6 Things To Do In Winter Review your records and prepare for changes as needed. Make candles or soap from your beeswax. Assemble new equipment. Paint hives using dark colors in the North and light colors in the South. Check Hives on the warmest days. Feed bees if they are at the top of the hive. Honey stores are low if the bees are at the top. Attend a class to help with your beekeeping skills Orders Bees for increases or replacements. Its best to order before mid-February. 8 Things To Do In Spring Spring is the busiest time of the year for beekeepers. Initial Hive inspections, spring feeding, and swarm prevention. Continue to monitor your hives if they are out of honey. Early spring is when most hives die of starvation. Feed 1:1 syrup once temperatures rise above 55 degrees. (syrup made of half white granulated sugar and half water. Star to journal and keep track of what you do to your hive and what you notice as flowers blooming, you first see pollen coming in. Examine each hive when the temperature is 60 degrees to avoid chilling the brood. Remove mouse guards and clean bottom of boards. If the bottom of brood is empty, reverse the boxes by placing the empty box on top. Check the brood in each hive and consider combining hives that are queenless with a queen right colony. Do your first mite check of the season. 5 Things To Do In Summer Make sure to keep good records of your hive inspections and what you did and observed. Add supers to colonies as needed. Put on the first super when you see dandelions. Check carefully for elevated mite level. Treat by late August so the winter bees will be able to develop without mites and viruses they transmit. Try making up one or more nucs for overwintering. By harvesting honey both early and again later. Early honey is lighter in color and mild in flavor. 5 Things To Do In Fall Take supers off and extract the crop. Be sure to leave plenty of honey for the winter. Apply mite treatments now if you haven't already treated your hive. Remove all queen excluder's. If excluder's are left on, the queen will be confined below the excluder and will not be able to move up with the bees as stores consumed and the cluster moves upward. Complete feeding by mid-October. Prepare your hives for winter. Install mouse guards, provide upper ventilation and exit during deep snow conditions, and wrap hives ensuring entrances are not blocked. Where To Place Your Hive Early morning sun helps activate the bees and gets them to work earlier. Protect your hives from winds. Easy access to your hives is plus when pulling heavy supers. Bees need a constant supply of water. If there is no water source near you, a birdbath will do with gravel and water. How Your Hive Can Survive Winter Varroa mites and high virus levels are the leading cause of honey bee colonies. Monitoring of varroa levels is the basis for effective mite management. Low mites levels will give your colonies a higher survival rate. Developing honey bees strains that are able to deal with varroa mites is a goal of beekeepers. The best chance of this strategy is through groups of large numbers of colonies working together. Your hive should have about 90lb to 100lb of honey going into winter. Feeding should be completed before winter. Ensure proper ventilation. Moisture can kill hives. Have both top and bottom entrances open so moist air can escape.

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6 Things To Do In Winter Review your records and prepare for changes as needed. Make candles or soap from your beeswax. Assemble new equipment. Paint hives using dark colors in the North and light colors in the South. Check Hives on the warmest days. Feed bees if they are at the top of the hive. Honey stores are low if the bees are at the top. Attend a class to help with your beekeeping skills Orders Bees for increases or replacements. Its best to order before mid-February. 8 Things To Do In Spring Spring is the busiest time of the year for beekeepers. Initial Hive inspections, spring feeding, and swarm prevention. Continue to monitor your hives if they are out of honey. Early spring is when most hives die of starvation. Feed 1:1 syrup once temperatures rise above 55 degrees. (syrup made of half white granulated sugar and half water. Star to journal and keep track of what you do to your hive and what you notice as flowers blooming, you first see pollen coming in. Examine each hive when the temperature is 60 degrees to avoid chilling the brood. Remove mouse guards and clean bottom of boards. If the bottom of brood is empty, reverse the boxes by placing the empty box on top. Check the brood in each hive and consider combining hives that are queenless with a queen right colony. Do your first mite check of the season. 5 Things To Do In Summer Make sure to keep good records of your hive inspections and what you did and observed. Add supers to colonies as needed. Put on the first super when you see dandelions. Check carefully for elevated mite level. Treat by late August so the winter bees will be able to develop without mites and viruses they transmit. Try making up one or more nucs for overwintering. By harvesting honey both early and again later. Early honey is lighter in color and mild in flavor. 5 Things To Do In Fall Take supers off and extract the crop. Be sure to leave plenty of honey for the winter. Apply mite treatments now if you haven't already treated your hive. Remove all queen excluder's. If excluder's are left on, the queen will be confined below the excluder and will not be able to move up with the bees as stores consumed and the cluster moves upward. Complete feeding by mid-October. Prepare your hives for winter. Install mouse guards, provide upper ventilation and exit during deep snow conditions, and wrap hives ensuring entrances are not blocked. Where To Place Your Hive Early morning sun helps activate the bees and gets them to work earlier. Protect your hives from winds. Easy access to your hives is plus when pulling heavy supers. Bees need a constant supply of water. If there is no water source near you, a birdbath will do with gravel and water. How Your Hive Can Survive Winter Varroa mites and high virus levels are the leading cause of honey bee colonies. Monitoring of varroa levels is the basis for effective mite management. Low mites levels will give your colonies a higher survival rate. Developing honey bees strains that are able to deal with varroa mites is a goal of beekeepers. The best chance of this strategy is through groups of large numbers of colonies working together. Your hive should have about 90lb to 100lb of honey going into winter. Feeding should be completed before winter. Ensure proper ventilation. Moisture can kill hives. Have both top and bottom entrances open so moist air can escape.
6 Things To Do In Winter Review your records and prepare for changes as needed. Make candles or soap from your beeswax. Assemble new equipment. Paint hives using dark colors in the North and light colors in the South. Check Hives on the warmest days. Feed bees if they are at the top of the hive. Honey stores are low if the bees are at the top. Attend a class to help with your beekeeping skills Orders Bees for increases or replacements. Its best to order before mid-February. 8 Things To Do In Spring Spring is the busiest time of the year for beekeepers. Initial Hive inspections, spring feeding, and swarm prevention. Continue to monitor your hives if they are out of honey. Early spring is when most hives die of starvation. Feed 1:1 syrup once temperatures rise above 55 degrees. (syrup made of half white granulated sugar and half water. Star to journal and keep track of what you do to your hive and what you notice as flowers blooming, you first see pollen coming in. Examine each hive when the temperature is 60 degrees to avoid chilling the brood. Remove mouse guards and clean bottom of boards. If the bottom of brood is empty, reverse the boxes by placing the empty box on top. Check the brood in each hive and consider combining hives that are queenless with a queen right colony. Do your first mite check of the season. 5 Things To Do In Summer Make sure to keep good records of your hive inspections and what you did and observed. Add supers to colonies as needed. Put on the first super when you see dandelions. Check carefully for elevated mite level. Treat by late August so the winter bees will be able to develop without mites and viruses they transmit. Try making up one or more nucs for overwintering. By harvesting honey both early and again later. Early honey is lighter in color and mild in flavor. 5 Things To Do In Fall Take supers off and extract the crop. Be sure to leave plenty of honey for the winter. Apply mite treatments now if you haven't already treated your hive. Remove all queen excluder's. If excluder's are left on, the queen will be confined below the excluder and will not be able to move up with the bees as stores consumed and the cluster moves upward. Complete feeding by mid-October. Prepare your hives for winter. Install mouse guards, provide upper ventilation and exit during deep snow conditions, and wrap hives ensuring entrances are not blocked. Where To Place Your Hive Early morning sun helps activate the bees and gets them to work earlier. Protect your hives from winds. Easy access to your hives is plus when pulling heavy supers. Bees need a constant supply of water. If there is no water source near you, a birdbath will do with gravel and water. How Your Hive Can Survive Winter Varroa mites and high virus levels are the leading cause of honey bee colonies. Monitoring of varroa levels is the basis for effective mite management. Low mites levels will give your colonies a higher survival rate. Developing honey bees strains that are able to deal with varroa mites is a goal of beekeepers. The best chance of this strategy is through groups of large numbers of colonies working together. Your hive should have about 90lb to 100lb of honey going into winter. Feeding should be completed before winter. Ensure proper ventilation. Moisture can kill hives. Have both top and bottom entrances open so moist air can escape.