Years of working with beekeepers that run busy lives and answering questions from beginning beekeepers have led me to see the importance of a concise summation of the beekeeping year divided into small, easily digestible snippets. For many beekeepers the amount of information and competing schools of thought in regards to beekeeping practices can be overwhelming. When all you want to do is provide the best possible home for your bees, it can be tough deciding which actions to take and which pitfalls to avoid. I wrote each month of this calendar with the goal of giving you all of the information you need to stay on top of your bees and ensure the greatest chances of successfully overwintering here in Michigan, or any other comparable beekeeping climate, all while eliminating extraneous information, pseudo-science and unsubstantiated claims.
The month overviews provided in this calendar are the distillation of the most important aspects of that portion of the bee year. It will cover the main points regarding your management and keep you two steps ahead of your bees from March to February. From the mechanics of a winter cluster to the early summer honey flow and into fall feeding, you will know exactly what is your bees are up to and how you can best influence them to prosper and survive.
In addition to the beekeeping management overviews this calendar is full of bee facts and important dates that will keep you learning about bees even when the snow is flying.
This calendar starts in March and ends in February, to more accurately represent the beekeeping year for northern beeks like me. This is the first iteration of this calendar, if you have any suggestions for additions or amendments, please shoot them my way at brett@bkbees.com as I hope to increase the quality in every aspect each year.
