Labour and Time Management

Labour and time management in beekeeping means foreseeing a workload that is unevenly spread over the year, going into the busy weeks prepared, and doing each inspection in less time and with fewer mistakes. A few weeks of the year are almost completely full, while the rest are quiet; much of planning is managing this imbalance. In the end, it is your time that decides how many colonies you can work with.

How is the workload spread over the year?

In beekeeping the workload is not spread evenly across the year. The workload map below is a general framework; in your area the start and length of the periods will differ.

Critical point: the harvest and late-summer varroa treatment fall in the same weeks, and neither can be postponed. This is the toughest period of the year; help, equipment and the schedule must be prepared in advance.

How many colonies can I look after? Calculating capacity

Three numbers determine your real capacity:

1. The length of one inspection: On average, how many minutes does it take to open and close a hive, including record keeping?
2. Travel time: How long is the round trip to the apiary and the journey between apiaries?
3. The hours per week you can set aside in the swarming season: The time really left after your job, your family and the weather have been taken into account.

The calculation is simple: (hours per week − travel time) ÷ time per inspection = the number of colonies you can check once a week during the swarming season. Leave a margin below this number to allow for rainy days and unexpected jobs. Growing without knowing this answer ends in checks becoming less frequent.

Habits that shorten inspection time

• Mark the queen: It cuts the time spent searching from minutes to seconds. The marking colour also shows the queen's age.
• Go in with a goal: Know in advance what you are looking for at each inspection (eggs, queen cells, stores, space). It is often unnecessary to look at every frame.
• Work with gentle lines: A bad-tempered colony multiplies inspection time; temper can be improved by requeening.
• Keep equipment ready: Have a lit smoker, spare frames, an empty super and a record card ready in the vehicle. A missing tool in the apiary is the biggest waste of time.
• Keep records: Writing down what needs doing on the next visit is faster than assessing everything from scratch each time.
• Work in batches: Doing the same job on all colonies one after another (supers on all of them first, then measurements on all of them) is faster than doing every job on each colony in turn.
• Standardise hive type and frame size: When the parts fit together, every job goes faster.

How should the winter months be used?

Every job done in winter directly reduces the load during the season. What wastes most time in spring is having no frames ready when the season starts. Winter job list:

• Wiring frames and fitting foundation
• Repairing, painting and cleaning hives; cleaning equipment that has had disease by a suitable method
• Rendering old combs and turning the beeswax into foundation
• Reviewing records and drawing up the plan for the new season
• Making up missing equipment, stocking jars and labels

Help and teamwork

Once scale passes a certain point, one person is not enough. The harvest and moving hives go noticeably faster and are safer with two people. If you are going to use a helper:

• Plan ahead: Arrange help for the swarming season and harvest weeks at the start of the season.
• Divide the tasks: Give an inexperienced helper jobs such as carrying, extracting and bottling; make the colony decisions yourself.
• Ensure safety: Find out in advance whether the helper is allergic to bee stings, and provide suitable protective clothing.
• Know the legal obligations: Employing paid help brings obligations such as insurance and registration.

Common mistakes

• Inspecting without a purpose: Looking at every frame disturbs the colony and wastes time.
• Setting up apiaries in scattered places: Travel time can exceed inspection time.
• Wasting the winter: Preparing frames in spring eats into the time needed for swarm checks.
• Leaving help to the last minute: It is hard to find a helper in harvest week.