Weeks 1–2 · Rules and siting
Local ordinances, registration and where the hive goes.
The programs, in detail
Four programs of 6 to 12 weeks, timed to your climate and the state of your colonies.
Program 01 · Set up properly
Your first hive
New beekeepers overspend on gadgets and underspend on the basics. We choose a hive type and stick with it, site it with sun, water and neighbors in mind, and walk through installation and the first six weeks, which is when most first colonies are lost.
Weeks 3–4 · Equipment
What you need, and what can wait two years.
Weeks 5–7 · Installation
Package or nuc, hived and settled.
Weeks 8–10 · First inspections
Building the habit of looking without wrecking things.
Weeks 1–2 · Eggs and pattern
Evidence of a laying queen, without hunting for her.
Weeks 3–4 · Queen cells
Swarm, supersedure and emergency cells.
Weeks 5–6 · Stores and space
When to add, when to feed.
Weeks 7–8 · Efficiency
A full inspection in fifteen minutes.
Program 02 · What the frame says
Reading an inspection
The skill that separates second-year keepers from first-year ones is reading a frame quickly and putting it back. We work from your photos and video: spotting eggs without finding the queen, distinguishing swarm cells from supersedure, judging stores, and knowing when to close up and leave them alone.
Program 03 · The thing that kills colonies
Varroa & colony health
Most winter losses trace back to mites nobody counted. We set up real monitoring with alcohol washes, plan treatment windows around the honey flow, and cover what foulbrood and other notifiable diseases look like — which is a call to your state apiary inspector, not a forum post.
Weeks 1–2 · Counting
Alcohol wash technique and what the numbers mean.
Weeks 3–4 · Timing
Treatment windows around supers and brood cycles.
Weeks 5–6 · Labels and rules
Following product labels and local requirements.
Weeks 7–8 · Disease
What to recognize, and who to call.
Weeks 1–3 · Spring
Build-up, space and swarm prevention.
Weeks 4–6 · Flow
Supering and staying out of the way.
Weeks 7–9 · Harvest
Pulling, extracting and cleaning up.
Weeks 10–12 · Winter
Stores, mites, wraps and the last inspection.
Program 04 · Through the year
Seasons & harvest
We build a calendar for your zip code and flow: when to reverse, when to super, when to stop feeding, when to treat, when to leave them alone. Then harvest and extraction done cleanly, and the winter prep that decides whether you start next spring with bees.
Not sure what your hive is doing?
Twenty minutes on your colony, your season and your next inspection. Free.