July Beekeeping Jobs
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Hot weather means keeping bird baths refreshed so bees have easy access to water. (Charlotte Ekker Wiggins photo)
July Beekeeping Jobs
We finally got some rain last week but it was too late to keep the nectar flowing. A heat dome cooked the midwest with record hot temperatures, pushing most plants into survival mode. That means they stopped making nectar to attract pollinators to move pollen from one plant to the next.
This year we’ve had an early nectar flow so at least bees should have nectar stored for food through the rest of summer if not the coming winter.
Other July chores include:
Monitoring for Varroa mite levels. I use powdered sugar to monitor the mite numbers to help me decide how to manage them.
I also just split a colony but it didn’t go well. The early dearth meant the split was robbed out. I put the remaining bee frames back on the original colony.
Hive maintenance is good to do this time of year as well. It gives me time to make, or buy, what I need and cuts down on what I have to do later. I’m inspecting my colonies anyway this time of year so I plan upgrades as needed.
Good month to also plan on when to extract honey and to have all supplies on hand.
As I do every year, I also consider what else I can plant to give my bees food this time of year. I do have some trees in pots I will plant this fall but it’s never enough!
