The weather is turning colder, the leaves are changing colors, and the air seems more crisp. This is the beginning of October. There are a few things you should know about Beekeeping in October. For starters, you are going to want to feed your bees vigorously with a lot of Liquid Bee Feed or Healthy Hive Stimulant to get them strong and ready for winter. Feeding your bees liquid bee feed will help prevent them from eating all their stored honey too soon. If they start eating their honey storage before winter they will run out of food and this can be problematic for the hive when winter comes.
Some other things that you should be doing in October is making sure the bees are strong by checking the hive to see if they are full of bees. Also check to see if your queen is laying eggs. “If your queen is not laying eggs check out this article to see what you need to do”. Learn More..
If you haven't done this by now, you need to remove all your honey supers. Having too much honey storage for the bees can be an issue because then there would be too much room in the hive and it becomes more difficult for the bees to manage the temperature. Most people think honey bees go to sleep during the winter which is not true. Bees in the winter time will cluster together and try to conserve heat by shivering. When they do this they regulate the temperature within the hive.
Lastly for beekeeping in October you should be looking out for varroa mites. This is about the time they infect the hives and become hazardous to the colony. When the queen is laying eggs the mites will find the eggs and deform the larvas. It's best to try and treat the mites before winter.
Estimated time: 1hr
- Feed Bees
- Check For Brood
- Check Honey Storage
- Check For Large Presence Of Bees
- Check For Mites / Treat
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