A New Beekeeper Worries About Winter

As a first-year beekeeper, I've found myself bombarded by new problems, new questions, and new anxieties. Some of my first-year woes have stemmed from the unknown, or at least those things that are new and unknown to me personally: varroa mites, hive beetles, chemical treatments, etc. With all these things in mind, I find myself already worrying about the upcoming winter, and whether my hives will be healthy and ready.

A nearly-capped frame of honey for winter stores

If you read my last article, you'll know that I had four hives. However, in a recent effort to improve the hive strength of a couple of those hives, my total has been reduced to three. Two out of my four hives were swarm hives of varying strengths. Compared to my overwintered hive and the newly-received Italian hive, they seemed way behind. I decided to give them a better chance by combining forces, and so my two swarm hives became one. Their population is now nearly doubled and the weaker queen has been ousted. As this hive still has a couple of brood cycles to prepare for the winter months. I am hopeful that it will be strong enough to survive the season. Even though it isn't even fall yet, the winter worries of a new beekeeper are certainly real.

Noticing an uptick in the mite population over the past month or so, I went ahead with a treatment of Formic Pro to get control of the mites before going into the fall and winter months. Prior to treating with Formic Pro, I performed both alcohol washes and sugar roll mite counts on my hives. My sugar roll assessment yielded slightly lower numbers; however, my counts were not far off of those achieved with my alcohol wash. With numbers ranging from 2 mites/100 bees to 4 mites /100 bees, I knew it was time to treat. Next week, I can reassess and determine the success of my treatments. If I can improve my sugar roll technique and avoid killing bees with alcohol washes, that will be the route I will go.

One of the other things I noticed was that after what looked like a big push to draw comb and fill supers with honey, there came a lull in which my bees seemed to become less active. I believe this is a result of the reduced amount of forage/food available in mid-summer. However, I have just recently seen my bees beginning to collect nectar and pollen again. Yay!

As I continue to monitor things this season, I'll be keeping my eye on the development of new comb and what they decide to do with the honey they have stored. My current intention is to let them have their honey this year in my best effort to help them through the winter. I'll keep my fingers crossed, as I feel that is a very reasonable goal to set for myself as a first year beekeeper. And to all those in a similar position to me, best of luck to you and your bees!

– Ryan Nolles