January

• Monitor the weight of your hives closely to avoid starvation and take advantage of any warm, over 50 degree days, to feed hives that have no stores.
• Winter feeding is tricky and often is a failure. Best way to feed is before winter. You may want to transfer frames or supers of honey directly over the brood box it is a best way of winter feeding. If no disease free honey is available, the use of a dry sugar (“Mountain Camp Sugar Feeding”) or a winter patty are ideal emergency winter feeding methods. 
• If bees are flying a lot in winter, they will be eating food faster. Keep close tabs on hives to make sure enough food is available.
• When it is very cold, feeding is not easy to accomplish. Recognize you must be proactive early to save any weak hives that do not have enough stores.
• If weather is warm, you may see some pollen in some areas. Supplementing with pollen substitute may not be the best thing for hobbyist beekeepers because you may build up too quickly and end up with an early swarm to weaken your hive. At this time of year, you mostly only need honey or sugar water for feed.
• This is the best time to get any equipment ready and fixed up for the upcoming season. Club meetings and bee schools will greatly assist you in planning for your spring buildup.

February

• Monitor the weight of your hives closely to avoid starvation and take advantage of any warm, over 50 degree days, to feed hives that have no stores.
• Winter feeding is tricky and often is a failure. Best way to feed is before winter. You may want to transfer frames or supers of honey directly over the brood box it is a best way of winter feeding. IF no disease free honey is available, the use of a dry sugar (“Mountain Camp Sugar Feeding”) or a winter patty are ideal emergency winter feeding methods. 
• If bees are flying a lot in winter, they will be eating food faster. Keep close tabs on hives to make sure enough food is available.
• If weather is warm, you may see some pollen in some areas. Supplementing with pollen substitute may not be the best thing for hobbyist beekeepers because you may build up too quickly and end up with an early swarm to weaken your hive. At this time of year, you mostly only need honey or sugar water for feed.
• Think you are immune from bears? You may be surprised if you live in Western North Carolina. A bear fence now may save you some grief later.  If you already have a fence in operation, now is the time to test it and perform any maintenance necessary to keep it properly functioning.
• This is the best time to get any equipment ready and fixed up for the upcoming season. Club meetings and bee schools will greatly assist you in planning for your spring buildup.
• A warm February may lead to strong buildup in colony activity towards the end of the month.  Be alert to start monitoring hive conditions closely if such is the case.

March

• If the weather has been warm and the bees are ramping up, consider adding extra space to help mitigate swarm pressure.  Pay very close attention to the weather forecast as a cold snap can happen frequently this time of year.
• Evaluate food stores closely.  Starvation can happen very quickly this time of year.  On the other hand, over-feeding can also cause a premature swarm as the colony runs out of space to lay eggs.  
• Look for evidence of a queen, along with the brood pattern and general health of the bees.  
• Remove dead-outs, salvage/clean/store.
• Have a responsible plan in mind to monitor and deal with Varroa. If treating, consult https://honeybeehealthcoalition.org/resources/varroa-management/ for recommendations on what is appropriate for this season.
• Pollen patty feeding should only be done with a very specific purpose in mind, and typically isn’t necessary for a hobbyist beekeeper.  Red Maple /Willow/Dandelion pollen are plentiful here in the mountains.

End of March

• Watch for buildup. Too much feeding will cause swarms!
• Equalize brood among hives to help weak colonies. Check for honey-bound hives by moving frames of drawn comb in central brood nest. Possibly make splits or nucs from those strong colonies with queen cells
• Consider reversing hive bodies as bees are most likely in the higher box and will tend to only move up
• Prepare bait hive for swarm capture and have extra equipment on hand

April

• In preparation of the black locust bloom, blackberry, clover, tulip poplar;  it is time to get your supers ready.  Closely monitor the nectar flows and super up as necessary. Closely monitor brood nest expansion as swarming is an ever constant possibility this time of year!
• Monitor brood, queen, and pollen stores
• Move empty (not honey-laden) peripheral frames in from outside to expand the brood nest
• Equalize (1 – 2 frames of) brood to boost very weak colonies
• Feed dilute 1:2 syrup via top feeder to stimulate brood rearing only if you have a weak hive. Monitor closely, as it may increase chance of swarming.
• Clean bottom screen
• Set bait hives to capture swarms and check frequently
• Check brood and queen regularly for swarm cells along the bottom bars of the frames between boxes. 
• Order queens and make splits or nucs from strong colonies
• If using two hive deeps, reverse hive bodies to ensure central upper expansion room
• Put a queen excluder between the brood chambers and the super a week after the bees have put something in the super (to coax them through it)or move some honey frames into super in the middle
• Enlarge the entrance mid-April
• Super again w/ either foundation or drawn comb if you have it in anticipation of major storage needs
• Continue to monitor Varroa levels.  If treating, consult https://honeybeehealthcoalition.org/resources/varroa-management/ for recommendations on what is appropriate for this season.

May

• Entrance should be enlarged by now
• Check brood nest, if honey bound, take out and replace with drawn comb or wax foundation to continue to give the queen a place to lay
• Reverse double deep hive bodies 
• Equalize hives by giving some frames of brood to weaker hives
• Super again w/ either foundation or drawn comb in anticipation of major storage needs
• Consult https://honeybeehealthcoalition.org/resources/varroa-management/ to be absolutely sure that any treatments are approved for use with honey supers on.
• ~ 1st to 2nd week of May Tulip Poplar flow typically begins
• Check and add supers as month goes by, move less full peripheral super frames into the middle of the existing super
• Check spacing in supers (for 10 frame boxes, 9 frames equally spaced instead of 10 helps the beekeeper when honey extraction occurs later)
• Disturb bees only minimally if at all while honey flow is on

June

• Continue to monitor Varroa levels.  If treating, consult https://honeybeehealthcoalition.org/resources/varroa-management/ for recommendations on what is appropriate for this season.
• Tulip Poplar flow to continue through early to mid-June, depending on weather and season.
• As the spring flow comes to a close, prepare to extract frames from supers or cut comb. Using a refractometer, test the moisture levels of the honey (18.6% or less) and take action to dry out supers before extraction to make sure honey won’t ferment due to excessive moisture levels.
• Make plans to extract spring honey so you will have enough supers for sourwood. This means making sure you are on the schedule if you need to rent the club extractor.
• Prepare supers for sourwood flow, replace foundation if necessary
• Depending on seasonal weather, sourwood flow begins mid-late June and continues through mid-July.

July

• Continue to monitor Varroa levels.  If treating, consult https://honeybeehealthcoalition.org/resources/varroa-management/ for recommendations on what is appropriate for this season.
• Late June or early July, depending on location, honey supers should be placed on hive for Sourwood flow. Around Asheville, you have to watch the Sumac bloom, because you want to keep it separate from your Sourwood. It is blooming late June to early July.
• Make sure you have drawn comb if honey super is placed directly over queen excluder. Bees will not draw out foundation placed directly over queen excluder.
• Purchase or have ready supers to add as needed. Drawn comb can all be put on at once, and foundation should be placed on just as it is needed to prevent them chewing it up. Put foundation on when the super below is about 75% full.
• Splits, if desired, can be made immediately after Sourwood flow ends in late July.
• Leave enough honey on your hive to get through the winter, at least one medium super of honey (~45 lbs).
• Varroa management is absolutely critical this time of year.  As colony bee populations start to decrease, relative Varroa mite populations are increasing rapidly. A clear and responsible plan must be in place.   
• As the summer flow comes to a close, prepare to extract frames from supers or cut comb. Using a refractometer, test the moisture levels of the honey (18.6% or less) and take action to dry out supers before extraction to make sure honey won’t ferment due to excessive moisture levels.
• If re-queening hives, plans should be made early in the month to order queens so they will be available at the end of the honey flow.

August

• August is a time for harvesting and extracting your sourwood honey, and is a time to carefully check your bees and feed if needed. 
• Varroa management is absolutely critical this time of year.  As colony bee populations start to decrease, relative Varroa mite populations are increasing rapidly. A clear and responsible plan must be in place.   
• If treating, consult https://honeybeehealthcoalition.org/resources/varroa-management/ for recommendations on what is appropriate, depending on the temperature and season.
• Due to the dearth of nectar, feeding is often necessary to maintain colony population and food stores.
• Re-queening after the flows are finished is a common practice by many to ensure a relatively young queen to overwinter with.  
• Make plans for feeding in the fall and find sources of feed in case the fall flow does not come in.

September

• Continue to make sure your bees are “fed up” with at least 45 lbs. of surplus for a colony.
• Continue to monitor and implement a responsible plan to deal with Varroa.
• Continue to make sure your hives are queen right. If a hive is queen-less, you may not be able to find a queen this time of year. One can combine with another hive using the “newspaper method”.
• Monitor bees to see if any golden rod or aster honey is coming in. If it is you may want to super for it. Remember this honey is not very desirable to most people and turns to sugar very quickly. It should be fed to hives first.
• Continue to evaluate the past season, make plans for next season and get your orders in early for bees, queens, and equipment
• As weather cools, start closing down the entrance to the smallest opening. This prevents robbing and keeps mice out.

October

• Make sure the colonies are on good sturdy stands that are not susceptible to rot and will keep the bottom board dry.
• Continue to feed bees to make sure they are fed up before true winter makes feeding difficult.
• When feeding honey, it is preferable to feed honey from your own apiary from bees you know to be disease free. 
• Monitor weak colonies, consider combining with stronger colonies. 
• Continue to formulate our plan of action for spring by building, purchasing or budgeting for future ordering of equipment.
• Place orders of find out when you can place orders for nucs, and queens. Place those orders as soon as possible to assure your best chance of actually getting what you need.
• Paint your equipment and store away unused equipment in a pest resistant situation.

November

• Continue to get your hives ready for winter while the weather is favorable by feeding those hives that need feed.
• If you have not already done so, you need to make sure you have removed the queen excluders. As the cluster moves up, the queen needs to be able to move up with it, or the colony will be doomed.
• Entrance reducers and mouse guards should be put in place at this time if not already.
• Continue to check to be sure there is enough honey for the winter. Visual inspection or the lift test should tell you if you have at least 45 lbs of honey (~ 1 medium super) stores.
• Make sure, if you have nucs or weak colonies, to put the bottom cover on screened bottoms. Strong hives do not require this in this area, but you may want to anyway.
• Continue to read and make plans for your next season by listing needs, making financial arrangements for your needs, checking out options for meeting equipment and bee needs.
• Write out a proposed plan for what you want to accomplish next season and prepare to carry it out.
• Pay your dues for the upcoming year. The dues you pay now will pay you back many times over in education and mentoring next year.
• Find out how you can help our club be a better club for everyone.

December

• By December, your bees should have enough stored away to get through the winter.  If emergency feeding is needed the use of a dry sugar (“Mountain Camp Sugar Feeding”) or a winter patty are plausible winter feeding methods. 
• You should generally avoid going into your hives in December. If you need to go into them anyway, make sure it is a day above 50 degrees F and not windy. Make sure to get in and back out quickly without disturbing the cluster.
• Oxalic Vapor treating is especially effective this time of year due to little or no brood present.  Consider one or two treatments spaced out by a week as an organic method to control Varroa.
• Continue to ready equipment for the next season.
• Make sure any comb that has had brood in it is stored in a way so that pests will not damage it. Freezing and placing it in a sealed garbage bag is one effective method of doing so.