Seasonal Pollinator Calendar
Know exactly what to do in your hive, garden, and mason bee habitat — month by month, season by season.
Spring
March – May
Inspect hives for winter survival
Check for queen presence, food stores, and signs of disease after winter.
Add supers as nectar flow begins
Watch for hive population build-up and add honey supers before they run out of space.
Swarm prevention checks
Look for queen cells and split hives if needed to prevent swarming.
Plant early-bloom pollinator flowers
Crocuses, dandelions, and flowering fruit trees are crucial first-of-year food sources.
Set out mason bee nest boxes
Place nest tubes and cocoons outside when daytime temps reach 55°F consistently.
Summer
June – August
Harvest honey (mid-summer)
Inspect supers and harvest when frames are 80%+ capped.
Monitor for varroa mite levels
Do alcohol wash or sugar roll counts monthly. Treat if >2% threshold is exceeded.
Provide water sources for bees
A shallow dish with stones prevents bees from drowning and keeps them off neighbors' pools.
Plant late-summer bloomers
Lavender, borage, phacelia, and echinacea help bridge the summer dearth.
Harvest mason bee cocoons
Collect cocoons from tubes in late summer before pests damage them.
Autumn
September – November
Final varroa treatment before winter
Treat with oxalic acid or Apivar before winter bees are raised.
Combine weak hives
Merge weak colonies into stronger ones using the newspaper method.
Feed hives if stores are low
Feed 2:1 sugar syrup to colonies with fewer than 40–60 lbs of stored honey.
Plant spring bulbs for early forage
Crocuses, snowdrops, and alliums planted now feed bees in early spring.
Clean mason bee nest boxes
Remove old tubes, clean wood surfaces, and store cocoons in cool refrigerator.
Winter
December – February
Insulate hives for cold climates
Wrap hives or add insulation boards in zones 5 and colder.
Oxalic acid dribble treatment
Best time to treat broodless colonies for varroa with oxalic acid dribble.
Plan next year's garden
Order seeds, design new pollinator beds, and map succession planting calendars.
Inspect beekeeping equipment
Repair hive bodies, replace worn frames, clean tools before spring rush.
Store mason bee cocoons safely
Keep harvested cocoons in a paper bag in the fridge at 34–38°F until spring.