Introduction to Beekeeping - A City Bees fundamentals class

Care and Handling of Bees; Colony Health and Vitality

- You should look forward to sunny days as an opportunity to visit your hives where you can do positive things for your bee colony. Do tasks which optimize the good health, happiness and efficient working conditions of your bees.

- When heading to a hive, think ahead about the time of year, weather, time of day, nectar flow and pollen available. For each paraticular hive, consider what you remember from your last visit: general health of the hive, bee population, what you did for them last time and how they have performed over time.

- Given appropriate weather, assume that you will be stung on a regular basis as a beekeeper and that eventually you won't even think about it. Here are some main reasons to always go through each hive completely - never cower or resist looking at each side of every frame in the hive, especially the brood area. Every time you completely work through a hive, you will not only gain tremendous new knowledge and perspective (you can learn something new every time for 100 years), but you will be providing yourself with the opportunity to correct some problem which could save your hive from decline or demise. Generally bees use to survive OK, but with current diseases and pest challenges, it is easy to recognize how much they flourish when given positive attention on a regular basis.

Here are some main points of why you should go through a hive:

Little Handy Tips
Questions to ask during hive visits throughout the year:

Beginning start-up (usually Spring)

Once built up in late Spring and early Summer
Late Summer - early Fall
Late Fall - preparation for Winter
Winter
When you know Spring is coming (when warm enough to open the hive again)
Early Spring, second year and thereafter
See: Spring Management for in-depth details ...

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