First-Year Beekeeping Calendar
Your first year with bees follows the seasons. Here’s what actually happens month by month, and what you need to do to keep your colony alive and healthy.
Spring: Setup and Installation
Spring is when you get your bees in the hive. Most beekeepers install package bees or nucleus colonies (a “nuc”) between mid-April and early May, depending on where you live. Your bees will arrive hungry and homeless, so have your hive boxes assembled and ready before they show up.
Install your bees into a single deep box (or two medium boxes if you prefer that size). Don’t add a second box yet—the colony is small and needs to fill the first box before expanding upward. Place the hive in a location with morning sun, afternoon shade if possible, and good air drainage. Avoid low spots where frost settles.
For the first three weeks, leave your bees alone except for a quick peek to confirm the queen is laying eggs. After three weeks, do a proper inspection: look for a pattern of eggs and larvae in the center of frames, which means the queen is doing her job. This is also when you’ll add a second box (called a “super”) if the first box is about 80% full of brood and stores. Most first-year colonies won’t need a second box until late May or June.
Keep an entrance reducer on the hive to help your bees defend against robber bees. Remove it once the colony has 5–6 full frames of bees (usually by early June). You don’t need to feed your spring bees if you installed them in April or May and there’s decent forage nearby, but keep an eye on stores. If you see mostly empty comb in early May, give them a gallon or two of 1:1 sugar syrup.
Summer: Growth and Monitoring
By June, your colony should be booming. This is when you’ll do most of your hands-on work. Inspect every 7–10 days during June and July, looking for:
- Brood pattern: Solid, unbroken patches of capped brood (sealed pupae) are healthy. Scattered or spotty patterns can signal disease.
- Stores: Make sure the colony always has at least one frame of honey or pollen on each side of the brood nest. If stores look low, feed syrup.
- Queen presence: You don’t have to see the queen. Eggs are proof she’s there.
- Mites: Perform a standardized mite count (alcohol wash or sugar shake) every 2–3 weeks. Treat if counts exceed regional thresholds (commonly >2–3 mites per 100 bees).
Add a third box (or second super) if the second box is 80% full. In most of the U.S., you’ll add this in June or July. This is also when beekeepers place a queen excluder between the brood box and honey supers if they want to keep brood out of the top boxes—but this is optional and not necessary for beginners.
Adjust inspection frequency based on your local climate; stop only when the colony begins to consolidate stores for winter. Any new boxes you add should be added well before the onset of cooler weather.
Fall: Feeding and Mite Treatment
August and September are critical for winter prep. First, treat for varroa mites using an approved method. Common options include formic acid strips (Mite Away Quick Strips), oxalic acid (applied as a dribble or vaporized), or miticides like Apiguard. Follow product instructions exactly. Most treatments work best when the brood level is low, so timing matters—adjust according to your local climate and brood cycle.
After mite treatment, assess your honey stores. A first-year colony needs 60–80 pounds of honey to survive winter (roughly 2–3 full deep boxes or 3–4 medium boxes). Weigh your hive or estimate by hefting it. If stores look light, start feeding 2:1 sugar syrup (two parts sugar to one part water by weight) in early September. Feed until the bees stop taking it, usually by late September or early October. Stop feeding by mid-October—bees fed too late into fall can have trouble capping stores, which leads to spoilage.
Remove any honey supers you added for harvest. First-year colonies rarely produce surplus honey, so don’t expect to harvest. If they did make extra, take only what’s clearly above the brood nest, and leave the rest for the bees.
Reduce the entrance to the smallest setting to help bees defend against robbers and to reduce heat loss. Check for signs of disease (foul brood smells like rotting meat, unusual patterns) and treat if needed, though most first-year colonies stay healthy.
Winter: Insulation and Waiting
Once temperatures drop consistently below 50°F, your work is mostly done. Wrap your hive in tar paper or use a commercial hive wrap to reduce wind chill, but don’t seal it completely—bees need air flow to manage moisture. Leave the entrance open to the smallest setting.
Check on your hive every few weeks without opening it. In late winter (February–March in most climates), listen at the hive entrance. A quiet hive is fine; a loud roar usually means they’re clustered and alive. Gently heft the back of the hive—it should feel heavy. A light hive may be out of stores.
If you suspect starvation, you can place a candy board (a frame or box filled with fondant or sugar candy) on top of the brood box, or simply place a small pile of fondant directly on the top bars. Don’t open the hive to feed syrup in winter—it’s too cold for bees to process it.
By March, you’re done. Your job is simply to keep the hive standing and wait for spring. If your colony survives to April, you’ve done the hardest part of beekeeping.