Month: August 2026

The end of the beekeeping season is almost upon us and it seems to come round so quickly. It wasn’t that long ago that swarm control checks were carried out and now we need to prepare the bees for winter.

Due to the drought the honey flow has reduced significantly during July. Looking at my hives a lot of the honey is capped so removing and extracting honey is the priority as I want to treat for varroa soon. When treating for varroa no supers must be present that has honey that is due for extraction. It is fine to have empty supers to provide space for the colony during treatment but again, if bees bring in more honey once treatment begins it must not be extracted for human consumption.

On the subject of varroa we should ring the changes each year if using products such as Apistan and Apivar. These products are designed to specifically target varroa mites and repeated use of them can result in resistance by the mite which then renders the product useless. This happened with Apistan many years ago and it needed a considerable time lag before the product could be used again. Resistance should not be a problem when thymol or oxalic based products are used as the mite should not be able to develop resistance to them.

Continuing with the varroa theme some trustees attended the recent Eastern Regional Bee Forum organised by our Regional Bee Inspector, Jack Silberad. The message from this meeting was that varroa is still the main killer of colonies and we must not let our guard down. Inspectors note that when a colony dies out for no apparent reason varroa is normally the cause of its demise. The message is do treat during August so that we the winter bees are fit and healthy. Treating later that this becomes less effective as some of the winter bees will be compromised.

Thankfully wasps are less of an issue this year compared to last. If this reduction applies to the whole county I’m not sure. Yes wasps are around but in fewer numbers.

Recently I made some nucs to overwinter and the queens should have emerged by now. However, due to the weather it appears colonies ejected drones earlier than normal. It will be interesting to see if there are laying queens in the coming weeks. Problems with new queens has been an issue for much of the season and again this has been weather related. Just another wrinkle that beekeepers need to contend with in order to have a strong colony ready to go through the winter.

And then onto feeding bees in a few weeks’ time. I normally start at the beginning of September and aim to finish by the end of the month. Then after feeding an empty super is returned to the hive in case there is a heavy ivy flow. Personally, I don’t want a lot of ivy honey in the brood box. Bees don’t seem to overwinter well on ivy and it also clogs the brood box, reducing egg laying space for the queen. When we started looking into colonies this spring there were reports of bees dying out for no apparent reason. Plenty of stores were present but the bees had just died out. This may be because the brood nest became too full the previous autumn thereby the reducing the number of winter bees needed to maintain the colony. The queen needs some empty frames from September onwards – if the brood frames are full of stores some must be removed and empty ones returned to allow the queen to lay.

There will be a Zoom session next Tuesday to chat over any of these points as well as anything else you may wish to raise. An email reminder will be sent before the meeting.

As usual the weather has a large impact on our beekeeping. We have had cold, dry and windy weather followed by heatwaves. This has had an impact on foraging and honey flow. As I drive around the county I have seen several fields of phacelia but the they have ‘gone over’ prematurely I think due to the weather. In a normal season they can produce a good honey crop.

We are about to start the last significant foraging month of the season for most of us with blackberry now in flower. Strong colonies can bring in a lot of nectar is a short space of time in the right conditions so ensure there is enough super space to take advantage of a good flow.

I am a fan of overwintering nucs and there is still time to make some up – they are an insurance for winter losses.. One aspect of the honey flow so far on nuc production has been managing them for space. They have brought in so much honey that a frame of stores has been taken from many nucs on a regular basis to provide space. When producing nucs they either need feeding or they bring in too much honey so they do need regular attention to ensure they thrive.

The weather this spring has been favourable for wasps so they no doubt they will be making an appearance in the coming weeks. Reduce entrances to a small gap so the bees can defend themselves more easily. Colonies that are still building up and nucs are more vulnerable to wasp predation so take extra care with them. Once wasps start robbing a colony it is difficult to stop them so prevention is definitely order of the day. Some beekeepers set up wasp traps nearby but not in the apiary to reduce the wasp numbers. Something to consider perhaps.

Last year there were some spots where the honey flow went on well into August. Because of that I will probably use Formic Pro this year. The reason is that the treatment time is only a week so it allows time to catch a late flow if there is one. Although we won’t be treating for varroa for few weeks yet it is necessary to order your preferred treatment now so it is available for August time. A colony needs healthy winter bees to be able to survive till spring time. Applying no treatment or treating too late means the winter bees will be compromised.

Finally, keep hydrated when beekeeping in this heat. Better still, don’t put on a beesuit until the heatwave is over!

Yet again the weather is having a significant impact on our beekeeping. As with last year we are going through a prolonged dry spell although rain is forecast in the coming days. The difference this year is that for much of May we had below average temperatures until the heatwave.

So what impact has this had on our beekeeping? Well as the weather was mild so early in the season bees built up strongly, especially if they were on oil seed rape (OSR). Many colonies were split by the end of April to prevent swarming. The weather then took a turn for the worse which prevented new queens going on mating flights. There have been several reports of colonies now without a laying queen or poorly mated queens.

In the process of putting these notes together I looked up timings for viable queen mating. The following are the results:

Day 0: Queen emerges.

Days 4–7: Sexual maturation; orientation flights begin.

Days 5–14: Prime mating period. Most successful mating flights occur during this window.

Days 14–21: Mating success starts to decline if she remains unmated.

After about 3–4 weeks: The risk of a poorly mated or completely unmated queen increases significantly.

By 4–6 weeks: Many queens are considered “stale” or “over-age” for reliable mating. Some can still mate, but success rates and sperm storage tend to be lower.

At a practical level we can consider the times below to guide us in our decision making:

<2 weeks after emergence: Usually no concern.

2–3 weeks: Watch closely.

>3 weeks: Increasing risk of inadequate mating.

>4 weeks: Many beekeepers would consider replacing her if no eggs are present and mating weather has been available.

I think that many colonies around the county are impacted by the recent cold spell.

If you think you have colony that is queenless and should have a laying queen by now there is a reliable way to determine if a queen is present or not. Place a frame of eggs from a colony with good characteristics in the hive (and mark with a pin so it obvious which frame it is). Leave the hive for 7 days and then inspect. If queen cells have been produced then a queen is not present. Leave one good looking queen cell and leave the colony alone for at least three weeks by which time the new queen should be laying.

If no queen cells were produced then a queen is present. Look on the other frames and check to see if she has come into lay during the past week. If she has then all is well. However, if there are no eggs the likelihood is that a failed queen is present. The workers can detect her presence even though she cannot perform properly. The queen needs to be removed before any of the following steps is taken:

1. Add another frame of eggs to produce a queen
2. Unite the colony elsewhere
3. Introduce a new queen, either bought in or one of your own

We are roughly a quarter way through the active season already and many colonies are in swarm mode. The earliest swarm I heard about was on 3^rd April so we have another very early season.

Most of my bees are on OSR (rape) and have 3 or 4 supers. It looks as if the rape will flower for another week or so there is the potential for a good crop this year. Removing supers with OSR is always a tricky decision – do it too soon and the honey is not ripe; do it too late and it starts to set in the comb. I try to remove the supers when the OSR looks mainly green and just a small amount of yellow is still showing.

As mentioned above we are in swarming season already so keep checking for queen cells and carry out an artificial swarm if any are found. As the bees have bult up strongly (at least two supers full of bees) an option is to carry out a pre-emptive artificial swarm. Essentially the colony is split into two as normal so another complete set of kit is needed.

If the queen is found place her in a new box on the old site with a couple of frames of sealed brood (making sure there are no queen cells on them). Fill the box with drawn frames and/or foundation and return the supers.

If the queen is not found place a frame containing mainly eggs in the new box on the old site. Do look at this frame carefully for the queen. Return the supers to the old site and the bees will produce queen cells. Inspect the colony after a week and leave a single, good looking queen cell.

Now, the queen should be in the old box on the new site so will require an empty super. As there are very few flying bees this colony should not attempt to swarm for quite a while if at all this season. But it is prudent to inspect it occasionally for queen cells.

If there is not enough equipment to carry out a conventional artificial swarm there is another option using a nuc. If the queen can be found place her in a nuc with a frame of sealed brood and add a frame of stores. Fill the nuc with either frames that are drawn or foundation. Shake bees into the nuc from at least 2 or 3 brood frames to ensure there are enough nurse bees present. If most of the frames contain foundation then light feeding is probably needed so the bees can draw the new frames.

This option is normally a temporary fix as the nuc can build up quite quickly. When the new queen in the old brood box is up and running then the old queen can be dispatched if no longer needed. Or keep the nuc to overwinter but it will need regular checks. It is often necessary to remove a frame of food and / or brood to prevent overcrowding. The frame of brood can be added to an existing hive; the frame of food can be kept for winter to feed a light colony (but keep away from wax moths!).

A final point about artificial swarms. New queens in strong colonies often take quite a while before they start laying – often several weeks. New queens in nucs however come into lay much quicker. Some of the nucs I have made this year have new queens laying within two weeks. They can build up between now and the summer flow.

As the weather has been so mild recently the season is again very early this year. Fields of OSR are in full flower (or almost) in many locations that I travel through. That is really early. It also means that swarming is also likely to be early this year so spare kit should be ready and available to carry out artificial swarms etc. It would not surprise me if swarming starts well before the end of April. I have seen adult drones in several colonies so that shows that some colonies are developing quickly.

A lot of colonies have come through strongly and are building up quickly. The strong colonies are likely to need more space before too long just to accommodate the adults on a warm day. Most of my colonies now have a super below the crown board plus one on top of it. If the bees need space during the day they can move into the top super. Then, on cold nights, the adults can move back down below the crown to help with warming duties.

All my colonies have a 50mm piece of Celotex under the roof to help retain heat. These stay on the hive until late May as nights can be cold quite late into the season. Colonies produce a lot of brood from now onwards and the number of adults is limited until later in the season so heat retention is important.

Now is the time I look for queens and mark & clip them. Finding queens is a knack and it can take some time to learn this skill. But with time and practice it is a skill that many can master.

Here are some pointers when looking:

Use minimal smoke so you don’t disturb the colony too much.

Work in good light—sunlight helps a lot.

Check frames with eggs first.

Look for fresh eggs (tiny white grains standing upright in cells).

The queen was there within the last 1–3 days, so she’s likely nearby.

Scan methodically slowly from one corner across, row by row (don’t just glance randomly). Look for the “circle of attention” – workers often form a circle around the queen, facing inward and feeding her.

Watch for movement – queens tend to walk steadily, not dart around like workers.

Check the centre of the brood nest – she’s usually where the eggs and larvae are most dense.

Once found I use the ‘twist and turn’ cage which allows me to cut a small piece off one wing. Once this is done it is easy to mark her thorax with a marking pen. It’s best to carry this out in this sequence so the paint can dry after she has been clipped.

Clipped queens cannot fly properly so, if she tries to leave with a swarm she normally falls to the ground nearby, often walking back to the hive and under the floor. Sometimes the swarm will follow her or just return to the hive. As Winnie the Pooh say, you can never tell with bees!