Middlesex County Beekeepers Calendar
Reminders and tips for taking care of your bees in Middlesex
County, Mass
Notes:
[1] The calendar items are arranged in 4
boxes per month - approximating each of the 4 weeks.
[2] Each item is placed in its typical week. However, with weather
variations, dates could change by 1 or 2 weeks in any particular season.
It's up to the beekeeper to use judgment and after time, experience.
[3] This calendar is devised to provide timing for proper bee care in the Middlesex
County, Mass region.
[4] For more information, explanations, seasonal variations, etc. participate in
MCBA club meetings.
[5] Timing and technique varies with beekeeper. Ask an MCBA mentor if
you have questions.
[6] Numbers in the month column ranks the month in terms of its importance to
beekeeping from the most important (1) to the least (12) important.
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Rev 9 15Apr2005 |
Established Hives |
New Hive (Package or Nuc) |
| January (11) |
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| Watch for activity (cleansing flights) on sunny days if above 45 deg and no wind. | Packages can typically be ordered from Jan to March. Don't delay. Often by late March all packages are spoken for. | |
| February (10) |
Colonies are at their lowest population, honey consumption is high. Swamp cabbage and maple trees are the first to produce pollen and nectar. |
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| Ready equipment for the spring, assemble new equipment, paint supers (darker colors ok in the north). Prepare new hive body frames incase any need replacement in the spring, renew foundation in supper frames as necessary. | Get ready to start a diary or database on your computer that tracks your hives activity through out the year, when and what medication were used and other seasonal notes for reference in future years. | |
| On a day above freezing, check hive for honey supply (check approximate weight of hive body). Supplies should be ok if feed properly last fall. Get ready to start early feeding if supplies are low. |
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| Bees may be returning with pollen if the winter was mild. | Order your packages early. | |
| March (4) |
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| Feed (1:1) to encourage growth and provide food as bees use more and more food (activity and population is increasing). Medicate with Fumigilin (Fumidil-B) in syrup especially if tell-tale brown spots of nosema infection are all over the front of the hive. Feed one gallon or until they stop taking it. Use IPM techniques (item e.) or Apistan strips (2 per hive body) can be put in if a high level of mites are suspected. Remove in 6-7 weeks, approximately Tax Day (April 15). | Prepare your hive equipment. Paint hive bodies. select a sunny, south facing location. | |
| If medicating with Fumigilin, Terramycin or anything else, stop at least 2 weeks before supers go on (which could be as early as mid April if the hive is strong & weather is good). | ||
| Check for larvae & brood, queen activity and a healthy hive. Check frames on a warm day. Look for 5 frames filled with bees, less in a weak hive. | ||
| April (1)
The Crucial Month Packages Installed |
On a warm day (70 deg) and when signs of new white wax are present, replace 2-3 old frames from sides of each hive body. Older frames should have been moved to the sides in the fall. Put new frames and foundation in the center of each hive body to be drawn and filled by the queen. | Frames (with honey) removed from an established hive (see left) you trust to be disease free can be saved in the freezer until the package arrives and used to "kick start" the new hive. |
| Check for foulbrood disease. Clean bottom board, put in Varroa screen. Reverse upper and lower hive bodies if the queen's laying pattern is all in the upper chamber. Move to the larger opening in the entrance reducer. | Cycle
for a new bee to be created: Eggs - develop for 3 days (you may see them). Larva - develop for 5-6 days (should be visible). Brood - capped for 12 days. Total = 21 days (3 weeks) |
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| It is not too early to put on the first super. A queen excluder may be used when the first super is added. You can start a Nuc with 3-4 frames with closed queen cells from a hive that is building lots of queen cells. Two or more frames for the Nuc should have some brood, take them with bees. The Nuc should hatch a new queen and a new colony will have started. | Packages arrive, time to install your Bees. Begin feeding. Use one hive body with smallest entrance reducer size, about an inch wide. Do not open hive for 1 week (5 days minimum). Feed with 1:1 syrup with Fumidil-B until they build out both hive bodies with comb. | |
| If consistently warm weather, remove entrance reducer. | After one week, check queen cage, if released, insert the 10th frame to fill the hive body. Disturb the hive as little as possible in the first 2 weeks while they settle into their new home with the queen. | |
| May (2) Month of Swarms |
Put on a super if not in place yet. Inspect hive every 15 days at a minimum in May and June. Watch for swarming signs (lots of bees, queen cells on bottom of frames). Add super for space and to keep ahead of the bees. Supers can fill fast. Always have an empty on to stay ahead of the bees. | No medication (except syrup + Fumidil-B as above) required until fall for a new package, then follow established hive program beginning with Apistan strips. When the first hive body's comb is drawn add the second hive body. After 3 weeks or so you will notice capped brood. |
| Hives are swarming in May & June (warm, calm, sunny days, particularly between 11 AM & 2 PM!). New packages typically don't swarm. | A hive started from a package in mid April may be feed to this point depending on weather, bad weather will need more feeding. Feed while they are drawing comb in the hive bodies. | |
| Rearrange hive bodies to help the queen use space more efficiently. (read up on how to do this) | Entrance Reducer: 4 inch still should be used because the colony is not at full strength. | |
| Add supers at the first sigh of dandelions | Capture a swarm and put it in a Nuc or empty hive. | |
| June (5) Nectar Flows |
Always add at least one additional supper ahead of their needs. | New Package hive: Place 2nd hive body on, especially when comb is drawn and getting filled with honey, pollen and brood. |
| A super with new foundation or drawn out should be added below any partially filled super to match bee nectar storing habits - top down. |
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| For hot weather, the hive should have air circulation through the top cover. Open slightly to allow air to escape. |
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| You may have 2 to 3 supers on by now. | ||
| July (8) |
A honey crop (super) may be removed when more than 3/4 of the cells are capped. Supers may be removed when full, but 2-3 should remain during the summer to allow room for the large summer population. | If the hive is strong and filling the comb from a good nectar flow, a first super may be added - you may be lucky and get your first honey! |
| The spring nectar flow typically slows and can stop about the first week in July. Approximately the last week of July, Purple Loosestrife blooms in Middlesex County and is a second major source of nectar if your bees are near a large concentration. |
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| Keep adding supers as needed. Consider removing some filled supers and early extraction. Multiple harvesting is said to help produce greater production. | ||
| August (9) |
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| Add empty and remove filled supers. Nectar flow may continue thru August. | ||
| The fourth week is considered the end of the season in Middlesex County . The weather patterns can alter this a week or so (first week of Sept if the weather is warm). All honey supers are removed and medication can begin. Medicate with Apistan strips (for 6 or 7 weeks) after last super is removed. It is also time to medicate with Menthol for tracheal mites while the weather is still warm. | ||
| September (6) Extracting |
September through Thanksgiving, feed until they stop taking sugar syrup (2 sugar to 1 water (by volume) or 7 lbs sugar in 1 gallon of water). Medicate with Fumigilin. This medication is important for wintering over. A patty goes on under the inner cover with Terramycin for 3 months. | |
| Extracting: do it before the temps cool down. Honey is harder to extract when it is 65 deg. During this "robbing" season, bees and wasps will go after any honey frames left outside for the shortest time. | ||
| During this feeding season, you can take the extracted frames, one super at a time and let the bees clean out the remaining honey by placing the super on the top of the hive above the inner cover (allowing them to go up through the opening) for 24 hours. The bees clean out the honey remaining and store it below. Every morning before work, I exchange a super until all are cleaned out. Clean supers are stored in the garage, covered with plywood to seal out pests. Crystals may be used to protect from wax moths. More info on PDB crystals. | ||
| Entrance reducer should be installed as population decreases, nectar flow stops and robbing is on the increase. At least 4" x 3/8" restrictor. | ||
| October (3) |
Feeding should be done to accumulate at least 9 full frames of honey, minimum. One gallon of syrup = 7 lbs of honey (about one deep frame). 2 gals of Syrup should be feed with Fumidil-B. | |
| Top hole for winter ventilation can be 5/8 inch hole next to hand hold in top hive body, edge opening in inner cover or other method to allow moisture to vent. | ||
| Remove Apistan strips when 6-7 weeks are up. | ||
| Leave alone until spring! typically hives are not opened in winter, especially in below freezing weather. | ||
| November (7) Bee yard work ends |
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| Feeding stops around Thanksgiving unless bees stopped taking syrup earlier. | ||
| Install winter protection for hive, wind breaks, etc. I use tar paper laid over the top and draped down the sides to keep moisture and wind away and build a wood "A" frame over the hive to protect from falling branches from the large pine trees during ice storms. | ||
| December (12) Merry Christmas |
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| Know your bees are snug and warm as a result of all your hard work! | ||
| Credits and Disclaimer | ||
| These notes are from experience, notes from fellow club members (Gus, Ted, Alden, Jim M., Jim S., Ernie, John A. and others), bee school, Worcester County Guide for Beekeepers, a number of books from our library, notes from The Beekeepers Warehouse, and the Beekeepers Calendar from the BetterBee catalog. Results will vary. | Beekeeping is part Art and part Science. Read books and learn the science, treat them like pets and you'll master the Art. It's been said that "there are as many ways to keep bees as there are beekeepers"! Enjoy our little friends. | |
| Join MCBA to get ready for another season. |
