October in the Sweet Drop Apiary

October is a month of transition: as the days grow shorter and cooler there is less forage for our bees and activity within the hives begins to slow.

The colony is still large but as there are more bees to do less work, each individual bee is able to live longer. The house bees will still consume large quantities of pollen but, instead of metabolizing this to brood food, will store it in their fat bodies as a food reserve that will ensure that they live through to the spring and will be ready to feed the new larvae and forage for fresh pollen and nectar.

The survival of the winter bees depends as much on the beekeeper as on the natural order: our colonies need to be strong, well-provisioned and free from disease. If we have carried out our September tasks efficiently and have fed, medicated and possibly united colonies then we can begin to relax a little and look forward to a quiet spell before next spring.