Calendar – NCBA Events

Time to order your woodenware!

Your bees are most likely all surrounding the queen in a large cluster within the hive. There should be very little activity observed from your hive. except for on our nice warm days we tend to have here. When the outside temperature gets above 40-50 degrees, you should see workers taking the opportunity to get out of the hive. Making cleansing flights for the most part. There are no drones in the hive at this time. The bees would be feeding from their honey stores. so hopefully you left them some of their summer forage to dine on.  The bees do have longer life spans in the winter months. You will still have bee deaths though throughout the winter. On these warmer days, you may see a large number of dead bees outside the hive. This is part of the hive cleanup. Since the dead bees ball to the bottom of the hive, the worker bees will take this warm weather advantage to clean out the dead bees.

As the beekeeper, what should you be doing? Make sure your hive is still in good order,  the lids are on and not detached, and the openings are clear of snow so that the hive can continue to be well-ventilated.  If you left or observed large honey stores in the fall. You should be fine at this time. Although you may need to ’emergency feed’ your bees if it has been unusually warm. You may need to feed the beeswith fondant or sugar water. But otherwise, this is a great time of year to work on honey super repair, order your bees, and new hardware for new hives or expansion. You should not have to spend any time at all with your bees in January other than observing your hive.

Bee Order

Your queen should still be tucked away in the cluster of bees. There are still no drones in the hive at this time. cleansing flights will be seen more often as you may start to see more warm days happening. but the hive is still very much in winter mode. The queen and hive will start to notice the longer days and she will begin to lay more eggs daily.

As the beekeeper, you should be doing pretty much what you did in January. Do not be getting into your hive unless it is at least 50 degrees or warmer, and be in there briefly. do not remove frames or anything that may send a chill down into the hive. You should only be checking to see if their honey stores are still available. if not, you may want to ’emergency feed’.  Some beekeepers may keep honey frames in their freezer or storage and replace empty honey frames with frames full of honey from the fall harvest. This is the best way to feed your bees. Other options would be pollen patties or sugar water. But keep an eye on that temperature. This is a must-have to-do month for ordering your bees and hardware. do this now if you want it to arrive in time for spring.

March is the month when your bees could die of starvation if you did not leave them with enough honey stores in the fall or feed them well in autumn. The days are growing longer and the queen knows this. She will increase her egg-laying rate. This means they will definitely need food as the colony increases in size. If their honey stores are depleted, now would be a good time to start feeding if they have depleted their own honey stores to get them going for the spring. Drones should also start to appear in the brood.

As the beekeeper, you should not be getting in the hive unless the days are above 45-50 degrees, and there is no wind or breeze. It’s best not to remove frames if you do get into the hive unless you are inspecting on a day much warmer than 50 degrees.
You should only need to peek at the top to see how their honey stores look. If it appears that they have used all their honey stores, you may want to do some emergency feeding of sugar water to get their energy up and to keep feeding until you notice they are bringing in their own food supplies.
Now would also be a good opportunity to do a varroa mite treatment or at least do one soon if this is something you treat for in your hive in your location.  
With the bee population increasing, now would be a good time to remove the entrance reducer and mouse guards so help alleviate traffic jams at the door.
Now would also be a good time to reverse your brood boxes. put the lower empty one above the upper fuller one. This will help reduce the chance of your hive swarming you. Another would be to add an empty honey super to give the hive more room.
If you left a honey super on in the fall, just leave it on for them to get an early start refilling.  Now if you haven’t ordered your hardware, you’re going to be hitting the suppliers at their busiest time. You really need to have ordered in January.

Pollen is used to create royal jelly to feed the queen. she is gearing up for some great egg production and laying.   large amounts of pollen can also create more drone production.  Your hive is ramping up! be prepared to split or it will swarm. 

Honey Bee Swarm Hotline – FREE REMOVAL – 970-658-4949

The days are warm and long. But there is that chance of a cold snap happening. You will notice the bees bringing in more nectar and pollen. The queen should be laying at full capacity and you’ll see your hive population growing.

As the beekeeper,  keep feeding your weaker hives. Stronger hives you shouldn’t be feeding. No supers should be on your weak hives. Inspect your hives, and look at the brood boxes. Can you find your queen? do you see eggs? how is the laying pattern? is it solid or scattered?  if it is not solid, you may want to replace your queen. If you are finding your weak hives continue to struggle, you may want to consider combining the weak hive with another.  Stronger hives are better at keeping away pests and diseases.  Swarm season is here!  swarming is the method bees use to grow their populations. It is not that you did a bad job with the hive, this is completely natural. So keep some extra hardware on hand so that if and when your hive swarms, you can capture it and provide a space for the swarm. To help prevent swarming, add one or two honey supers to your hive to give the hive more room and feel less cramped.

keep an eye on bearding and during inspections look for swarm cells!