Dr. Michael Hood of Clemson University has developed a beekeeping calendar for the upstate of South Carolina. You can use this calendar as a guide for all of South Carolina by simply remembering that each of the seasons begin in the low country, progresses through the midlands, and then visits the upper state. There are no hard and fast rules but generally, each season comes three or four weeks earlier in the low country than in the upper state. As a beekeeper you may wish to keep your own calendar, adjusting it for your particular locale. Happy beekeeping.
THE BEEKEEPER'S MANAGEMENT CALENDAR
FOR UPSTATE SOUTH CAROLINA
January 1st - January 31st
• Check for honey stores, feed sugar water if below one-half super
• Check for pollen stores and pollen coming in, if none, feed pollen substitute
• Check for queen status, if absent combine bees with another colony
· Assemble equipment for next year
February lst until sufficient nectar flow is available
• Feed sugar water (1/1) if necessary, add Furnidil B to mixture if suspect nosema
· Treat for foulbrood, if warranted, dust Terramycin 3 times
from February 1 - February 15th
March 1st - March 31st
• Inspect queen/brood status, if weak, mark colony for re-queening when new queens are
available
• If running 2 brood boxes, reverse boxes to maintain space for her to lay as swarm
prevention technique
• Last week of month, place minimum 2-3 empty supers of drawn comb or 1 super of
frames of foundation on strong colonies (assuming no major beetle problems). Weak or
medium strength colonies should receive 1-2 empty supers
• Replace 2-3 frames of old drawn comb with frames of new foundation
• Remember to remove all medications from colony according to product label directions
· Toward end of month, place swarm traps with pheromone attractant to catch swarms
April 1st - April 30th
• install package bees feeding them sugar water plus Furnidil B
• check colonies to see if additional empty supers are needed on strong colonies
• replace weak queens
• watch for swarms and capture, if possible
· place beetle traps in colonies, if you see lots of beetles (> 20 beetles)
May 1st - May 31st
• check on need for adding empty supers at first of month but add additional space
conservatively toward end of month to make sure honey gets capped properly
· Watch for swarms and capture, if possible
June 1st - June 30th
• harvest spring honey at first of month, if honey is minimum 90% capped
• replace 1-2 wet supers on hives for cleanup and for summer crop
• store empty supers of comb and protect from wax moth damage
• move strong colonies to mountains last week of month to make sourwood honey
• inspect colonies for beetle activity and if beetle larvae present in hives, treat soil with
Guard Star as directed on label. Treat again in 30 days.
July lst - July 30th
• remove dry supers and store
· inspect colonies for queen status and order queens for August replacement, if necessary
August 1st - August 31st
• move colonies from mountains and extract sourwood honey
• harvest summer honey on other colonies, but leave at least one full super of honey for
bees to overwinter
• survey for varroa mites first week in August and treat if mite level is over threshold
· good month for requeening colonies, if necessary
September 1st - September 31st
• inspect colonies and combine weak colonies
• treat colonies with Terramycin if foulbrood found in any colonies recently
· start feeding weak colonies and add Fumidil B, if necessary
October 1st - October 31st
• take off and store any empty supers, protect from wax moth till end of November
• place entrance reducers on colonies toward end of month to prevent mice from entering
to spend the winter, especially any marginal strength colonies
November 1st - November 30th
• replace any bad equipment
• ventilate hives providing a 1/8 inch crack at front of inner cover
• feed bees if necessary sugar water and pollen substitute patty
· excellent month for selling honey
December 1st - December 31st
• order and begin to assemble new equipment for the next year
• order packages for delivery the first week in April or as early as possible
• review and evaluate how well your bee colonies performed this year and if necessary
make decisions on how to improve your operation particularly in regards to disease
management and pest control such as varroa mites, small hive beetles and wax moths
Wm. Michael Hood, Clemson University Extension Apiculturist
Clemson University Cooperative Extension Service offers its programs to people of ages,
regardless of race, color, gender, religion, national origin, disability, political beliefs, sexual
orientation, marital or family status and is an equal opportunity employer.
