January 2026 Newsletter

Thursday, January 15th, 6:30pm: General Membership Meeting

The PPBA meets from 6:30 pm – 9:00 pm on the third Thursday of the months of January, April, July and October. We are looking for a permanent location for our meeting but in the meantime, please be aware that the meeting locations may change from meeting to meeting. Meetings are open to the public.

The first half hour (6:30-7:00) of the PPBA General Membership meetings is reserved for socializing and general questions. The formal portion of the meeting will start promptly at 7:00 pm and will include association business and the presentations for that meeting. There will be time for questions during or after the formal portion of the meeting, but those questions should be limited to the topics being discussed.

Tonight’s PPBA General Membership Meeting will be Thursday, January 15th, at the Gold Hills Mesa Police Station, 955 West Moreno Ave, in Colorado Springs.

Want to know more about how to make beekeeping into a business? Start by setting up your LLC! One of our members, Richard Robinette, will be speaking about how to set up your LLC to protect your assets and income.

Annual membership dues are $15 per family.

January Meeting Notes

Please bring dues tonight! $15 in cash or check made out to PPBA.

Are you willing to mentor a new beekeeper? Are you looking for a mentor? Come at 6:30 tonight! Grab a name tag when you come in tonight, and add a colored sticker:

RED: Looking for a mentor

GREEN: Willing to bee a mentor

YELLOW: Happy to meet up with bee friends

BLUE: Not interested right now

T-shirt update: All shirts that have been previously ordered but not picked up are now available for sale to the general membership. If you have ordered and not picked up, your shirt is no longer being held, and if you did not order but would like a shirt, you can come look at the stock tonight.

Don’t worry, we will place another order following the April membership meeting. 🙂

Beekeeping School at Bear Creek Nature Center, March 21 & 22, 8:30-3:45

Would you like to learn more about beekeeping, or do you have friends that are trying to get started? This two-day course covers all aspects of beekeeping in the Pikes Peak region. You will learn how to acquire bees and the necessary equipment to keep them. Bee biology and the skills to manage your bees through the four seasons, including disease management, will be covered.

We will also demonstrate equipment assembly and honey extraction. All lectures are presented by local beekeepers with years of collective knowledge. Whether you are interested in keeping your own colonies, or simply wanting to know more about these fascinating and necessary creatures and their wonderful product – honey – this easy-to-follow course will open a new door into the natural world for you.

Direct questions to pikespeakbeekeepers@gmail.com or PPBA_BeeClass@Ott-US.com

Volunteers Needed!

Beekeeping School – beekeepers needed to take over some class sections, slides and notes have already been made by previous teachers.

Peterson Space Force Base Library Summer Reading Program – The theme is “Plant a Seed, Read!” and they’d like an ambassador or expert to give a talk/demonstration to bring the theme to life. The program runs from May 30 to July 25, and scheduling is currently flexible.

2nd Grade McAuliffe Elementary in District 11 class looking for a visiting beekeeper to contribute to their science class unit on pollinators. Details pending.

Looking for sites for early season hive visits.

First Quarter Hive Management

Hive management tips are from Rocky Mountain Bee Supply. More details can be found by clicking here.

January – The bees are in a tight cluster in the center of the brood chamber surrounding the queen to maintain warmth. They will consume about 25 pounds of stored honey this month. There is little activity except on a warm day (about 45-50 degrees) when the workers will take the opportunity to make cleansing flights. There are no drones in the hive, but some worker brood may exist in the hive. Many of your bees will die during the winter, just from old age. When bees die during the winter, they fall to the bottom of the hive. When the hive is clustered, the dead bees accumulate on the bottom board. On warm days, other bees might drag out their dead sisters. If snow covers the ground, you will notice more dead bees around your hives. This is normal. Don’t panic! It is a sign of a strong hive when they drag out dead bees. But, if you don’t see anything, don’t panic either. It just means they will probably do this later.

Beekeeper tasks:

If there is heavy snow, make certain the entrance to the hive is cleared to allow for proper ventilation and so the bees can move freely in and out of the entrance on warm days. Also, be vigilant that high winds do not disturb the tops.
If a January thaw presents itself (in January or February) you can provide supplemental, emergency food for the bees such as fondant (on the top bars) or granulated sugar (on the inner cover).
Order new equipment, build new or repair equipment as required for the next season.
Order package bees or Nucs. Many bee suppliers will completely sell out of package bees by the end of January. You must call and place your bee order as soon as you can during the first week of January. Otherwise, you may not be able to secure your bee purchases for the New Year. Call early!

February – The cluster will work its way upward into the top brood chamber. Sunlight is becoming slightly longer and there will be increasingly more warm days. The queen will start laying more eggs. Workers will take cleansing flights on mild days. The bees will consume about 25 pounds of honey this month.

Beekeeper tasks:

On a warm day, 50 degrees or more, you can open the top briefly and look in on the hive. Do not remove any frames, as this will chill the brood. Upon inspection you can assess if the colony still has enough stored honey for food. If not, you may want to consider emergency feeding options.
Emergency feeding is just that, an emergency, so do whatever it takes to get some sugar in the hive. Dry sugar will work but only if the bees have warm enough days to fly out for water. There may not be many days warm enough in early February for dry sugar feedings or hard candy feedings.
You might also consider placing a pollen patty on top of the upper hive body. This will really work well if the end of winter is extremely mild and there are many warm days. Pollen patties stimulate the laying of more eggs. However, if the weather turns cold again, then the bees may not be able to keep this early brood warm and fed. So it is a gamble this early.
If you did not order your package bees in January, you must do it now (and hope you’re not too late)!
If you did not order your new equipment, hurry! You want all of your hive equipment ready by mid-March.

March – This is the month when colonies can die of starvation. However, if you fed them plenty of sugar syrup in the autumn this should not happen. The bees will most likely have moved entirely into the upper brood box and their overall population is very low due to normal die-off throughout the winter. With the days growing longer, the queen will steadily increase her rate of egg laying which results in more food stores being consumed.

Beekeeper tasks:

Inspect your hive! March will provide you with a few days when the temperature will rise to 50 degrees or higher. At this temperature you can look in the hive and pull out a few frames. Keep in mind that since there is not a heavy nectar flow, and since it is cooler, the bees might be a bit more aggressive. Beekeepers are stung more during these cold inspections than the rest of the year. So wear protective gear. If you do not see any sealed honey in the top frames, you may need to provide some emergency food (fondant or granulated sugar if cold temps prevail, syrup if the weather is mild). But remember, once you start, you should not stop until they are bringing in their own food supplies.
Towards the end of the month start feeding pollen patties. Pollen patties truly do jump-start the hive.
If you are going to do a spring Varroa mite treatment, now (or soon) is the time to start its application.
Remove entrance reducers and mouse guards as the traffic begins to build up at the entrance.
Be aware that a quick, early start in brood raising also means that your hive strength will increase to the point of swarming much earlier. Remain attentive and reverse your brood chambers as required! This is extremely important as it gives more space for the queen to lay. Simply move the empty bottom brood chamber to the top.
March is the busiest month in hive equipment and bee sales. Everyone calls and wants their hive yesterday! Please do yourself a big favor and order your hives not later than January.

April – The weather begins to improve, and the early blossoms such as dandelions begin to appear. The drones will begin to appear. The bees will begin leaving the hive in search of pollen sources as the month passes. Towards the end of the month, the entire hive will begin to return to an almost normal operation now that winter is almost over. There will be cold snaps, but the bees will do fine as they begin to expand. Their need for food will rapidly increase. Note: throughout the Rocky Mountain region, it is not uncommon to experience snow fall or a cold snap all the way thru mid-May.

Beekeeper tasks: (The end of April begins the busiest season for the beekeeper)

Inspect all hives and take appropriate actions based upon the condition of the individual hive. Keep feeding your weaker hives; feeding helps the bees build up. You are just feeding to help the hive off to a great start. Keep the pollen patties on top, too.
April weather can be unpredictable with cold and wet conditions which means that your bees may have limited opportunities to fly out for food. So you must continue to inspect the hive to be sure they have enough food stores. Also, inspect your hive for any abnormalities. You want to see a solid brood laying pattern from your queen. If not, consider replacing her soon!
A majority of packages will be installed towards the end of the month. Make sure that you are familiar with the requirements for starting packages and provide sufficient care to ensure their success.
This is a great time to equalize your hives. You may have to combine weak hives with strong ones. Even though they know better, every year some beekeepers seem to become too compassionate toward a struggling hive, and try to nurse them back to health. Although some success may be experienced, it is usually not worth it. It is costly to spend too much time on a struggling hive. It takes money and time to re-queen the hive and to continue to work it. It would be far better to combine it to another hive if it is disease and pest free, and the newly combined single hive has a much better chance of thriving. Take the chance that the new hive may be strong enough to split during the summer. After all, a weak hive is an invitation for pests and disease. Strong hives chase away pests and disease. So, your weak hive could spread disease to all your other hives. Don’t take the chance. Keep your hives strong.

2026 Meeting and Event Dates

January 15th	General Membership Meeting – Gold Hills Mesa Police Station
March 21st & 22nd	PPBA Bee School at Bear Creek Nature Center
April 16th	General Membership Meeting – Gold Hills Mesa Police Station
April 25th	Package Bee Pickup at Rocky Mountain Bee Supply
July 16th	General Membership Meeting – Gold Hills Mesa Police Station
October 15th	General Membership Meeting – Gold Hills Mesa Police Station

Bees in the News

Counting the bees: A glimpse into a Colorado bee survey

Colorado State University launches first honeybee veterinary science course