Beekeeping check list for success in July!

It is now almost July and by the end of July 90% of the states are now entering a “dearth”.  A dearth is a time when nectar is limited in supply.  During a dearth the limited nectar is not enough to provide stores within the bee hive.  This is the time to harvest your honey.

When a beekeeper leaves the honey supers on the hive during a dearth, the colony will begin to eat away on the honey stores within the hive.  You will find that capped honey is now becoming uncapped honey frames.  A medium sized colony will begin to eat away the honey gradually.  If you have a large colony you will see a more rapid consumption of the honey within the hive.  The end result is limited honey within the hive for the cold winter months.

It is important to understand when the dearth begins.  Normally, it is around the same time each year.  You may want to call your local beekeeper’s association and ask this question.  Another way is to watch your bees at the front of the hive.  If you see the bees just hovering around the front of the hive, that is a good sign that a dearth is present.  This hovering of the bees will be all day and not just an hour.  You will also see more bearding at the front of the hive during a dearth.

Here is your check list for success!

1. Pull all honey supers that need to be processed. Remember to leave at least one full super for the bees to consume during the winter months.  A good rule of thumb is if your winter is greater than 3 months, have two honey supers on each hive.
2. You will have bees overflowing the hive, due to collapsing the space within the hive. This is ok since the start of August is right around the corner.  The female bees will begin to usher the drones out of the hive and will not allow the drones back in the hive because the colony wants to conserve the honey stores within the hive.
3. Process your honey and store it in a holding tank. A holding tank is really good in pouring the size containers your customers want.
4. How do you know which uncapped honey frames are ready for extraction? Remember, if you harvest the honey too early it will ferment!  Here is an article that will help you understand when a frame of honey is ready.  Click here.
5. You will want to remove your queen excluder. If you trap your queen below the queen excluder she will die in the first cold snap.  Click here for more information.
6. The sixth step is to treat your hive for Varroa. You can only do this treating if the temperature is below 90 degree.  If the temperature is above 90 degrees you will need to wait until the weather cools.  We use FormicPro to treat for mites.  Want to know more about mites?  Click here.
7. Feed your colony a supplemental feeding of 1:1 sugar water ratio until two weeks before the first freezing period. This will allow your colony to continue to expand and have a healthy colony cluster going into the Fall and winter months.  Large clusters mean more warmth for the colony on the cold days of winter.  This supplemental feeding will also discourage the colony from eating into the honey stores within the hive.

Most everyone will experience a nectar flow in about 5 weeks when Goldenrod begins to bloom.  Goldenrod is a true nectar source the bees will enjoy.  Unfortunately, this nectar does not taste good to most people.  You will know when Goldenrod nectar comes into the hive.  The smell is similar to the smell of dirty socks!

Thank you for your beekeeping business!