PNW Honey Bee Survey is now open!

Help improve beekeeping in our region by participating in the Survey. This long-running citizen science project tracks winter colony losses and management practices across Washington and Oregon, providing region-specific insights for backyard and large beekeepers alike. The survey is open March - April.

https://pnwhoneybeesurvey.com/

March 2026

in your Central Oregon Apiary

Wow...we may have made it through “winter”. Early bulbs like snowdrops and daffodils are blooming, maples and aspens are showing pollen, and the manzanita has been flowering for a couple of weeks now. With little snow on the mountains so far, we can only hope the farmers have enough water for crops and that fire season isn’t too severe.

In your apiary, you’ll probably be seeing some “dirty white” or “dirty yellow” pollen coming in. I’m thinking this is coming from the aspens or maples……The important part is that pollen is coming in. As noted in the February notes, starvation is still a concern. Until the outside sources of pollen are showing themselves consistently and the temperatures are consistently high enough for foraging, your bees are depending on you for sustenance. If they don’t have enough food, and you don’t feed them, they will starve. If hives are nearly out, or out of food, my rule of thumb is that until the daytime temperatures are mostly above 55 degrees I feed sugar cakes or fondant. Once the temperatures are mostly above 55, I feed syrup. If your colony has stores (say 2 or 3 frames of honey) supplemental feeding is solely at your discretion (remember European honeybees evolved to make it through the winter on their own). Some beekeepers like to get their bees started with Spring buildup early by feeding 1:1 syrup and pollen patties (really pollen substitute patties). This will usually allow your colonies to get going several weeks early. The other side of the equation is that you are committing to continuing to feed until natural sources of nectar/pollen are available.

It’s relatively unusual for colonies to swarm in March. If, however, you’re one of the lucky/talented/persistent beekeepers whose colonies start early, are fed well, and have a vigorous queen and perhaps overwintered in just 1 box, you’ll want to watch for swarming towards the end of the month.

Similarly, if we get several weeks of nice warm weather, it might, at your discretion, be worth checking your colony to see what the brood and food conditions actually look like. It’s kind of like getting a medical tests or imaging to confirm, modify or disconfirm your initial assessment of the hive. Perhaps you’ll decide to transfer brood to the colony, requeen, transfer honey frames, split. This information can help you in this decision making.

If you have a dead out, now would be a great time for a post mortem. Not to make you feel bad or guilty, but to help you consider what didn’t work last year and what to do differently the next season. After the post mortem, clean out the dead bees and other detritus, and let the hive dry out and air out before you add more bees for successful upcoming season.

This would also be a good month to assemble, paint or fix all of the new/restored equipment you’ll want to re-use/put into service this year. It will then have time to dry and air out before required.

Happy beekeeping, and enjoy the change in seasons.

Allen Engle