July

This month we will be keeping our fingers crossed that the weather will be kind and that there will be a good summer flow of nectar.

Make sure you have enough space in your supers. The aim is to get the majority of each super frame capped as soon as possible.
When the supers are getting heavy and the last one added is 2/3 capped then another can be added.
If the super has drawn comb then that can be placed on top. If the super has foundation then place it on top of the queen excluder where the temperatures are higher and the bees are more likely to draw comb.

If the summer is warm then the honey will stay liquid. When the flow is over in your area you will need to remove the supers and extract the honey.
Some can be taken off at the end of July. Take the supers off the hive as quickly as possible because you are reducing the area for your bees to live and they can get tetchy.
Use a rapid clearer board and if you have a spare super, put that underneath the supers you are clearing and the bees will have space.

Once you have extracted the honey the wet frames can be returned to the colony and if you have put on an extra super, this can now come off.

Remember that at this time of year robbing starts either by wasps or other bees, so clearing overnight and removing in the early morning is good and putting the wet super back in the late evening is also good practice.

Check your monitoring traps for signs of AH.