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Calendar for the Management of Beekeeping

Overview

The extracted information below is from Rev. L.L. Langstroth's, A Practical Treatise on the Hive and Honey-Bee, 2d Edition, 1857. Whilst it is certainly a bit old, it is still a good starting point for planning.

That said, do keep global warming in mind. For example, in Ohio where I live, we have changed from Zone 7 in 1990 to Zone 8 in 2012. So take these changes into consideration as you plan your activities.

The bullets added after each month are some additional comments I've added.

January

In cold climates, bees, in this month, are usually in a state of repose. If the colonies have had proper attention in the Fall, nothing will ordinarily need to be done, that will excite them to an activity always more or less injurious. In very cold climates, however, when a severe temperature is of very long continuance, it will be necessary, if the hives are not most thoroughly protected, to bring them into a warm room to thaw out the ice, and allow the bees to get access to their supplies. If the holes in the spare honey-board are left open, the hives may be set low, and if completely covered with snow, so much the better for the bees, if proper precautions are used to prevent the water from entering them, in case of a sudden thaw. In January there are occasionally, even in very cold latitudes, days so pleasant that bees can fly out to discharge their feces; do not confine them, even if some are lost on the snow. In this month clean the bottom-boards, but disturb the bees as little as possible.

Additional Notes for January

• On one of the days where the weather gets above 45°F (7°C), the bees will take cleansing flights.
  • This is a good time to add food for the hive.
    • Do not do this too early in December: sugar is harder for the bees to digest and can cause them to get the bee form of dysentery.
    • Do not add pollen patties though: it is too early to encourage the queen to start laying eggs for the Spring.
  • You should also use a bent rod to pull as many dead bees out from the bottom board.

This is a good time to get everything in order for the forthcoming Spring season: You are past the holidays and winter is upon us.

February

This month is sometimes colder than January, and then the directions given for the previous month, must be followed. In milder seasons, however, and in warmer regions, bees begin to fly quite lively in February, and in some locations they commence gathering pollen. The bottom boards should be again attended to, as soon as the bees are actively on the wing, and if any hives are suspiciously light, sugar-candy should be given them. Strong colonies will now begin to breed considerably, but nothing should be done to excite them to premature activity.

Additional Notes for February

Continue on with the items listed above for January. These items need to be completed by the end of this month as March may hit you with warmer weather than you'd planned for.

March

In our Northern States, the inhospitable reign of Winter still continues, and the directions given for the two previous months will be applicable to this. If there should be a pleasant day when bees are able to fly briskly, seize the opportunity to remove the covers; carefully clean out the hives, and learn the exact condition of every colony. See that your bees have a sheltered and sunny place for procuring water, and also that they are well supplied with rye-flour ; In this month weak stocks commonly begin to breed, while strong ones increase quite rapidly. If the weather is favorable, colonies which have been kept in a special winter depository, may now be put upon their proper stands.

Additional Notes for March

We are headed into the beekeeping season! Get ready.

April

Bees will ordinarily begin to gather much pollen in this month, and sometimes considerable honey. As brood is now very rapidly maturing, there is a largely increased demand for honey, and great care should betaken to prevent the bees from suffering, in the very least, for want of food. If the supplies are at all deficient, breeding will be checked, even if much of the brood does not perish, or the whole colony die of starvation. If the weather is propitious, feeding to promote a more rapid increase of young may now be commenced. If any colonies are too feeble in numbers, they must now be reinforced, and should the weather continue cold, for several days at a time, the bees ought to be supplied with water in their hives. In April, if not before, the larvae of the bee-moth will begin to make their appearance, and should be carefully destroyed.

Additional Notes for April

May

As the weather becomes more genial, the increase of bees in the colonies is exceedingly rapid, and drones, if they have not previously made their appearance, begin to issue from the hives. In some locations the bees will now gather much honey, and it will often be advisable to give them access to the spare-honey receptacles ; but in some seasons and locations, either from long and cold storms, or a deficiency of forage, stocks that are not well supplied with honey, will exhaust their stores and perish, unless they are fed. In favorable seasons swarms may be expected in this month, even in the Northern States. In Texas I have seen them issue early in March, and in some of the Southern States they are quite common in April. These May swarms often issue near the close of the blossoming of fruit trees, and just before the later supplies of forage, and will sometimes starve, if the weather becomes suddenly unfavorable, unless they are fed. Even if there is no danger of this, they ought to be fed when food is scarce, or they will make so little progress in comb-building and breeding as to be surpassed by much later swarms. The Apiarian should have hives in readiness to receive new swarms, however early they may issue or be formed. If new colonies are to be made by artificial processes, the proper methods should be taken to secure a seasonable supply of queens. I ought previously to have stated that a queen nearly mature, may be known by having the wax removed by the bees from the extremity of her cell, so as to give it a very brown appearance.

June

This is the great swarming month in all our Northern and Middle States. As bees keep up a high temperature in their hives, they are by no means so dependent upon the weather, for forwardness, as plants, and most other insects necessarily are. I have had as early swarms in Northern Massachusetts, as in the vicinity of Philadelphia. If bees do not swarm very soon after the fruit trees are in blossom, it is desirable to have them defer it, until later supplies furnish them with abundant forage. They seldom swarm if honey is not so abundant that they can gather more than they need for immediate consumption. Artificial colonies, therefore, should not be made, except at such seasons, unless the Apiarian expects to feed them.

In the Chapter on Artificial Swarming, I forgot to say that the bees may be driven up into the top box of my hive, by removing the honey-board, blowing smoke into the entrance, and drumming upon the outside of the hive. Inexperienced Apiarians may prefer this to opening the hive and lifting out the combs. I can easily stupefy bees by fumigating them with puff-ball, or by pouring into their hive a little chloroform or ether, but it is far more troublesome to manage them in this way, than with the smoke of punk.

If the bee-keeper relies upon natural swarming, his Apiary, if not in full sight and sound, should be carefully watched. If this cannot be done, he should, after a short absence, carefully examine the neighboring bushes and trees, on some of which he will often find a swarm clustered, preparatory to their departure for a new home. As it may often be important to know from which hive the swarm has issued, after it has been hived and removed to its new stand, let a cup full of bees be taken from it and thrown into the air, near the Apiary ; they will soon return to the parent stock, and may easily be recognized, by their standing at the entrance and fanning, like ventilating bees; Where the hives have glass windows, the diminished number of bees will usually show which colony has swarmed.

As fast as they are filled, and the cells capped over, the surplus honey-receptacles should be removed, and empty ones returned in their place. Careless bee-keepers often lose much, by neglecting to do this in season, thereby condemning their colonies to a very unwilling idleness. The Apiarian will bear in mind that all small swarms, which come off late in this month, should be either aided, doubled, or returned to the mother stock. With my hives the issue of such swarms may be prevented, by removing in season the supernumerary queen cells. During all the swarming season, and indeed at all other times when young queens are being bred, the bee-keeper must ascertain seasonably, that the hives which contain them, succeed in securing a fertile mother.

I have repeatedly observed that after-swarms build the most regular worker comb, and that if they lay up a sufficient supply of honey, they usually make the best stock hives. If, by further experiments, I ascertain that this is owing to their possessing a young queen, I shall judge it best, in making artificial swarms, to leave the old queen with the parent stock, and to supply the forced swarm with a young one, as soon as they manifest a consciousness of their loss.

July

In some seasons and districts, this is the great swarming month, while in others, bees issuing so late, are of small account. In Northern Massachusetts, 1 have known swarms coming after the 4th of July, to fill their hives and make large quantities of surplus honey besides. In this month all the choicest spare honey should be removed from The bees should have a liberal allowance of air during all extremely hot weather, and if the stocks are strong, I often remove entirely the entrance blocks.

August

In most regions there is but little forage for bees, during the latter part of July and the first part of August, and being on this account tempted to rob each other, the greatest precautions should be used in opening hives. In districts where buckwheat is extensively cultivated, bees will sometimes swarm when it comes into blossom, and in some seasons extraordinary supplies are obtained from it. I had a buckwheat swarm this year (1856) as late as the 16th of September!

If any colonies are, in the expressive language of old Butler, " over fat," some of their full combs should now be removed. If the caps of the cells are carefully sliced off, with a very sharp knife, and the combs laid over a vessel, in some moderately warm place, and turned once, most of the honey will drain out of them, and they may be returned lo the bees, to be filled again. I know of scarcely any more profitable operation in the whole range of beekeeping, than this, when a fair price can be obtained for the liquid honey.

The bee-keeper who has queenless stocks on hand in August, must expect as the result of his ignorance or neglect, either to have them robbed by other colonies, or destroyed by the moth.

September

This is often a very busy month with bees. The Fall flowers come into blossom, and in some seasons colonies which have hitherto amassed but little honey, become heavy and even yield a surplus to their owner. Bees are very reluctant to work in boxes, so late in the season, even if supplies are very abundant; but if empty combs are inserted in the place of full ones removed, they will fill them with astonishing celerity. These full combs may afterwards be returned, if the bees have not a sufficient supply without them. They can be profitably used for making new stocks, out of bees driven from hives condemned, by old fashioned bee-keepers, to the sulphur pit.

If no Fall supplies abound, and any stocks are too light to winter with safety, then, in the Northern States, the latter part of this month is the proper time for feeding them. I have already stated that it is impossible to tell how much food a colony will require to carry it safely through the winter; it will be found, however, very unsafe to trust to a bare supply, for even if there is food enough, it may not always be readily accessible to the bees. For this reason I prefer lo leave in all my hives a very generous supply, as I can easily remove any surplus in the Spring. If the aggregate resources of the colonies are sufficient, those which have not enough, may be supplied from those having a superabundance. In some cases the bee-keeper may prefer, by uniting several destitute stocks, to save the labor and expense of feeding. Great caution will still be necessary to guard against robbing, but if there are no feeble, queenless, or impoverished stocks, the bees, unless tempted by improper management, will seldom rob each other.

Additional Notes for September

You need to plan for when you want to start the colony's transition into winter mode.

• As noted by Rev. Langstroth, any colonies which are at risk should be considered for merging with another colony. This could be due to it being queenless, or just too few bees.

• In Ohio, we look at when the goldenrod and ironweed start to dry up. These are pretty much the last flowering plants for the bees for the season, and are a good indicator of when it is time to make the transition. When that happens:
  • Pull all the honey supers and queen excluder off the hive(s), and
  • At this time of year, the bees are using more energy to forage for food, and they are bring back less. Begin feeding each colony with 2:1 sugar water (2 parts sugar:1 part water). Continue feeding the colony until:
    • The colony no longer takes any more of the sugar water, or
    • The weather has gotten so cold that the water is freezing.

October

Forage is now almost entirely exhausted in most localities, and colonies which are too light should be fed early in this month. If feeding is begun too early, in seasons when late forage is abundant, there will be a great waste of honey. In this month, at the very latest, the exact condition of every stock should be known, and if any are found in a queenless condition, they should be broken up. Small colonies should be united to others, and all the hives put into proper condition for wintering. Some full honeycombs should be put in the center of the hive, and holes, for easy intercommunication, be made in the combs ; (pp. 3234,). Since putting to press the remarks on wintering bees, I have succeeded in devising a very simple, cheap and efficient method, by which in new frames, the requisite winter passages will be left by the bees, so that movable frames may be safely used, without the necessity of opening the hives to make the holes.

In describing the advantages of punk-smoke, for subduing bees, it ought to have been stated that no utensil of any kind will be needed for using it ; the Apiarian being able to blow the smoke upon the bees with his mouth better than in any other way. I find that the punk from hard wood is the best.

Hives not made of doubled materials, if they are to winter out of doors, should be protected according to the directions on pages 326 and 434. By the last of October, the glass hives should be thoroughly packed, between the outside cases and the glass, with cotton, or any other warm material.

Additional Notes for October

Continue on with the items listed above for September. These items need to be completed in October due to the local weather.

November

I take for granted that all necessary preparations for Winter, have, in our Northern States, been completed by the last of the previous month. If, however, the bee-keeper has been prevented from examining his stocks, he may, on warm days, in November, safely perform all necessary operations, the feeding with liquid honey, excepted. The entrances to the hives must now be secured against mice, and it will be well to give the roofs a new coat of paint. If the hives are to be exposed to the sun, at all seasons, no color is so good as a pure white ; but if they are set under the shade of trees, a dark color will do them no harm, in the hottest weather, while early in the season, before the leaves are expanded, by absorbing instead of reflecting the heat, it will prove highly advantageous to the bees.

By the latter part of November, in our Northern States, Winter usually sets in, and colonies which are to be kept in a special winter depository, should be properly housed. The later in the season that the bees are able to fly out and discharge their feces, the better. The bee-keeper must regulate the time of housing his bees by the season and climate, being careful not to take them in, until cold weather appears to be fairly established, nor to leave them out too late. The necessity for the exercise of so much good judgment in this matter, is a serious objection to the use of winter quarters, by any except those who have considerable experience in their management. If colonies are carried in too early, and a spell of quite warm weather succeeds the first cold, it will sometimes be advisable to replace them on their summer stands.

Additional Notes for November

December

In regions where it is advisable to house bees, the dreary reign of Winter is now fairly established, and the directions given for January are for the most part equally applicable to this month. It may be well, in hives out of doors, to remove the dead bees and other refuse from the bottom-boards, but neither in this month nor at any other time, should this be attempted with those removed to a dark and protected place. Such colonies must not, except under the pressure of some urgent necessity, be disturbed in the very least.

I recommend to the inexperienced bee-keeper, to read this synopsis of monthly management, again and again, and to be sure that he fully understands and punctually discharges the appropriate duties of each month, neglecting nothing, and procrastinating nothing to a more convenient season ; for while bees do not require a large amount of attention, in proportion to the profits yielded by them, they must have it at the proper time and in the right way. Those who complain of their unprofitableness, are often as much to blame as a farmer who, after neglecting to take suitable care of his stock, or to gather his crops in season, should denounce his employment as yielding only a scanty return, on a large investment of capital and labor.

Additional Notes for December

More Information

Books and Papers

• A Practical Treatise on the Hive and Honey-Bee, 2d Edition, 1857, by Rev. Lorenzo Lorraine Langstroth