The Lean Days of Winter — January & February
Winter in Northeast Texas isn’t as brutal as up north, but it’s still quiet in the bee yard. The bees are clustered, living off their honey stores, and waiting just like the rest of us for a warm day. But even in the coldest months, there are small gifts. Henbit — that little purple-flowered weed most people mow without a second thought — starts pushing up as early as late January on warm years. It’s not a big nectar source, but it provides precious early pollen that helps the queen start ramping up her egg laying. Dandelions begin poking through in late February, and while most people see them as a nuisance, a beekeeper sees them as the first real promise of spring. 🌼 What your bees are doing: Conserving energy, slowly building population, and waiting for warmer days.The World Wakes Up — March
March is when things start getting exciting out here. The days warm up enough that the bees begin flying in earnest, and the landscape starts delivering. Early in the month, red maple and elm trees are already dusting the air with pollen — long before most people even notice they’ve bloomed. Redbud trees burst into their familiar pink display, and the bees absolutely love them. Wild cherry, wild plum, and blueberry bushes join the party as the month rolls on. Later in March, hairy vetch, chickweed, and early clovers start lining the roadsides. And then — usually right at the end of March — come the dewberries. 🍓 If you’ve ever walked a fence line in East Texas in late March and seen those low-trailing vines covered in small white flowers, you’ve seen one of the beekeeper’s best friends. Dewberries bloom right when the hive population is exploding and the bees need every drop of nectar they can find. It’s one of those blooms I genuinely look forward to every single year. What your bees are doing: Building population fast, filling the brood nest, possibly making their first swarm preparations.The Spring Surge — April
April is when Northeast Texas really puts on a show. The nectar flow picks up noticeably and you can actually hear the difference when you walk up to a hive — that steady, purposeful roar of thousands of foragers coming and going. Dewberries continue blooming into early April. Sweet clover, hairy vetch, and Dutch and red clovers are coming on strong along roadsides and open fields. Hawthorn trees add to the mix. But the star of April in our corner of Texas is Yaupon Holly. This native shrub is absolutely everywhere in East Texas — in the understory of pine forests, along creek banks, in fence rows — and the bees work it hard from early April all the way through mid-month. It’s one of those quiet, unsung heroes that most folks drive right past without ever knowing what it’s doing for the local honey crop. What your bees are doing: Swarming season is here! Strong hives will be looking for more space. Time to add supers.The Bridge Bloom — Late April into May
Right around the time Yaupon Holly winds down, something magical happens. As if nature planned the handoff perfectly — and she did — privet picks up right where Yaupon leaves off. Now, privet is technically an invasive plant, and I’ll be honest about that. But from a pure beekeeping standpoint, those clouds of small white flowers that fill the air with their sweet, heavy fragrance from late April through the first of May are a significant nectar source for Northeast Texas bees. You can smell a privet hedge in full bloom from across the yard, and so can your bees. Blackberries are also blooming through this stretch, and like their cousin the dewberry, they’re wonderful for the bees and give us another delicious reason to appreciate them. What your bees are doing: Packing in nectar, building honey stores. This is when you’ll first start pulling early honey in some years.The Big Flow — Mid-May through June
If you keep bees in Deep and Northeast Texas, you already know what I’m about to say. Everything — everything — builds toward this. Chinese Tallow Tree. Starting around the middle of May and running through the third week of June, tallow trees across East Texas burst into bloom and produce what is hands down the most significant nectar flow of our year. These trees are absolutely everywhere here — along roadsides, creek bottoms, pasture edges, and fence lines — and when they’re going strong, a strong hive can fill supers faster than you can add them. Tallow honey is light in color, mild and pleasant in flavor, and it makes up the majority of what we harvest here at Magee Meadow each year. It’s the flow we plan everything around. If you want honey, don’t be behind on your supers. Yes, tallow is also invasive. It’s a complicated plant with a complicated story. But in Northeast Texas, it is an undeniable cornerstone of our beekeeping year. What your bees are doing: Working harder than any other time of year. Keep those supers coming!The Summer Dearth — July & August 🥵
I won’t sugarcoat it — summer in Northeast Texas is hard on bees. Once the tallow flow ends in late June, the nectar largely dries up along with everything else. July and August bring scorching heat, dry conditions, and very little for the bees to forage on. Bitterweed offers some relief in years when there’s enough rain, but the honest truth is that this is a time of stress for your hives. Bees get defensive during dearth. Robbing becomes a serious concern. Water becomes as important as food. This is the time to reduce hive entrances, provide a clean water source, and watch your hives carefully. What your bees are doing: Surviving. Give them water, watch for robbing, and resist the urge to open hives more than necessary.The Fall Reward — September & October
Just when you think summer will never end, something shifts. The mornings get a little cooler, and out in the fields and along the roadsides, something golden starts to bloom. Goldenrod. October brings the major goldenrod flow to Northeast Texas, and it’s a genuine gift. That bright yellow bloom isn’t just pretty — it’s the bees’ chance to top off their winter stores before the cold sets in. Asters bloom alongside goldenrod, adding to the fall flow, and in a good year your hives will put on noticeable weight through this period. This fall flow is critically important. A hive heading into winter with full honey stores is a hive that has a real chance of thriving come spring. What your bees are doing: Building winter stores, reducing the drone population, preparing to cluster.The Quiet Returns — November & December
The wheel turns, the bees cluster, and the beekeeper waits. But now you know — the whole beautiful cycle is just resting, getting ready to start again with the first henbit of late winter and the first warm day that sends the scouts back out into the world. This is why I love keeping bees in Northeast Texas. The land provides. You just have to learn to read it.Have questions about beekeeping in East Texas or want to know when our next honey harvest will be available? Drop a comment below or find us on Facebook and Instagram! With warm regards and a little honey on the side, Magee Meadow Apiary