ABKA

Avon Beekeepers Website
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ABKA

The Beekeeping Year


January

  • Clean and prepare spare equipment (Supers, Nuc boxes, Replacement brood frames, Spare brood boxes, Queen excluders)

  • Plan your activities for the year (Increase, maximise honey crop, queen replacement, queen rearing, new techniques)

  • Attend all branch meetings

  • Read some beekeeping books

  • Consider taking some assessments (Basic, Husbandry, Modules esp. Mod 3)

  • Heft your hives

  • Watch for staining at entrance

  • Expect some dead bees by hive

  • Emergency feeding (candy, syrup, frame feeders)

    Must have OM Floors; screens can be removed

    No work on varroa control

February

  • Read and study

  • Watch the bees for pollen intake

  • Plants (Crocus, Salix, Viburnum, Blackthorn….)

  • Consider stimulating by feeding

  • Watch for dead hives (varroosis)

  • Tidy up the apiary whilst the bees are not flying much

    Clean (& repaint) varroa monitoring boards

March

  • Ensure beekeeping clothing is clean and ready for use

  • Go to Branch apiary practice meetings

  • Take Modules

  • Go to Avon AGM (We host it this year!)

  • Plan shopping list for the year and consider visiting Stoneleigh

  • First quick inspection

    • Prepare to wash/replace gloves if diseased/ dead hive found

    • Have a bucket of dilute washing soda handy to clean tools and gloves etc. between colonies

    • Look for 3+ frames of brood & 5+ frames of bees

    • Ensure eggs and or open brood

    • Talk to Mentor if not happy

    • Ensure enough food for 2+ Weeks (~10 lbs)

    • Remove mouse guards

    • Records

    Count mite fall each 2 weeks ( less than 4/day and you are OK)

April

  • Go to Spring Day School

  • Go to Stoneleigh

  • First Complete inspection

    • Shirt sleeve weather

    • Start with weakest hive

    • Gentle smoke

    • 5 rules of inspection

      • Queen/eggs

      • Space to expand

      • Stores ‘til next inspection

      • Building up well

      • Disease

    • Remove old brood combs and replace with new (feed)

    • Assess temper for later queen replacement

    • Start 14 day inspection

    If mite drop >4/day (200 mites in colony) dust with icing sugar when inspecting the colony

May

  • Move to 1 week inspection (or clipped queens)

  • Look for drones & queen cells

  • Put Queen excluders on

  • Put first super(s) on

  • Ensure Queen has plenty of room to lay

  • Consider taking a small nuc to raise a fresh queen

  • Consider Snelgrove split

(Important keep Queen laying but stop colony swarming)

    Place a sacrificial drone comb in brood nest (super frame with space below)

    Remove sacrificial drone brood once sealed (2x in the season)

June

  • Continue with inspections

  • Practice marking (and clipping) drones

  • Ensure sufficient supers for main flow

  • Extract full supers

  • Continue swarm control

  • Mate new queens

  • Collect swarms (if you know how to)

    Monitor mite drop <10 day OK (~400)

    In emergency dust with icing sugar or 1 tray of Apiguard for 2 weeks!!!

July

  • Continue weekly inspections

  • Watch for swarms

  • Add supers (up to 1 a week)

  • Prepare extraction equipment and storage

  • Place nucs into full hives or combine with current colonies

  • Render wax scrapings, burr comb and brace comb


    Monitor mite drop >10/day consider treatment

    If colony is going to produce honey only dust with icing sugar

August

  • Remove the supers for extraction

  • Ensure the colony is left with space to hold ~35 lbs honey

  • Extract and store honey

  • Check water content and labelling requirements

  • Clean supers (on colony and then using Certan etc.)

  • Render wax cappings etc.

  • Clean or replace dirty super frames

  • Move old brood frames to the edge of hive ready for replacement

    Insert tray of Apiguard as soon as supers are removed add second tray after 2 weeks

    Estimate mites removed after 4 week treatment (many 100s)

September

  • Feed colonies that need it

  • Reduce to planned number of colonies

  • Prepare for Honey shows

  • Expect more nectar flows

  • Reduce inspections to fortnightly

  • Expect reduction in colony size and brood area

    Remove Apiguard trays

October

  • Check stability of the hives

  • Reduce inspections

  • Add mouse guards and protect from wood peckers etc.

  • Heft hives and give last feed for winter

    Monitor mite drop <10/day OK

    >10/day (Apiguard not effective) consider Kramer plates or dusting with icing sugar

November

  • Go on holiday

  • Study for BBKA exams

  • Go to Branch AGM

  • Clean up apiary

  • Clean tools and equipment

  • Sell surplus honey

  • Leave bees alone

December

  • Relax

  • Enjoy beekeeping from outside the hive

  • Drink some mead if you have it.

      Treat colonies with Oxalic acid, once and when minimal brood present

      Monitor total mite fall (~2-300)



Happy Beekeeping


Ivor Davis

 


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