Monthly Beekeeping Tasks: June

 Thanks to our friends at Hivetool.com for the following which is specific to TN

Beekeeping Calendar of Management Practices : June - All tasks for the month

• Combine all swarms issuing after June 1 with weak colonies. Continue to check for swarm cells every seven days.
• Continue to add supers of drawn comb as needed until the honey flow ends.
• Remove the capped honey after June 15.
• Uncapped honey can be removed two weeks after the honey flow ends.
• Prepare to move your bees to the mountain or to lima bean, soybean and cotton-growing areas for the summer honey flow if you want maximum production.
• Store all supers of honey in a warm, 90 F, dust-free, screened room.
• Extract the honey supers within four days after removing from colony or store in a freezer.

Wonder How to?

Removing Surplus Honey [Remember, there are several ways to get bees to leave the frames for extraction - if you're wondering how else this can be done, ask an experienced member of the club]

• The bees will fill the combs and cap the honey when they have cured it to 20 percent or less water. Some of the frames of honey may not be capped until several days after the nectar flow has stopped.
• The frames and supers of honey that are capped can be removed from the colony. The frames and supers of uncapped honey can be removed after two weeks of warm dry weather or three weeks of humid or wet weather.
• Honey must be processed and packed within three to four days after removal from the hive to prevent wax moth damage or honey can be stored at 10 F for long periods of time. Be prepared to process the honey when you remove the super from the hive.
• Open the colony and inspect the supers of honey. Frames of capped and uncapped honey can be exchanged between supers.
• The super of honey will be occupied by many bees. The excessive use of smoke to drive the bees out of the super may taint the flavor of the honey.
• Place an outer cover turned bottom side up with the empty super in the cover near the colony. An inner cover with a bee escape, a flat piece of plywood or an outer cover is needed to cover the super as you place the frames of honey that are free of bees into the super.
• Remove a frame of honey from the super of honey removed from the colony. Hold the frame by the ends of the top bar in front of the colony a short distance above the entrance. One or two short, strong shakes will dislodge all the bees. Immediately place the frame into the empty super and cover the super to prevent the bees from returning to the frame. Shake the bees from the remaining frames and load the super, keeping it completely covered except to enter the frames of honey. This method can be used very effectively with a small number of colonies.
• Place a outer board in direct sun and let it warm for 15 minutes. Then moisten the felt liner of the fume board with a repellent such as Bee Go and place the fume board on top of the supers to be removed. The Bee Go will drive the bees out of the super within 15 minutes. Avoid excessive amounts of Bee Go. Do not wet the felt liner to the dripping point.
• A queen may expand the brood nest up into the honey supers. Check all supers of honey to be removed for brood. Locate the queen and return her to the brood nest below. Exchange frames with brood for frames of capped honey consolidating all of the brood into one super. Place the super with brood on top of the brood chamber below the queen excluder. Honey stored in brood frames is food for the bees and should not be packed for human consumption.

  
Moving a Colony

• A honey bee colony can be moved to a new location. You may need to change the hive location in your yard or move the colony to another distant bee yard.
• A colony can be moved a short distance to relocate it near the original location. When a colony is moved more than two miles from its location, the field age bees will reorient to the new hive location within a few days.
• Remove the surplus supers of honey down to the brood chamber and one empty super before moving a hive.
• Staple all the outside parts of a beehive with the hive staples. Drive the staples in at the four corners fastening each part to the part above and below. This can be done during the day in preparation for moving in the evening after dark.
• Remove the inner cover and nail a screened cooling board over the top to close and ventilate the top of the hive. A cooling board is a plywood panel the size of an inner cover with a large screened window.
• Construct a frame with 1 ½ inch by one-half inch pieces of wood that will fit between the bottom board cleats, against the front of the hive body to cover the entrance. The bottom of the frame is made with a three-fourths inch piece to cover without blocking the entrance. The frame is covered with screen wire. The screened frame encloses a screened porch on the front of the hive. Air will circulate through the entrance and out the top to keep the bees cool in transit.
• The bees will return to the hive at dusk or a little later. Have everything in place except the entrance screen. Attach the entrance screen with a nail through the two end bars and load the colony for moving to a new location.
• Place the colony on a base at the new location. Smoke the entrance and remove the screen. Place the inner and outer cover on the hive. The cooling board can be removed when you inspect the bees.