By: Ann Harman
This article originally appeared in the Spring 2020 issue of BEEKeeping Your first Three Years
Spring Hive Cleaning Time!
• Select a day with warm sun, low wind to inspect hives, top to bottom.
• Clean off Winter debris from bottom board, whether solid or screen.
• Clean up underneath hives.
• Clean up apiary and inspect bear fence.
• Repair or replace any hive parts that have Winter damage.
• Select frames (Langstroth) or bars (top bar hives) with poor or old comb for replacement.
• Wait to replace old combs until strong nectar flow.
• If replacing comb with foundation, spray foundation with 1:1 sugar syrup with Honey-B-Healthy® to stimulate comb building.
• Inspect brood pattern and assess colony numbers-does queen need replacement now?
• A weak colony, disease-free, can be combined with another colony.
• Kill queen in weak hive to be combined.
• If any disease suspected, have local apiary inspector or experienced beekeeper inspect colony.
• If in small hive beetle (shb) area, keep further hive inspections to a minimum and use shb control methods.
• Use your preferred method of swarm prevention. Brood chambers can be reversed at this time if bottom brood chamber is empty.
• Do not split brood sphere when reversing.
• Continue reversing until nectar flow starts.
• Do you know your Spring nectar and pollen plants? If not, learn them.
• Are you in an area with Spring nectar flow for honey production?
• Have honey supers ready to put on hives.
• Monitor the weather during strong nectar flow-increase or decrease honey supers as needed.