JANUARY
Check hive weight
monthly, ( gently lift the back )
Check for Moisture
Add dry feed if
necessary
Good month for assembling and painting new and old
equipment


FEBRUARY
Check hive weight, and  check for moisture problems is the Northwest dampness is our problem
Pull any
dead colonies and dry equipment
Ordering for Packages and Nucs start this
month


MARCH
 Strong hives can still starve this month
Once you start feeding you can't stop till a  nectar flows begins
Brood rearing starting up
 look for good Brood patterns
If no bees in the bottom box, depending on cluster size bottom
box
can be removed for a few weeks and cleaned this is called flipping , taking the top box and moving it to the bottom

and taking the empty bottom box and putting it on top.  Bees move up in the hive like they would in a tree



APRIL
Hive building
Brood cluster good
Hive can still starve if weather prohibits nector
flights
Hive only needs 1-2 days of flight per week to gather pollen
 Good month to break down hives on a nice day and clean
Weak hives can be requeened
or combined
Best month to split very strong hives if you can get queens
If
you treat for tracheal mites and varroa good month for that
Liquid feed ok if
needed, New packages always need to be fed
look for swarming on any strong hives
MAY
Strong or crowded hives
can swarm, control it by splits or giving more room. Watch for queen cells, make
nucs or splits
Have spare equipment ready for your swarms or
others

JUNE

this is the usual time of the Honey Flow in the Northwest
Often good month for supers to be added
Don't remove
honey supers till they are 90 percent capped
Start of Blackberry bloom,
nectar can come in very fast
a little extra room is better than not
enough
Use swarms for drawing out new comb (that's what they
do)

JULY
Blackberries still blooming nectar flowing
Watch for
queenless colonies
Capped supers can be removed and
extracted

AUGUST
End of most honey flows ,you can remove capped honey
supers and
reduce hive entrances.
Extract honey while warm
If treating
for mites this is a common month to treat
Watch for Robbing
Yellow jackets
can become a problem

SEPTEMBER
Time to feed light hives, don't spill
feed, honey and Yellow jackets will be attracted.
Move hives into final
configuration for winter, combine weak hives.
Mouse guards can be installed
(make sure your not trapping mice inside)


OCTOBER
Remove and store
empty equipment and protect them from wax moths
Set up winter wind
breaks
Last month to feed liquid
Tilt hives slightly forward for water
run off.
Add Weight on lids to protect from wind.

NOVEMBER
Check
hives for weight, if light you can feed with newspaper and dry sugar
Check
for moisture build up, if wet ventilate a little more

DECEMBER
Slowest
month for beekeeping
Check weight and hive moisture
Check out beekeeping
catalogs and order new equipment                                                                                                     Calender by : Wade Henke