April Bee Alert: The Danger Zone
April is the pivot point. The bees have woken up. The queen is laying again. So the colony is expanding fast and burning through remaining winter stores fast. If the weather turns nasty, they can quickly starve just weeks before the main spring flow.
Read the full Bee Alert, courtesy of David Evans
Why this month matters
April is the pivot point. The bees have woken up. The queen is laying again. So the colony is expanding fast and burning through remaining winter stores fast. If the weather turns nasty, they can quickly starve just weeks before the main spring flow.
Task management
Heft your hives or check fondant over crown board. If needed, add fondant directly above the cluster. No need to wait for a good day for this vital intervention.
Keep an eye on the weather forecast. You want a calm, dry day of 15 °C or more before you attempt your first full spring inspection. Even then, keep it brief.
Clean or swap your floors. Take the chance to cycle out any old, black comb. Why not save a frame (with no stores) for a bait hive? These should be set up towards the end of the month.
Stuff to prepare and/or buy
Do you have fondant for emergency feeding, or light syrup for stimulative feeding? Starvation is your biggest enemy right now.
Do you have enough frames and foundation for the season ahead? Stock up now. Make sure your supers are built and ready to go before the spring flow hits. And have sufficient supers... it might be a bonanza year! The oilseed rape will be flowering in a fortnight – there are already a few flowers out.
What to look out for
When you do get to do an inspection, check they are queenright. You need to see a solid pattern of eggs and sealed worker brood. Keep a sharp eye out for early signs of disease as the colony expands. Also, look out for the production of the first drones – these take 24 days to develop from eggs to emergence, so it gives you an idea of when they might first swarm!
Before the end of April
Managing your colonies is easier with marked queens. Make sure they are marked soon, before the colony grows larger and the queens more difficult to find.
On a mild, warm day, dedicate an inspection to checking for disease, brushing or shaking the bees off each brood frame so you can inspect carefully. Look out for signs of the foulbroods and other pests, but don’t be surprised if chalk brood is present. It tends to be most prevalent after a spell of cold, wet weather.
Once the Spring flow begins in earnest, your bees may start swarm preparations. So prepared!
David Evans - https://theapiarist.org/-
March: feeding increases fast
There’s been a welcome rise in temperature recently, forecast to continue into early March. Bees are flying on warmer afternoons, but it’ll be a while before we open our hives.
With brood increasing, it’s more important than ever to keep an eye on stores. I’ve got fondant on all my colonies and, through March, the speed with which colonies consume this increases rapidly. It’s also worth ensuring hives are secured against spring storms.
Now is the time to check equipment and prepare frames for the coming season.
New beekeepers often get in touch to ask about buying their first colony. The key is to be patient. New colonies with 2026 queens are unlikely to be ready before early June. Sometimes members will have overwintered colonies for sale but, if purchasing, you should be sure that they contain a laying queen which hasn’t become a drone layer over winter. Beware about buying in bees in Spring as these are likely to be headed by imported queens (always best to buy local).
Let’s hope sunny days and the nectar flow are not far off!
John Wilkinson🐝
There’s been a welcome rise in temperature recently, forecast to continue into early March. Bees are flying on warmer afternoons, but it’ll be a while before we open our hives.
With brood increasing, it’s more important than ever to keep an eye on stores. I’ve got fondant on all my colonies and, through March, the speed with which colonies consume this increases rapidly. It’s also worth ensuring hives are secured against spring storms.
Now is the time to check equipment and prepare frames for the coming season.
New beekeepers often get in touch to ask about buying their first colony. The key is to be patient. New colonies with 2026 queens are unlikely to be ready before early June. Sometimes members will have overwintered colonies for sale but, if purchasing, you should be sure that they contain a laying queen which hasn’t become a drone layer over winter. Beware about buying in bees in Spring as these are likely to be headed by imported queens (always best to buy local).
Let’s hope sunny days and the nectar flow are not far off!
John Wilkinson 🐝
February: The Turning Point for the Bees
February is the month when things begin to turn around for the bees. The daylight stretches a little further each evening. There’s the occasional softer day when the air hints at what’s to come. Whatever signals they’re reading, the bees respond. Brood rearing quietly increases. The colony begins preparing itself for spring long before most of us would say winter is over.
It’s remarkable how tuned in they are. I remember reading about scientific experiments where researchers attempted to “trick” bees by manipulating light and temperature — creating winter conditions in summer and summer in spring. What they discovered was fascinating. Bees don’t operate with some internal miniature calendar. Instead, they respond with extraordinary sensitivity to environmental cues.
Fresh pollen availability was highlighted as one of the primary triggers. In fact, bees will increase brood production dramatically if fresh pollen is coming in — sometimes even beyond what their nectar stores can comfortably sustain.
That sensitivity explains something many of us have experienced.
Not so long ago we had a season where temperatures stayed stubbornly low right through to May. Morning frosts. Sleet showers. Yet colonies continued to expand. Some of us even dealt with swarms in May despite wintry mornings. The bees were clearly responding to signals beyond just temperature.
So what does this mean for us as beekeepers?
Justin Lanyon Olver
February is the month when things begin to turn around for the bees.
The daylight stretches a little further each evening. There’s the occasional softer day when the air hints at what’s to come. Whatever signals they’re reading, the bees respond. Brood rearing quietly increases. The colony begins preparing itself for spring long before most of us would say winter is over.
It’s remarkable how tuned in they are.
I remember reading about scientific experiments where researchers attempted to “trick” bees by manipulating light and temperature — creating winter conditions in summer and summer in spring. What they discovered was fascinating. Bees don’t operate with some internal miniature calendar. Instead, they respond with extraordinary sensitivity to environmental cues.
Fresh pollen availability was highlighted as one of the primary triggers. In fact, bees will increase brood production dramatically if fresh pollen is coming in — sometimes even beyond what their nectar stores can comfortably sustain.
That sensitivity explains something many of us have experienced.
Not so long ago we had a season where temperatures stayed stubbornly low right through to May. Morning frosts. Sleet showers. Yet colonies continued to expand. Some of us even dealt with swarms in May despite wintry mornings. The bees were clearly responding to signals beyond just temperature.
So what does this mean for us as beekeepers?
Supporting Colonies in Late Winter
The obvious priority is ensuring adequate carbohydrate supply.
At this time of year, I recommend what I call hive peeking. Rather than conducting a full inspection, simply remove the roof and crown board and gently look down between the frames. I actually prefer to do this around 4°C. If you’re careful and gentle, the bees remain huddled and calm, and disturbance is minimal.
You’re looking for two things:
Where the cluster is positioned.
Whether they have accessible stores where they are.
If the bees are not sitting under honey, place fondant directly above the cluster — not off to one side. While using the crown board feeder hole can be convenient, I’ve seen too many colonies starve because they didn’t move up to additional stores above them.
Bees don’t have a “map” of where every honey store is. Typically, they start low in the hive, where the stored honey above acts as insulation in the cold. As they consume stores, they gradually move through the hive. But it’s entirely possible for a colony to end up isolated in a corner, consuming their immediate stores and dying with honey just inches away on the other side.
When placing fondant directly on top of the cluster, you may need an eke — a small spacer that creates room beneath the crown board for the block.
As someone running bees commercially rather than as a hobby, I take a slightly different approach. I use empty supers (without frames) instead of ekes. Yes, it creates a larger cavity above the bees, and some argue this increases the volume they need to heat. Personally, I’ve not found this to cause issues. In my view, ensuring carbohydrate access matters more than slightly reducing internal hive volume. Energy supply comes first.
Just keep an eye out for wild comb being drawn if conditions suddenly improve.
Don’t Forget the Wind
February also brings another risk: exposure.
With trees and hedges at their barest, wind protection is reduced. For me, this is often the point when hives are most vulnerable to being blown over. A hive that has stood solidly all year can suddenly topple once that natural windbreak disappears.
Strapping down hives is essential at this time of year.
February sits in that quiet tension between winter and spring. The bees are already moving forward. Brood is increasing. The cycle is restarting.
As beekeepers, our role is simple: observe carefully, intervene lightly, and ensure they don’t run out of fuel before the nectar flows.
Here’s hoping for sun, blossom, and a fantastic spring ahead.
Justin Lanyon Olver