Keeping Bees in May

For New Packages and Nucs

Keep feeding!! The bees need sugar syrup to build comb. Continue feeding until all the
frames are drawn or until they stop taking syrup.

When seven of ten frames are drawn into comb, you can add a second box. When
70% of these frames are drawn, add another…and so on.

Manipulate frames of foundation to encourage the bees to build comb on all the
frames. You can place undrawn frames between drawn frames to encourage them to
draw comb. But, don’t put these frames in the middle of the brood cluster. Splitting the
brood cluster makes it difficult for the bees to care for the brood.

Open the entrance reducer when the bees appear congested at the entrance. When
the bees have built up sufficiently (about 8 weeks) you can remove the entrance
reducer completely.

Begin sampling for varroa mites in mid-June. See # 4 below for treatment options.
For Established/Overwintered Colonies

Consider reversing the brood chambers if doing so will give the Queen more room to
lay and if the bottom box doesn’t already contain eggs, larvae or brood. To reverse the
brood chambers, take the top brood box and put it on top of the bottom board and put
the one that was on the bottom on top.

Congestion in the colony is a primary reason that bees swarm, so it’s important to
anticipate their space needs before they need it.

If you suspect the bees will swarm, take action! There are several options available
including splitting your strong colony or adding more room in the brood nest using a
technique called checkerboarding.

General Info

1. The bees will be VERY busy so make sure you give them plenty of room to store nectar.

2. Once the dandelions are out, you can add supers. A good guideline is to have an empty
super on from mid-May through mid-September.

3. The bees will spread out nectar to evaporate it. Three supers of nectar might result in
one super of honey (once fully evaporated). So, give them plenty of room. If you don’t,
they’ll put nectar in the brood chamber.

4. Inspect and sample the colony for varroa mites. Apply treatments if necessary. The
Honey Bee Health Coalition Tools for Varroa Management

www.honeybeehealthcoalition.com has info on testing for varroa as well as IPM options.
Read the directions and check the extended weather forecast – some treatments work
better in warm temperatures and others in cooler temperatures. After treatment, sample
again to make sure your treatment worked.

“Bee” sure to bring your beekeeping questions to your monthly club meetings. Services
available to answer your questions about your bees and how to manage them via email:

1) ask.a.beekeeper@orsba.org
2) https://extension.oregonstate.edu/ask-extension

 

-Brian Fackler