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July – August Beekeeping Tasks
How to Do Mite Counts
Emergency Feed – Sugar Slurry
* Consider re-queening hives with 1 - 1.5 year old queens.
* By mid-July, hives should have produced wildflower, staghorn sumac, thistle, and clover.
* At this point, most hives should have honey supers and queen excluders removed so any nectar flow goes to the bees for storage and feed.
* Keep monitoring nectar & pollen intake. Look for wet or dry brood. Learn about wet/dry brood here: https://www.eversweetapiaries.com/wet-brood/
* If nectar intake is low, remove supers & begin 1:1 sugar water feeding. Usually around July 15th in the mid-Atlantic region nectar flows dwindle & there is not enough nectar to encourage continued brood rearing.
* Newly established hives which still need to draw out comb will benefit greatly from 1:1 sugar water feeding. It is very taxing for bees to draw comb and they use a lot resources to do so. Most likely they will not draw it out anyway this time of year.
* Feed pollen supplements during pollen dearths. In pollen and nectar dearths, nurse bees will cannibalize the eggs and larvae as a way of controlling the population and to conserve food.
* Continue weekly inspections for swarm management, signs of varroa, pests, etc.
* Perform varroa counts & medicate if necessary. Be sure your honey supers are removed before medicating. Learn how to do mite counts here: https://www.eversweetapiaries.com/mite-counts/
* Be on alert for small hive beetles, wax moths, & varroa mites. July – August is their heightened breeding season.
* Use beetle trays and/or other techniques to decrease small hive beetles.
* Make & install hornet traps. Learn how to here: https://www.eversweetapiaries.com/hornet-traps/
* For weak hives, reduce boxes if needed to prevent wax moth infestation & so the bees can police the smaller living area better.
* Move your best drawn comb towards the inside of the boxes.
* Be very cautious about making splits. Splits make two weak hives and goes against beekeeping rule #1... always keep strong healthy colonies! Bees that are born in August & September will be your over-wintered bees. You want as many bees as possible at this point & splitting colonies defeats this purpose. It is better to remove brood from a heavily populated hive to boost a weaker hive (brood manipulation/hive equalization).
* By mid-July, hives should have produced wildflower, staghorn sumac, thistle, and clover.
* At this point, most hives should have honey supers and queen excluders removed so any nectar flow goes to the bees for storage and feed.
* Keep monitoring nectar & pollen intake. Look for wet or dry brood. Learn about wet/dry brood here: https://www.eversweetapiaries.com/wet-brood/
* If nectar intake is low, remove supers & begin 1:1 sugar water feeding. Usually around July 15th in the mid-Atlantic region nectar flows dwindle & there is not enough nectar to encourage continued brood rearing.
* Newly established hives which still need to draw out comb will benefit greatly from 1:1 sugar water feeding. It is very taxing for bees to draw comb and they use a lot resources to do so. Most likely they will not draw it out anyway this time of year.
* Feed pollen supplements during pollen dearths. In pollen and nectar dearths, nurse bees will cannibalize the eggs and larvae as a way of controlling the population and to conserve food.
* Continue weekly inspections for swarm management, signs of varroa, pests, etc.
* Perform varroa counts & medicate if necessary. Be sure your honey supers are removed before medicating. Learn how to do mite counts here: https://www.eversweetapiaries.com/mite-counts/
* Be on alert for small hive beetles, wax moths, & varroa mites. July – August is their heightened breeding season.
* Use beetle trays and/or other techniques to decrease small hive beetles.
* Make & install hornet traps. Learn how to here: https://www.eversweetapiaries.com/hornet-traps/
* For weak hives, reduce boxes if needed to prevent wax moth infestation & so the bees can police the smaller living area better.
* Move your best drawn comb towards the inside of the boxes.
* Be very cautious about making splits. Splits make two weak hives and goes against beekeeping rule #1... always keep strong healthy colonies! Bees that are born in August & September will be your over-wintered bees. You want as many bees as possible at this point & splitting colonies defeats this purpose. It is better to remove brood from a heavily populated hive to boost a weaker hive (brood manipulation/hive equalization).