August is the hard month

Central Florida August is when the calendar gets specific. Heat is the clock. Nectar is not.

The Florida Beekeeping Management Calendar writes four jobs for Central Florida in August: feed if the colony is light, treat for mites if the count says so, monitor and control small hive beetles, and ventilate.

That is the full August row. It is not a harvest month on this paper. It is not a swarm month. It is the month you keep the box alive through the dearth.

The August row (the Florida Beekeeping Management Calendar, Central)

• **Feed if light.** Stores can drop when forage is thin. Weight the box. Do not invent a syrup recipe here; read the paper and the feed label.
• **Mites.** Sample. Treat only if the count and the label say so. Varroa does not take August off in this climate.
• **Small hive beetles.** Monitor and control. See beetles.
• **Ventilate.** Florida heat and humidity cook a packed box. Shade and airflow are part of the month, not extras.

Read August on the Florida Beekeeping Management Calendar, then read Keeping Bees in Florida for why Florida never gets a northern winter pause. Then open the year.

• Florida Beekeeping Management Calendar, the Florida Beekeeping Management Calendar
• Keeping Bees in Florida, Keeping Bees in Florida
• Small hive beetle, the small hive beetle paper