Bee Chronicle

Nov. 7, 2017

What a roller coaster ride? October started out above average temperatures and a hurricane. Now on the 20^th we are down to normal cool temperatures with the next few days scheduled to be below average followed by a warming spell.

Way to go weatherman! They are predicting a warm winter, same as last year.

This is a rough ride for the bees. They have virtually no nectar out there so they will come home and eat honey. There is a little pollen coming in. It is from low growing asters and another purple weed that I see in sunny not too grassy areas.

The queens are thinking about shutting down egg laying. If you want to keep them laying they will need pollen patties and 1:1 syrup to simulate nectar flow. This weather is very similar to spring so you should be able to stimulate the queens some what. Last year I had 6 queens laying into January. I hope I can get more doing so this fall.

Treat for mites. Today’s suggestion is treat in October and then again in December after all brooding has stopped. Be ready to treat next March.

Hive beetles should be addressed. For sure treat the ground around the hive to kill next year’s pupae. I like granulated agricultural mineral salt. Just sprinkle it around. It also works good under you electric fence. There are many treatments. The most popular commercial chemical is “ Starguard”. It will also the kill the natural nematodes that eat hive beetle pupae.

Beetle traps are okay with different levels of efficiency. “Whack a Beetle” usually works very well as long as you don’t have an infestation of several hundred beetles per hive.

With your feeding program, be careful that you don’t “flood” the brood chamber with new unripened honey. The bees want to put the food near the brood area where the cluster will form. If they are putting up honey faster than the queen is laying eggs, she will stop laying for want of a clean dry cell. The queen won’t expand her brood area too far laterally because of the temperature and difficulty keeping the expanded brood area warm.

This is a good time to clean the wooden equipment the bees are not using. Scrape out the propolis for selling or just to clean up the rabbets and frames. Frame ends, inner covers, and box edges are good places the bees have put propolis.

Reduce all you entrances to keep mice out. It also helps keep wind out.

Close the bottoms of your hives if they are screened bottoms. The cool wind will drive the bees high in the hive. This might leave honey down low that the bees won’t eat all winter long.