A guide to a beekeeping Season (year)

Maryland’s Major nectar flow starts in April and typically lasts through the end of June.  It takes millions of flowers to produce the volume of nectar needed to produce excess food a honey bee colony can store away for the coming winter and even more to produce the excess we’re looking to harvest from the colony.

As a new beekeeper your year will likely start in late March to late April but for an established bee keeper this is actually the midway point.  Just like in other areas we must prepare ourselves for success and for beekeepers that starts in later summer!

July/August- Nectar dearth (very little to no nectar available) - This is the time to feed 1:1 Sugar sugar 1lb of water to 1lb of water.  Most importantly this is the time to treat for the Varroa destructor mite - the arch nemesis of the European Honey bee.  Apivar, Apiguard or another long lasting miticide is used during this timeframe due to the amount of capped brood still in the colonies.

September - October - Minimal nectar flow.  Feeding should continue and should the colony not have sufficient food stored it could be time to start feeding 2:1 sugar water  2 lbs sugar to 1 lb water.  This is the time we cull small or weak colonies and combine the rest of the bees with neighboring colonies to boost their strength.

November - December - No nectar flow, here in Maryland we may still see some pollen being collected.  Here we assess for food storage and address any issues.  It’s time for another mite treatment to ensure mite levels stay low. Usually an Oxalic Acid fog is used.

January - February - Checking colonies for weight, adding dry food to any colonies that are too light.  Sugar patties or even just dry sugar. Believe it or not, honeybees will start raising brood now in preparation for spring.  Take advantage of the Maryland mid-winter 50 degree days to get a look at the food store and address any issues.  This is a good time for another Varroa Mite treatment - Oxalic acid fog again.

March! - This is the most difficult month for the beekeeper here in Maryland.  Usually the weather is very unpredictable and most colonies have begun or will begin the sprint to get enough workers raised to take advantage of the coming abundance.  This month is the greatest risk for colony starvation.  If colonies are light at all, give them a bit of food.  I like to feed liquid 1:1 sugar water at this point, but no more than needed hand to mouth.  Any left overs stores from the winter will be removed prior to the nectar flow.

April - May - Swarm management!  Beekeepers want as big of a workforce as we can get to gather honey, but the bees want to reproduce. Most of us will split our colonies to enable the best of both. More on Splitting later if we have time.  For new beekeepers this is the month to monitor your colony's space and growth. Mid to late April honey supers are added.

June - Ensure colonies have adequate space to store both honey AND nectar.  The colony needs trade space or they’ll start using the brood area.  If the colony runs out of room, it’ll swarm and you’ll lose your workforce and honey production will be almost zero.

July - Gather and extract honey.  Start the next years preparation work.

Beehive inspection: How to and when to inspect a colony

There’s different levels of inspection:

• The entrance activity check (everytime you walk by)  - How many bees are coming and going and does it make sense for the weather.  

• The hive cover lift and look (varies) - used to check space being used.  Do I need another honey super?  Weekly in the Flow months and sometimes in winter to check to see what food is left.  Early in the year it can be used to just peek in and look for signs of brood rearing.

• The box tilt (varies) - Looking to determine the size of the cluster of bees.  Looking for queen cells or checking for brood presence in lower boxes.  Used commonly for judging colony size for swarm prevention or split planning.

• The deep dive (seldom) - This is only required when you think something is going on and you need more evidence.  It also depends on your goals, but if I’m just doing a health check I’m going down far enough to see positive evidence there is a healthy lay queen.  I’m looking for eggs and all stages of brood. 

  • Validating a swarm has happened - looking for queen cells and lack of eggs

  • Checking the quality of the queens laying pattern or brood type - Is she a drone layer?

Beekeeping location: How to select a suitable location for keeping beehives 

• Forage available (middle of miles of corn is not a good location) 3-5 miles

• Sun exposure

• Wind protection

• Elevation from the ground

• Foot traffic