Beekeeping Schedule for South Louisiana

January - Check food stores by lifting the hive and checking the weight. If hive is very light, you may need to start emergency feeding of dry sugar. Also, the time to add pollen patties for spring buildup. I sometimes feed pollen starting around mid to end of this month. Feeding pollen is only to get bees to start producing brood early and is only necessary if you want lots of bees early for making splits or nucs. If you have not intention of splitting hives, there is no need to feed pollen.

February - Watch for red maple bloom. This is the sign that the first pollen is available for the bees. Bees will start building up soon as this pollen is available if you did not supplement pollen before then. Also keep checking hives for food stores. February and March are when I lose most of my colonies. The bees are building up and the number of mouths they have to feed are increasing. Lack of food and a late freeze can cause you to lose a colony.

March – Watch for Drones! This is the time I start looking for drones in my hives. I really anticipate seeing drones, because that is the time I can start making splits or grafting queens. Usually, I start seeing them in mid-March, but they need a few weeks to mature before they can mate. About a week after I see them, I start making queens. At this time, I will also split any very strong hives to prevent swarming later in the year.

April -Bee numbers are extremely important! The capped brood from early April to mid to late April will be your workforce during the main honey flow. So, it is very important to have strong hives and queens that are laying lots of eggs during this time. On the other hand, you also need to monitor for swarming. I will generally, use the Demaree method to prevent swarming. (More information will be added soon about this)

May - Honey Flow starts mid to end of May. This is when the Tallow trees will start producing nectar. Bees will fill honey suppers very fast, so be sure to always keep an empty super on your hives.

June - Honey flow should be in full swing by early June and will start to wind down by mid-June. The summer dearth will then start. The dearth is when there are no resources for the bees. No pollen, no nectar. During the dearth, be very careful opening your hives. Keep inspections short as possible. The smell of honey in the air, could cause nearby bees to rob your hive.

July - Time to harvest Honey! I usually harvest in early July. Be sure to check your honey supers and ensure that all frames are mostly capped. I like to see at least 80% capped honey before I pull the suppers. I just estimate this number.

August - As soon as honey is pulled, I start preparing for winter. This means checking mite loads, stores, and bee numbers. This time of the year the mite numbers in the hive can be very high and the bee numbers are declining. This is the critical time to try to lower the number of mites in the hive. If you have any hives that do not have enough food, this would be the time to start feeding 2 to 1 sugar syrup to prepare them for winter. Note to be very careful with feeding as not to start robbing.

September – If you have prepared you bees for winter, there isn’t much to do. Late September keep an eye out for the Golden Rod bloom (those yellow flowers that grow in every ditch). That is the sign of the fall honey flow and time to add a honey supper to your hive. Keep in mind that the fall honey flow may not produce honey. Some years I get some, most I do not. I always have a supper on the hive just in case. Golden Rod honey stinks like wet gym socks but is my personal favorite for taste. You will be able to smell it when standing next to your hives.

October – Golden Rod honey flow will end when you see the flowers start to dry up. You can harvest you honey once capped or remove empty suppers at that time. Check you food stores one more time and feed if necessary. You want your hives to be heavy with honey and have a good number off bees. Any hives that are week on bee numbers should be combined with another hive or they may not make it to spring. Light hives should be feed 2 to 1 sugar syrup until they are heavy. Rule of thumb is one frame of honey for every frame of bees.

November – Once temperatures get below 60 average daily temperatures, you should not have any liquid feed on your hives. I do not open my hives once they are completely ready for winter. This may have been in October, but not any later than November. Take this time to repair and order equipment for next spring.

December -If you are going to treat with Oxalic Acid, this is the time to do it. Brood in the hive is very low or none. Don’t open the hive.