A general rule in backyard beeekeeping (subject to your area, of course) is to encourage the bees to begin broodrearing in earnest when they bring in pollen (and nectar) from the earliest maples. This foraging will itself stimulate broodrearing, but you might also want to give them 1:2 sugar syrup to help things along. Be careful to initiate this only when bees are already flying, otherwise they will rush out into the cold air and not make it back to the hive. An upper feeder is best for this, as the syrup (if placed just above or adjacent to where the bees are) won't get as cold as it would in an entrance feeder. If the bees readily take the syrup (they won't if there is enough nectar coming in, or if the syrup is too cold), it is a good time to medicate with Fumidil B and Terramycin.

    In some areas, or if spring is slow to come, you might also want to try giving  pollen substitute to the hive. If the bees consume it, it's probably helping; if they don't, it's not. That's simple.

    It is tempting to want to open the hive and see how the bees are doing, but generally you should avoid this if there is no clear need to do so. For one thing, it disrupts the bees' foraging when their opportunity for this is limited due to shortness of the days and the uncertainty of warm flying weather. Also, the hive should be kept sealed with propolis between the supers-- opening up the hive will undo this and subject the hive to cold air blowing in through the cracks.

    But once bee flying weather becomes the norm, you do need to get into the hive. If you find that the brood nest is telescoped (only a few frames of brood per super, but stretching up through several supers), you should consolidate it as much as possible. Place a frame of honey/syrup next to each side of the brood supers (yes, I know "super" means "above",  as in "above the brood", but the term has come to mean any bee box, including brood), with a frame of pollen next to this, and fill in the rest of the space with brood, young larvae/eggs in the lowest box (on the bottom board), and sealed brood above it. The next super is a sort of a compromise: you want some empty combs for increased broodrearing, but also some honey/syrup frames in case the weather turns cold and prevents bees from moving freely throughout the hive to get honey for broodrearing. So try three or four empty combs in the middle, with honey/syrup frames on both sides of this. The next super should be similar, and above that honey/syrup (if available) and above that any supers with the empty combs if these are not stored elsewhere.

    In the spring, bees tend to move upwards and abandon the supers beneath them. Consequently the top supers can become crowded, and induce the bees to make swarming preparations, because bees (especially in the spring)  don't acknowledge the existence of the empty supers beneath their inhabited area. To remedy this the backyard beekeeper practices what is called reversing. Basically this means keeping the brood boxes on the bottom board and the empty boxes on top, as outlined above. As settled warm weather arrives, the boxes directly above the brood boxes can have fewer honey/syrup frames and more empty ones, with the honey/syrup frames in boxes above the boxes with empty frames. Reversing should be done around every two weeks or two and a half weeks, as needed. There should always be a box with empty combs and/or foundation above the inhabited boxes.

    As spring moves into settled mild weather, be sure to remove entrance reducers/mouse guards to allow bees to adequately ventilate the hive. Giving the bees an upper entrance of sufficient size can also help.Ventilation, reversing, and expansion room (NOT solid combs of honey/pollen) above the brood area are (along with other factors) important practices for swarm prevention for successful backyard beekeeping.

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