It's Springtime!!! As we enter full swing into the busy season, your hive should continue to grow rapidly. Feed sugar syrup as needed and work to maintain at least a 10-15lb surplus of stored honey or syrup. There should be no need to feed any form of pollen substitute as there are abundant supplies available out in the fields! April is the start of the nectar flow! Time to make some of that delicious liquid gold! If you have an questions join our Mentor Group! This is a plac

Swarming is the bees natural way of reproducing. In the wilde a hive would cast one or 2 swarms a year. The trigger that start a swarm mainly comes from an overcrowded hive. This hive is very full, it will swarm soon if left to itself. Hives tend to want to swarm in the Spring. There are several things that can be done to prevent swarming. Splitting is the most effective way to take the "swarm" out of a hive. When you split you are effectively creating an artificial swarm. Re

This outline is full of tips and not hard fast rules. In general if you follow these guidelines your hive should survive and thrive. I suggest checking for Varroa during the spring, after extraction and in the fall and winter. The months that are highlighted are the ones that I suggest checking and treating for mites if necessary. This outline also starts in March because March is really the beginning of the year for the Texas beekeeper. Click here to see some of the the most

Queen rearing is a great way to increase your hives and can be combined with Varroa control. Raising queens introduces a brood break into the cycle of a hive. During this brood break a mite treatment can be used to kill almost all of the mites. I like to use Oxalic acid as it kills on contact and is natural and inexpensive. You do not have to be a sideliner beekeeper to raise queens. A few hives will suffice. You can raise up to 100 queens off of 1 hive. Raising queens is one

Splitting hives is one of the easiest, cheapest ways to grow your hive count. Step-by-step instructions for making a nuc split, plus tips on timing and feeding.