then slide over one of the holes sliding the slate/board whatever to one side - when it is emptied you can replace by sliding another over the hole to replace the empty one. You can either put an empty shallow box on top of the crownboard to make room for the carton and pack some insulation around it or you can get a piece of 50mm Kingspan/Celotex the size of the crownboard and cut a hole in the middle to make room for the carton

Its a poly hive which doesn't have a crown board but I do have a frame feeder so could put fondant on that, would probably make a kingspan cover just to keep more heat in for it.

I have attached a photo of what I have that's not getting used the now.

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

Its a poly hive which doesn't have a crown board but I do have a frame feeder so could put fondant on that, would probably make a kingspan cover just to keep more heat in for it.

I have attached a photo of what I have that's not getting used the now.

That looks like a Paynes poly nuc feeder? which holds six frames - you will need a full size hive when you start beekeeping. That poly nuc should have come with a thin polycarbonate sheet which is esswentially your crown board. that feeder is always handy in winter to use as extra insulation - you can also invert it and use it as an eke with fondant being placed directly onto the frames

 

[greig1983]

Mines is a beebox. http://paradisehoney.net/en/project/beebox-series/

I attached the wrong picture. These hold 10 frames. There's two deep supers on mine.

That's what I got when I purchased it. I have since bought a feeder for it, another frame for honey and a queen excluder.

 

[BeeJayBee]

I found this online and as I'm new to bee keeping I did get my first hive (poly) in September/November and want to make sure this year I do things correctly.

Do you agree to these monthly tasks?

They're a good enough rough guide for what needs doing and in what order throughout the year, but the timing will be yours to decide and will depend on local conditions.

Keep an eye on the What did you do in the Apiary today? thread and you'll soon see how much variation there is. Probably not a good idea for you to expect to do the same with your Glasgow bees as somebody in Kent.

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

Mines is a beebox. http://paradisehoney.net/en/project/beebox-series/

I attached the wrong picture. These hold 10 frames. There's two deep supers on mine.

That's what I got when I purchased it. I have since bought a feeder for it, another frame for honey and a queen excluder.

Have you gone for National or Langstroth format?

 

[greig1983]

Have you gone for National or Langstroth format?

National

 

[greig1983]

They're a good enough rough guide for what needs doing and in what order throughout the year, but the timing will be yours to decide and will depend on local conditions.

Keep an eye on the What did you do in the Apiary today? thread and you'll soon see how much variation there is. Probably not a good idea for you to expect to do the same with your Glasgow bees as somebody in Kent.

Thanks. I'll keep an eye on that page.

 

[linoleum bonypart]

Get a spare super to put insulation and fondant on top as said earlier