What Does the Novice Beekeeper Need to Know?

Number 2a

"What should the beekeeper be doing in February"

"And Why"

It really doesn't matter if you already have bees, or are planning to start as a new beekeeper.

February is a work month to get your beehives ready to use or expand. If you are new to beekeeping you must acquire all the equipment from a bee jacket with veil, the smoker, and a complete hive. Then assemble and paint the outside of the hive. In cold weather this painting can be delayed until a warm day.

You might decide to use wax foundation in your frames. That is my recommendation. Wax foundation must be installed in the frames while the wax is warm. Just doing it inside your heated house is adequate. If you do it in your cold garage the wax foundation will be brittle instead of flexible and will break while handling.

As early as possible order the number of packages of bees you need, one for each hive. A 3# package with a queen is adequate. Packages are usually ordered in December. If it is February you are behind and may have trouble finding a source.

Some people like to start their first hives with nucleus hives("Nucs"). You get a queen that is already laying eggs and settled into the hive. The nuc will come as 3-5 frames. 5 frames of pulled comb with bees filling all 5 frames is the best. Frequently a nuc will be "young". Five frames but not completely drawn comb and not full of bees. Usually, there is no difference in cost between styles of nucs. There should be, but you are buying the equipment along with the bees.

There is the thought that a nuc will develop faster than a package. The error in this thought is, that the nuc started as a package. You are just purchasing it 6 weeks later than you would have taken delivery on a package. You can grow your own nuc if you buy a package. The biggest advantage to a nuc over a package is that the queen is settled and laying at maximum capacity. A packaged queen can die, or swarm and you have to start over. The nuc will just keep growing.

If you have never installed a package you need to talk to an experienced bee keeper and learn how to do that before the morning that you pick up your package.

You need to have your apiary established and bear proofed before the bees arrive. Your hive needs to be set up correctly on the spot that you want it. This way you are not fiddling around the day you want to install your package.

On installation day you want to have a squirt bottle of sugar water syrup and some type of syrup feeder for your bees.

If you smoke a package, it only makes them mad. When you smoke bees, they engorge themselves with honey and calm down. The package has no honey hence smoking does not work. Lightly spraying them with sugar syrup (1:1), the bees will go to work licking the syrup off their buddy and be calm and not fly around too much.

Once the package is installed into the hive you want to start feeding them immediately with 1:1 sugar water syrup. They have to eat nectar and draw the comb they will live in. You will have to continue feeding for a month or more to keep the egg production as high as you can. Your goal is to have 6 double sided frames full of brood at the 2 month point.

Don't plan on collecting spring flow honey off a new hive. If all goes correctly you might get sourwood honey in the honey super by the end of July. This means, be ready with the honey super the beginning of June. Put it on the hive while you are still feeding syrup before the sourwood blooms so the bees can draw out the comb in the honey super. You don't want to waste sourwood nectar drawing comb. When the sourwood blooms in your neighborhood stop feeding syrup.