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The First Year.
So, you want to be a beekeeper? You've bought your tools and first hive. Class is going great, so what now? Your first objective is to learn as much as possible. The class your in is probably designed to just give you the basics. It is not realistic to expect to learn all you need to know in just a few short Saturday mornings. This is written to give you kind of an outline of your first year. As you start to learn more outside of class you will most likely come across lots of theorys about different methods of beekeeping. Some of these are very sound managment strategies, and some are just plain nuts! During the few months between getting ready for bees and actually recieving them, spend some time learning about the biology of the honeybee and its pests and predators. The more you understand about the lifecycle of all the residents in your hive, the better you will be equipped to discern between those sound management strategies and the ones that are nuts.
After you get your bees, spend your time watching your hive grow. Pay special attention to how your brood nest expands. Watch how they draw out the foundation and notice how quickly the queen lays in the cells before they are even drawn. Pay attention to how they segregate the brood frames into different sections, with the brood in the center then a band of pollen around the brood and honey filling out the remainder of the frame. You will also notice they have a different use for the 2 outside frames on each end. The frames in the 2 and 9 positions will start to fill with pollen and the frames in the 1 and 10 position will be honey. Don't forget to put on your second box when the bees are working on about 6 or 7 frames in the first box. You don't want to have to deal with swarming at this point in your career. One thing you want to keep an eye out for, is supercedure cells. Those are the queen cells the bees sometimes build in the middle of the frame. They indicate the bees aren't happy with their queen. If you happen to find one of these in your new hive, gently put the frames back in place and close up the hive for 2 weeks. You don't want to interfere with the process at this point, or you will end up with a queenless hive. Should you find queen cells on the bottom edge of the frame, those are swarm cells. Call your mentor to help you with an artificial swarm to try and save them. You have found an experienced beekeeper to mentor with you on such things haven't you?? Towards the end of summer, you will want to start thinking about medications for mites, and other pests. For your first year stick with the tried and true methods, Apistan is good for the first year. Follow directions on the package, The bees have to contact the strips for them to be effective. You have spent all summer watching your brood nest grow, so you know where to put the strips. Don't forget that the brood nest is going to contract at the end of the summer, so be sure and allow for that. You will want to have your strips on by September at the latest, so that all of your fall bees will be as mite free as possible. Fumidil or Fumigillin mixed with heavy syrup will protect them nosema. Early Fall is the time to check for winter stores. You will want 6 or 7 frames of honey in the top brood box, and you should have a couple of partially empty frames in the center 2 or 3 frames. If your hive is a little short on stores, then you will need to feed them with heavy syrup. By October it will be time to put them to bed for the winter and cross your fingers. On warm days in the winter, no more than once a month, pop the top and look down through the hole in the inner cover to see where your bees are. If they are all the way to the top and not in contact with honey frames you will need to check their stores and possibly feed some more or rearrange some frames. While your bees are wintering, it is time to start getting ready for next year, most likely 2 supers will will be enough for your first honey season but get 3 just in case. If all goes well, you will have a rapidly filling hive come March and you will be ready for your second year.