It ’s hard to believe it ’s clip to prepare your bees for wintertime . In my late August garden , tomato are still turning red , autumn pumpkin are plumping and dahlias are as bighearted as dinner plates . To dislodge your outlook from the dark-green bounty of the present to the danger of the low temperature to come is difficult , but it is necessary if you desire to keep your bees salubrious and thriving . Here are a few things you may do in September to get your bee quick for winter .
1. Do Late-Summer Cleanup
September cooking includes looking and thinking long - term . You ’re not order mouseguards on hive entrances or slant the boxes forwards just yet ( those are autumn chore , which we ’ll encompass in a future article ) . in good order now , think about the bigger picture . scavenge up the handsome clobber in the bee K that you ’ve been putting off all summertime : Trim branches or overhanging trees , renovate your electric fencing and replace broken parts . pick out dead hivesand assist to other outside job while the atmospheric condition is still decent . All the indoor cleanup can happen in the wintertime , so save up those chores for after unless necessary .
2. Control The Varroa Mite Population
Late summer is broadly speaking when varroa mite universe are at their greatest . They ’ve been rapidly growing in numbers ( with the bees ) all year , and they plan to winter with the bees , too . Conventional sapience hint care for your hives for varroa touch at this time . Whether you employ chemical substance in your hive is a very personal choice . I recommend calculate deeper into the selection to treat your hives , whether they be established or born . Most of import to note now is how big the populations are and how strong your bees are going into the downfall . Within the next few weeks , your hive will raise their wintertime bees — the ones who will carry the settlement over through until the spring .
3. Stop Harvesting Honey
Unless you live in a very fond neighborhood , with consistent late - summer and early fall blooms , break off harvesting dearest . Ideally , honey harvestsare contrive events around a honorable nectar flow rather than a continuous action ( at least not in a distinctive Langstroth beehive setup ) . The bee can feel the variety come . They might be more defensive than they were earlier in the time of year . Start making note of how much honey they are stack away and how many weeks of flower fourth dimension remain . A healthy hive needs 40 to 60 pounds of honey to make it through the wintertime .
4. Watch For The Drones
As fall approaches , the remaining drones serve little purpose in the hive . You ’ll still see some milling about and range around , slurping up dear and waiting . Unfortunately , these former season monotone are not waiting to serve their purpose . ( Their crony in the spring did that . ) These male bee will eventually be kicked out of the beehive by their sisters in the fall . you could foresee how end the cold is and estimate a beehive ’s cookery status by watching when they kick out the monotone .
Honeybees give us so many clew on how well to help them — if we ’re available and able to interpret those clues . Watch your late - summertime beehive carefully for forte and vigor . Support weak hive , and start to make plans about what to do with weaker hives if they do n’t show rapid improvement at this stage in the yr . ( Weak hives might be compound with hard hives , if there are no disease present , but never conflate two debile hive . ) A few small steps now can make a big difference in the month to come .
