Bee Keepers Task Calendar
The Task Calendar explains at a high level the weekly tasks the bee keeper should focus on.
Starting with season preparations, management of hives through the honey flow and ending with preparation for winter.
February
Week 1
Finalize your goals for this year.
Prepare equipment for spring. (Building hives, preparing frames, etc.)
Locate and order products needed for spring work.
Week 2
If weather permits, do inspection. Sunny, calm (wind < 10mph) days over 60 degrees is best.
Check frames for honey and pollen stores. Start feeding if less than 3 frames of honey.
Check for eggs, larvae and capped brood. If you don’t see any, that’s ok, it may still be too early to see any.
Bees will use a lot of water during February to hydrate their food stores.
Brooding will being when nights stay in the 50s for 3-5 nights in a row.
Week 3
We will continue preparing equipment for spring with a mid-March deadline to have equipment ready for spring splits.
This include nuc boxes, frames, feeders, queen excluders for a start.
A repeat hive inspection will be needed, expecting to see some brood at this time.
Hives will go through a lot of food store once brooding has begun . They use the food stores to produce royal jelly for
developing young. Feed is most important including pollen at this time.
FAQ: Pollen = Protein, Nectar = Carbohydrates
Week 4
Repeat of two previous weeks. We will be looking for developing drone brood during our inspection, these capped brood
cells will be larger and more uneven than worker brood. When one of these cells is opened and we wee the eyes of the
drone larvae are purple, we can now start queen cells or do walk-away splits to insure a supply of drones for well mated
queens.
It is still a bit too early for splits.
March
Week 1
This is the busiest time in bee keeping. We continue inspections on a weekly basis expecting to see hive growth.
Feed and Pollen are checked and added as needed. History shows March can be a deadly month for hives due to
fast growth and lack of natural nectar sources. In other words, they starve! We would expect to see drone brood
and may see hatched drones needed for queen mating in a few short weeks.
Week 2
This is the week we have been waiting for! During inspections we should see a number of brood frames full of capped
brood, strong hives can be split at this time. Continue feeding hives and splits.
Mites need to be checked for by one of two techniques: Sugar Roll or Alcohol Wash
During inspection we look for queen swarm cells, usually on bottom part of brood frame.
Medication Guidelines can be found here.
Week 3
This is the week in Texas most splits are made in Spring. We watch for queen swarm cells and if found, we use them to
make a split. When walk-away splits are made and bees must build queen cells on their own, eggs should be seen in the
new split or hive in about 28 days. When a ripe queen cell is used, eggs should be see in about 14 days. We can enjoy
our new splits and continue feed, pollen and mite inspections. This month we also make sure all hives are QueenRight,
replacing old or poor laying queens.
Week 4
More of all the above. Most of all enjoy your bees, this is a fun time in bee keeping!
April
Week 1
This is a busy time in the bee yard! Hive inspections which include cleaning, making sure hive is QueenRight!
Mite counts and treatments should be done. Feed and Pollen should be applied if food stores are low.
Queen cells are in full production at this time. Splits are made. Cells made mid-March are hatching and virgin
queens are starting to mate.
Week 2
All of the above with more queen mating. Nectar should be starting to come into the hive. Prep work for honey flow
should begin. Checking new splits at 28 days for laying queen. Checking splits where queen cells were used should
have a laying queen.
Week 3
Nectar and pollen should be coming into hive freely and the bees should quit taking feed. Remember, they will always
prefer real nectar and pollen to feed. If they are not taking feed, take away the feed and put on a honey super.
Check for queens in anything not previously QueenRight. Continue feeding nucs and splits if needed.
Week 4
Honey flow should be in progress. It is time to finish up Spring splits and let all QueenRight hives do their work.
Take a deep breath and a nap!
May
Week 1
Make sure all hives are “queenright”. Splits can be made thru mid-September with proper feed and management. Donor
will give up surplus honey. Super on!
Week 2
Supers should be on all hives expected to make honey crop. Big strong single hive (1 deep box) will make a honey crop in
a good honey flow period.
Week 3 and 4
This is a good time to give extra attention to those spring spring’s splits that are too small for honey production. This is
a time to feed and to check for mites. Also, it is a good time to research mite count methods: “powdered sugar roll”,
“alcohol wash” and “ether roll”. Develop a plan for mite control. Guidelines for medications can be found here.
Note: Be very careful of the method you choose and be mindful of temperatures during the treatment period.
Some control methods can be done with supers in place while others cannot as they may contaminate
the honey. Click here for a guideline for medications and their usage.
June
Weeks 1, 2 and 3
This is a very quiet time in beekeeping but is a time to prepare for honey extraction. Several items need to be in place
in order to prepare to extract your honey:
- Line up your extraction equipment.
- Examine your supers to determine the amount of honey you believe you will get.
Remember, you must leave plenty for the bees to get through the rest of summer and possibly through winter.
A good rule of thumb is to always leave at least 30lbs of honey in the hive. - Based on the amount of honey you think you will be able to extract, gather your storage containers accordingly (jars, buckets, etc.)
Week 4
Honey flow should be slowing or ending, if so pull honey. Bees cap honey when moisture content is low enough so the honey
doesn’t ferment. High moisture content honey will spoil, so limit the frames with uncapped honey to a minimum. Leave uncapped
honey in the hives so the bees can “finish it” and cap it or use it for bee feed during dry periods.
Attack mites with your chosen method as soon as honey supers are pulled. Plans for summer splits are made and splits should
be done as soon as honey supers are pulled. Queen ells are ordered to match your timing. This is also a good time to re-queen
your hives if needed.
July
Week 1
Honey flow should be coming to an end if it didn’t stop in June. If you haven’t pulled honey supers, now is the time to do so
and extract. Note: Water is very important this time of year!
Week 2
This is a good time for summer splits and to re-queen old or aggressive queens. You can split in one of two ways:
1. Into a 5 frame nuc – Two frames of brood and bees from hive with 3 frames of foundation.
2. Into a 10 frame hive – Three frames of brood and bees from hive with 7 frames of foundation. (Bees need to be very strong
to be able to defend and populate the larger area.
Whether making splits or not, treat hives for mites. Make sure to treat all original hives and splits.
Start a feeding program if needed.
Week 3 and 4
Feed and access to water is most important during summer.. Once mites are treated and splits are made, beekeeping duties
become limited. Mesquite trees and horse mint flowers are summer forage for bees in our area.
August
August is identical to July in activities. It is getting close to the end of the period for doing splits as an August split only gives the
bees approximately 8 weeks before cold could start setting in in North Texas. Splits should be done early in August if not done
in July.