Things to consider in June

Please remember the geographic diversity of Canterbury, from the warmth of Christchurch and the coast to the chills of the foothills, giving specific info here is difficult.
Getting to know your local climate is very important as what one person does this month, may need to happen next month for you even though there is only a few KM's between you.

These things should have already happened but in case you were busy.......
- Wintering down, check food store levels and feed if necessary.
    Most 2 story hives will need a full box of honey and Top bar hives should have a minimum of 10 frames with honey.
    When the daytime temperature stays below 13deg C, the bees are not active enough to process the sugar syrup into stores and it can take 24hrs for a colony to warm itself after opening.

- Check Verroa treatment dates and apply/remove remedies as necessary.
- Check hives for water tightness and how prone they will be to flooding in winter, slope bottom boards forwards to allow rain to run off.
- Fit mouse guards if you haven't already
- Check through extracted honey supers for dark frames and move these to the middle of the box, those that you cannot see light through should be rejected.
- Check frames for wax moths and freeze for 24hrs to kill them

- Plan your next season out - increasing hives, equipment needed, calendar timings for honey flows, queen breeding, mite treatment etc.
- Build/order needed parts

What the bees are doing; as its been an unusual autumn, some hives haven't shut down properly and may struggle.
 
- The Queen's egg production at its lowest
- Almost no brood
- Maintaining colony numbers.
- Storing honey and pollen in unused brood space on warm days only

June flowers

- Forsythias
- Japonica
- Gorse
- Heather
- Winter flowering Clematis
- Winter Eucalyptus
- Banksia
- Wallflowers
- Hellibore
- Camellia Sasanqua (winter flowering camellia)
- Grevillea sp.
- Fuchsias
- Chrysanthemum's
- Rosemary