Spring management 101 in SE QLD

The winter solstice has passed and the bees are becoming more active.

Eucalyptus and other natives set blooms, the days lengthen and warm.

The season is changing, and the bees are definitely building up.

What do you do to manage for the best possible start to the season?

Here are 6 simple steps that I perform on every hive as I move into spring. These form the foundation of my spring management that I use on every hive:

1. Are the bees alive?

   1. This is a simple visual check, are there bees present, and are they a colony of bees or robbers cleaning out a dead hive?

   2. If the hive is dead, you must work out why it died? Starvation, disease, queen loss, pest infestation etc.
      

2. Is the colony healthy?

   1. I work through the hive looking at the brood and the state of the bees. I look for any potential warning signs indicating poor health.

      1. Diseases such as AFB and EFB, chalkbrood, sacbrood etc

      2. Pest infestation such as Small Hive Beetle, varroa mites etc

      3. Low bee numbers and poor brood pattern

      4. Moldy, unkempt frames
         

3. Does the colony have enough food stored?

   1. Checking for pollen and nectar, and capped honey.

   2. Check the larvae to see if they are "wet". Dry larvae indicates a shortage of food reserves and a struggling colony.
      

4. Does the colony have enough space to expand?

   1. Sometimes colonies store TOO MUCH honey and run out of space coming out of winter. This can lead to becoming honey-bound and early swarming.

   2. Check that there is sufficient open comb in the brood frames that the queen can comfortably lay.

   3. Check there is sufficient space within the entire hive for the population of bees to feel like they have enough room to move.
      

5. Is the queen in good shape and laying well?

   1. Spring the perfect time to assess your queen and plan for replacement if needed.

   2. Older queens are more likely to swarm, and performance can drop in season 3 and beyond.

   3. Planning for queen replacement allows you to source a quality queen from a breeder and not have to rush with the process.
      

6. Perform a varroa mite wash to determine mite presence and levels.

   1. As varroa spreads through Australia this step is critical.

   2. Checking for presence of mites, is essential to determining the next steps.

   3. In the early days of varroa mite spread, mite loads in a hive can spike rapidly, regular monitoring will be essential.

I check every hive in July/August and perform these basic checks. I use my findings to plan what I need to do next for each hive and apiary. Each of these checks comes with basic remedial actions if needed, and results in each hive being in a known state going into spring.

Soon after, I do the next round of inspections and management, focused on ensuring the hives build up strongly while avoiding swarming as much as possible.

Soon to come will be splits and honey production.