What is happening inside the hive each month, the jobs that matter most, and what is worth writing down, from winter cluster through swarm season to winter prep.
Which hemisphere? Each month shows the Northern Hemisphere month first and the matching Southern Hemisphere month beside it (six months apart). It is written for temperate climates with a real winter. Your local bloom and your local beekeeping association are a better clock than any calendar, so expect each phase to arrive a few weeks earlier or later where you are, and to shift from year to year.
North: January · South: July
January: Winter cluster
The colony is clustered for warmth, with little or no brood. Stores are being eaten steadily.
Jobs
Leave the hive closed. Heft it from the back, or weigh it, to judge stores.
Clear snow and dead bees from the entrance so it cannot block.
Where your local rules allow it, a broodless colony is the usual window for an oxalic acid treatment. Follow the product label.
Repair kit, build frames and order any bees you need for spring.
Write down: Hive weight or a heft score, any losses, treatment date and product.
Colonies are at or near full strength. In many areas a main flow is on. In some, notably parts of the UK, there is a gap between spring and summer forage.
Jobs
Keep supers ahead of the bees during a flow.
During a gap, check stores: a big colony can go short fast.
Watch for swarm cells until the swarm season clearly ends.
Mite numbers are climbing with the brood. Count again.
Write down: Supers on, stores, mite count, queen cells.
North: July · South: January
July: Summer flow and dearth
Honey supers fill where there is forage. Where the flow stops, a nectar dearth brings robbing pressure. Varroa is building fast under a large brood nest.
Jobs
Harvest capped honey and leave the colony enough stores.
Reduce entrances during a dearth to help colonies defend against robbing.
Make sure bees have water nearby in hot weather.
Do a mite wash or sugar roll and compare it with your spring count.
Write down: Honey harvested per hive, mite count, robbing seen.
The colony begins raising the long-lived winter bees. Mite loads are usually at their highest now, and mites in this brood shorten the lives of the bees that must last until spring.
Jobs
Test mite levels in every colony, not just one per yard.
If counts are over your threshold, treat once honey supers are off (or as the product label allows).
Keep entrances reduced against robbing and wasps.
Write down: Mite count per hive, treatment product, start date and dose.
The cluster forms on cold days. Brood rearing slows and, in colder climates, may stop.
Jobs
Disturb the hive as little as possible.
Strap or weigh down roofs before winter storms.
Plan your broodless-period mite treatment for when the colony has no brood.
Write down: Heft score, any storm damage, broodless date if you check.
North: December · South: June
December: Winter
Broodless or close to it in many temperate climates, which is why mid-winter mite treatments work well.
Jobs
If the colony is broodless, this is the common window for an oxalic acid treatment, where it is registered for use. Follow the label.
Look over last season’s records while they are fresh: which hives did well, which needed feeding, which swarmed.
Plan next year’s splits, queens and equipment.
Write down: Treatment date, a short season summary per hive.
Why every month has a “write down” line
A calendar tells you what usually happens. Your records tell you what happened in your yard. The second is what makes next year easier: which colony swarmed in May, which one needed feeding in February, and whether the August treatment actually brought the count down.
HiveSense is the app we build for that. It works offline in the beeyard, takes your inspection notes by voice, and lets you set recurring tasks for the jobs on this page. A paper notebook works too. What matters is that the notes exist.
For the numbers behind the jobs, see the free varroa calculator and sugar syrup calculator. For mite sampling and thresholds, the Honey Bee Health Coalition's Tools for Varroa Management guide is a good independent reference.
Frequently asked questions
How do I use this beekeeping calendar in the Southern Hemisphere?
Shift everything by six months. Each row shows the Northern Hemisphere month first and the matching Southern Hemisphere month beside it, so January in the north lines up with July in the south, and the September autumn jobs happen in March in Australia, New Zealand or South Africa.
Does this calendar work everywhere?
It is written for temperate climates with a real winter. Latitude, altitude and local forage can move each phase by several weeks, and tropical or subtropical beekeeping follows rainfall and bloom rather than these months. Treat the calendar as an order of events and let your local bloom and your local beekeeping association set the dates.
Why do late summer and autumn matter so much for varroa?
In late summer the colony raises the long-lived winter bees that must carry it through to spring. That is also when mite levels usually peak. Bees raised in heavily infested brood live shorter lives, so controlling mites before and during that window is one of the biggest things you can do for winter survival. Test, treat if you are over threshold, and then test again to confirm it worked.
How often should I inspect my hives?
A common rule of thumb is every 7–10 days through spring build-up and swarm season, when missing a week can mean missing queen cells. Inspections can be less frequent in summer and autumn, and in winter you judge the colony from outside by hefting and watching the entrance rather than opening it.
When does the beekeeping year start?
Many beekeepers count the year from late summer, not January, because the autumn work of mite control, feeding and winter setup decides how colonies come out in spring. This calendar starts in January for easy reading, but the August and September rows are where next year is won or lost.
Get the Fall Feeding & Winter Prep Checklist
The September and October rows of this calendar as a printable PDF, with verification washes, 2:1 feeding, stores targets and per-hive record tables.
Keep this year's notes for next year
HiveSense is free for up to 15 hives, works offline, and takes notes by voice.