What’s going on this month in the hive?

What tasks do I need to do to ensure hive health?

October in the hive

The bees begin to bring pollen into the hive.  The queen is laying eggs and the population is growing fast.  Drones begin to appear.

Beekeeper Tasks

  • Do your first comprehensive inspection on the first warm day.  Check for evidence of the queen.  Is there plenty of eggs and brood?  Is there a nice pattern to her egg laying?
  • Later in the month, you may reverse the brood boxes to stimulate growth in the colony and better distribution of brood.
  • Apply Varroa treatments if you have not already done so.
  • Remove entrance reducers.
  • Feed sugar syrup if necessary.
  • Check pollen stores and feed supplements if necessary.  (Remember Mineral Bee – see link below, contains all the necessary minerals and vitamins for your bees health.)
  • Check all brood frames for AFB.
  • Control swarms by re-queening and splitting hives.  Check out our blog on the difference between swarm and supercedure cells: https://www.hiveworld.co.nz/swarm-cells-supersedure-cells/

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