April Beekeeping Chores
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Sunny warm days bring out the bees to collect pollen and nectar. (Photo by Charlotte Ekker Wiggins)
April Beekeeping Chores
Depending on weather, April can be an anxious time for beekeepers in USDA Hardiness Zone 5 where I live, especially how soon they can get inside their hives to see how their bees are doing. This year, spring arrived relatively on schedule so there were periods of warm days to check colonies for size as well as provide room in the bee nursery.
Not only was I surprised at how well they were doing but one colony wanted more room so they decided to build wax comb under the inner cover.
If you are interested in keeping bees, this is a good time to start, you may be able to find beekeepers who could use a hand and that’s the best way to learn. Start by reading a book such as A Beekeeper’s Diary Self-Guide to Beekeeping to get the terms down and understand the biology basics.
Some of the other typical April beekeeping chores include:
Inspect colonies. Add small hive beetle traps with lure.
Pull together swarm-catching equipment.
Prepare nucleus colonies before getting new queens. Use these smaller hives to house your old queen in case the new queen is not accepted.
Have new boxes with frames ready to add to existing colonies.
Monitor weather for best conditions to split. If you want honey, split after the honey flow.
Blooming blackberry plants mark the beginning of the spring nectar flow. Do you have enough woodenware and frames on hand to add space?
