Dawn light on the hives. Early spring is when I start gearing up for bee season in Northern California. The magnolias and plum trees are in bloom. It’s a good time for making lists. March is basically swarm season, so it’s action time for beekeepers. Of course, It really depends on your bio region and bee season. Our swarm season starts as early as late February. Yours might not start until April.

When things do start to warm up, here are some of my to dos:

• Check on food stores for existing hives.  Don’t just depend on pollen.  Make sure there’s enough honey for the new bees who are about to be born.
• Feed bees if necessary to avoid starving.
• clean up, scorch interiors, and weatherize hive bodies that lost colonies
• order/ build any new equipment you might need.  Do you need a new bee hive in case bees swarm or you want to do a split?  Get it now.
• check tools and equipment.  If they are clean, then clean them now.
• Clean up ground around hives.
• Get a new bee journal for the year
• Prep and install swarm bait hives.
• Dream with the land to see if there is anything needed.
• If you lost hives, energetically sweep out the old energy of dead hives. I use a besom broom and a smoker.
• Tell your existing hives your plans for the new beekeeping year.