Question 1

July

Accepted Answer

Things will begin to dry out this month. For those in the cities, you can still rely on people’s yards and gardens. Folks in the city seem to water to some degree. For those in the rural areas, pumpkin fields will provide a good source of nectar. Also areas where farmers are irrigating pastures there will be a good nectar source from sub-clover.

Make sure your hives are queenright  by looking for eggs and larvae.  If the brood pattern is poor, there is still plenty of time to requeen.  This time of year, the queens are of very good quality.  If there is a reduction of nectar and pollen that the hive is bringing in, the queen will respond by a reduction in brood production.  So keep that in mind.

Continue to provide water for your bees. Salt water is preferred. Providing water is a neighborly thing to do. It helps to keep your bees out of the neighbors swimming pools and bird baths.
During the hot weather, don’t forget to hydrate yourself.  I remember working the bees in the pumpkin fields in very hot weather, near 100°F.  The water jug I took was to small.  Later in the day, after running out of water, I experienced some health issues.  Know the signs of heat stroke and heat exhaustion.

There have been several questions about the clustering of bees on the front of the hives.  This is what they call “bee bearding” and it’s very common during the hot weather.  They are busy cooling the hive.

Mid July is about the latest that you can make up nucs for overwintering.  Any splits or nucs may need feeding, depending on your location.  Nucs don’t have as big of a work force that a regular hive has.  This year (2015) some locations are already experiencing an end of any honey flow.  It is drying up very quickly this year.

Extract honey supers.

Be aware of robbing activity.  Most beekeepers won’t have a problem.  However, those beekeepers who have another beekeepers hives nearby may have a problem.  It’s always difficult to know where other beekeepers  may have set hives.  Also if you have many hives and one or two are weak, the weak hives are in jeopardy of being robbed out.  Take some time to observe what normal behavior of the bees is, so that you recognize other behaviors like robbing.

FLORA:  
Lavender, White clover (in irrigated areas),  False Dandelion, Artichoke, Pumpkins, Squash, Onion, Borage, Red Clover (2nd cutting), Mimosa or Silk Tree, Canada Thistle, Bull Thistle, Russian Sage, Single Dahlias, Sunflowers, Scotch Heather, Bedding Plants, Various Herbs, and Queen Anne’s Lace (Wild Carrot).  In Central Oregon, the carrot seed is blooming.

It is surprising how many little weeds and things that the honeybees will work.  I’ve seen my bees working small weeds, Scottish moss, and some succulents that are in bloom.  Take time to look around.

Question 2

August

Accepted Answer

Much of the flora has begun to dry out. Some beekeepers are seeing some attempted robbing by the bees when the hive is open. This is a good time to place robbing screens on the hives. There is more of chance that robbing will occur when there is an abundance of hives in a centralized area. Robbing instinct is also hereditary.

Around the first of August is the time to take the honey supers off. There are several different methods to accomplish this. WVBA members have free access to extracting equipment.

It is time to check your colonies varroa mite levels. The most accurate method of testing is the alcohol wash. With this method, if your mite count is above 2%, you need to do something to reduce your varroa mite load.  The second most accurate testing method is the powered sugar shake.  FAILURE TO DO SOMETHING BY MID AUGUST WILL COMPROMISE THE COLONIES ABILITY TO MAKE IT THROUGH WINTER. There are several options for varroa control. I would suggest attending your local bee meetings and be in tune with the latest strategies.

This is a good time to begin feeding syrup and pollen patties. There are those who don’t believe in feeding syrup. Would you not feed your other livestock like cattle, horses, and etc.? The idea behind Fall feeding, is to produce as many HEALTHY Winter bees as possible before Winter.

Queen check your colonies. You don’t have to find the queen. Just make sure eggs are present.

FLORA: 
Some plants that continue to be in bloom are: false dandelion, pumpkins, squash,  Queen Anne’s lace (wild carrot), Russian sage, various herbs, sunflowers, borage, and white clover in the irrigated pastures. Some other plants that are in bloom are: aster, buckwheat, arrowleaf clover, peppermint, and single type dahlias. Sweet corn pollen is now available, however it’s not a high quality pollen.

Question 3

September

Accepted Answer

The summer of 2015 has been a dry one.  With this lack of rain, there are fewer flowers for the bees to forage from.  In my travels, the hives right now seem to be full of bees and are well brooded.  I’ve noticed that some hives that haven’t been fed syrup are dipping into some of the capped honey that would have been saved for winter in most years.  Unless the beekeeper gets to feeding these hives, they will not make it through winter.  Many have been feeding syrup since mid to late July.  Check the weight of your hives and make sure they are heavy.  A hive in the Willamette Valley will need 50 to 60 pounds of honey to make it through the winter.

Recently, I had the pleasure of helping another beekeeper remove a hive from under a trailer.  The hive was of good size, however they had no nectar or stored honey.  The hive would have starved within a few days.  For the record, this is not the time of the year to remove a hive from a building, except in this instance a festival was on the schedule and the bees were in the way.

The fall of the year is upon us.  The bees of course are thinking about the arrival of winter.  For the best chance of colony survival, one needs to feed sugar syrup and protein patties.  Varroa and other pest and disease control should have already been performed. The bees are currently brooding the bees that will produce the fat winter bees.  This is the reason to feed syrup and protein patties now.  My hives are consuming a gallon of syrup in 3 to 5 days and a one pound protein patty in 5 to 7 days. Bees may continue to try to rob so be aware of the situation.

You may consider combining weak colonies. It is not cost effective to put resources into a weak colony. They generally don’t make it anyway. Two questions arise. One, what constitutes a weak hive? Two, what if the hive is diseased? If a beekeeper made nucs back in mid-July they could now have built up to a single deep. If they have been increasing in size they are not a weak colony. When a beekeeper has a double deep or a double deep with supers and now it has decreased to a single deep or less, it is a weak hive. The hive should be analyzed to figure out why it declined. It could be queenless or it could be a result of pests or disease. If you are a newer beekeeper, you may need to consult with your mentor or a member of your local bee association. A queenless colony would best be combined with another hive. It is now too late to introduce a queen to a weak hive and have it make it through the winter.  When a colony became weak as a result of pests or disease it is best not to combine it with another hive because it will infect that hive as well.  If you choose to combine hives, use the newspaper method. Combining them without newspaper between the hive bodies will result in bees going into combat.

For those that are done extracting honey, is is time to put your supers into storage. Wax moth can get into your stored supers and proceed to make their home, ruining the wax in your frames. The Greater and Lesser Wax Moth prefer frames that have had brood in them because there will be left over pollen present. They like it dark and still. The best method to avoid contamination with wax moth is to freeze the supers. After 24 hours in the deep freezer, all stages (egg, larva and adult) are killed. The problem is as soon as you take the supers out of the freezer and they thaw out they can easily be re-infected. Another method of storage is to store the frames in the light 24 hours a day. It also helps to run an oscillating fan across the stacks of supers. A third method is to place 6 tablespoons of para-dichlorobenzene crystals (sold as Para-Moth®) on a paper plate or piece of cardboard. Place the plate or cardboard on the top bars of the uppermost super of the stack. Cover the stack of supers. The vapors are heavier than air and will float to the bottom of the stack. Check each month for the presence of crystals. Replenish as necessary.

By the end of the month, a beekeeper may want to retest for Varroa mites. On occasion a hive can get re-infested with mites or the mite control that you used did not work.

FLORA:

Some plants that continue to be in bloom are: aster, false dandelion, pumpkin, squash, wild carrot (Queen Anne’s Lace), various herbs, peppermint, (If the field hasn’t been cut.) borage, single type dahlias, irrigated white clover, sunflowers and buckwheat. During the last week of August I moved bees in to buckwheat. Chicory may also still be in bloom. On a side note, the honey from chicory tastes like Luden’s® cough drops.

Question 4

October

Accepted Answer

Hopefully you have been caring for your honeybees in the last couple of months, because time is running out.  Winter weather will be upon us before long.

Continue to feed sugar syrup, although soon enough the bees will stop taking the syrup.  When they do, stop feeding and clean out the feeders.

If you have mouse and vole problems in your area, it’s not a bad idea to use mouse guards.  Occasionally voles and mice can get into the hive and chew up some of the comb to make room for a nest site.  Some years are worse than others.  It’s good to have cats and owls around.

Check to see if your hives are tilted so that the front entrance is lower than the back.  This allows rain water and condensation to drain out of the hive.  If you have screened bottom boards, leave them open.

Some beekeepers weight the lids of their hives down with rocks or bricks.  Lids blowing off is only a problem in windy areas.  Perhaps you have a less windy location on your property to move your hives.

Remove the queen excluders if you use them.   It’s possible that the queen could get trapped below the excluder as the cluster slowly moves upward.  If she doesn’t stay in the cluster, she could freeze.

Consider combining weak colonies.  See September for more details.

Continue to check stored honey supers each month.  If you are using Para-Moth, you may need to replenish the crystals. 
 See September in the Northwest Apiary for more details.

FLORA:

Asters, single type dahlias, and some herbs are still continuing to bloom and will until a frost.

Question 5

November

Accepted Answer

The robbing season is over, so now would be a good time to put a match stick under the lid to provide some ventilation.  If some air is able to escape, it should help with condensation.  Some beekeepers are now using telescoping lids with built in ventilation.

A reminder to slope the hives forward so the water will run out the entrance.

Remove any strips if you used that type of medication for varroa mites.  It’s not good to leave them in the hive any longer than what is directed on the labeling.

Remove the queen excluders if you use them.  It’s possible that the queen could get trapped below the excluder as the cluster slowly moves upward.  If she doesn’t stay in the cluster, she could freeze.

Weight the lids with rocks or bricks or check the apiary immediately after a wind storm.  In fact, it’s always a good idea to check the apiary after a wind storm.

The time for feeding syrup is now over.  Having a liquid in or on the hive is now a problem, because of the moisture it creates.

Now is the time to look back and see what worked and what didn’t in your apiary.

Question 6

December

Accepted Answer

Things are still pretty quiet in the bee yard.  There isn’t a great deal to do this time of year for the hobbyist beekeeper.  For the commercial beekeeper, there is plenty of work to get done.  The move to California will be here before you know it.

Near December 21, we will reach the winter solstice.   On this day we will experience the least amount of daylight compared to darkness.  After the 21st of December, the amount of daylight will increase.  Somehow our Queens know this and begin to lay just a few more eggs each day.  They know that spring is on the way. That being said, spring will be here before you know it.  Now is a good time to do some planning.  Are you going to add to your apiary?  Replace dead outs?  Replace old comb? Now is the time to look through some of those bee equipment catalogs.  Some of the bee equipment suppliers are having sales now.  It’s always good to order your bees early rather than late.  This is a good time of the year to build and assemble bee equipment.

Continue to provide ventilation by venting the top board.  This should help control mold problems.  A little mold is nothing to worry about.  The bees will clean it up later in the spring.

Check on your hives after a windstorm.

If you haven’t already done so, move any dead outs from the apiary and put under shelter.  It’s best to clean all the equipment and then store it in a dry place.  Equipment left out will mold and possibly become a nesting box for mice, voles, or rats.

For those who need to move a hive a short distance on your property, now is the time.  Just handle them gently and move them where ever you want.  When the weather does warm up later on, the bees will come out and orient themselves.  After a long winter they won’t remember their old site.