Home Beekeeping – What You Must Know About The Beekeepers Year.
Home beekeeping is a very interesting and rewarding hobby. The bees themselves are fascinating to watch and the honey harvest is always sweet.
To become a successful beekeeper, you need to understand the seasons of beekeeping and what basic tasks you will be doing during each one. In this article we'll go over the four seasons.
Springtime
In the springtime the bees are waking up from their winter nap. It is time for you, as the beekeeper, to inspect the hive and be sure that there is no disease in it and that the queen is present and laying eggs. During this time of year you will also add an extra section to the hive called a super if the bees need more room. Lastly, spring is the time of year to dose the hive with preventative medications.
Summer
Starting in about June you will be adding extra frames in a super to your hive. This gives the bees a place to store the honey they will be producing. Then when all of the frames in a super are filled with honey and one-half the cells are capped with wax it is time to harvest the honey.
Fall
At this point it is time to get your bees ready to overwinter. You will bee feeding your bees sugar water to make sure that they live through the winter. It is also important to inspect your hive just like in the spring and make sure that the queen and the hive is healthy. In colder regions it is important to wrap the hive for the winter as well.
Winter
Bees are actually very self sufficient. They winter over by themselves very well provided you did your fall activities correctly. At this time of year, you can take a break and begin to prepare your hive for spring.
Other Beekeeping Posts You May Like
Filed under Beekeeping by admin
Comments on Home Beekeeping – What You Must Know About The Beekeepers Year. »
I am looking into starting a Bee Hive which would primarily support a 50 x 80 Community Garden of which the produce goes to a Soup Kitchen. We are located in Grand Junction CO. I have no clue besides my basic research as to hints, ideas, problems ect. Short of buying many books, could you suggest one or two that may help? I do about 80% of the work on the garden and taking up bee keeping would be an extra burden but I believe would help in pollenating the Garden.
Any help/direction would be appreciated!
Hi Rich!
From your question it looks like you need information to get started. I would recommend the excellent book “The Backyard Beekeeper”. This book is for absolute beginners and would be perfect to guide you through beekeeping.
Happy beekeeping adventures!