Preparing for Spring Beekeeping

Reader Contribution by Jennifer Ford
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Here in the Northeast, we are still buried under several feet of snow, with temperatures below freezing every day. Since we can’t go into the beehives, this is a great time of year to stay indoors and do some planning for spring in the beeyard. For everyone, it is a good idea to take stock of where you are in your beekeeping, and where you want to be in the coming year. Setting goals for the coming year is the first step in being prepared for the upcoming beekeeping season.

One of our top priorities is making sure we have enough hives to produce plenty of honey and beeswax for the coming season. If you are planning on purchasing nucleus hives or packages, this should be done ASAP. With beekeeping becoming more and more popular, supply companies and even local beekeepers often sell out early. In our apiary, we tend to replace any hives we lose over the winter by doing splits from our stronger hives, and adding a purchased queen. We do periodic checks in the beeyard throughout the winter to make sure we will have enough hives to make these “splits” in the spring.

It is also important to make sure you have enough hive equipment for the upcoming year. We usually do an inventory to make sure we have enough hive stands, bottom boards, hive bodies, supers, inner covers, outer covers, frames, and feeders. It is important to make sure you always have enough extra components on hand for one full hive. It is frustrating to come across an easy swarm or need to divide a hive, and not have enough equipment. Once you have purchased the equipment, you can spend some time assembling parts, painting hive components, and assembling frames, so you can hit the ground running in the spring.

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