A month in the Apiary - OCTOBER

The good late summer September weather has been replaced with the first of the Sussex gales. It’s more of a stiff breeze, at this stage, with a lot of rain thrown in. Nevertheless, wet, and windy enough to preclude any outdoor jobs, and instead make my thoughts turn to winter projects. In practice there is virtually no practical beekeeping to be done between the start of October and early/mid-April i.e., over 6 months of the year. Some ignore their bees and beekeeping for the entire winter and think (and do) something completely different. Out of desperation I tend to catch up on all the household chores that were abandoned during the bee season.

I shall do some reading and use some of the pleasant afternoons in the barn and both plan for the season ahead and prepare some of the kit that I might need. As Benjamin Franklin said “By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail.” There are also several winter talks available online through BIBBA (Bee Improvement & Bee Breeders Association).

By referring to my notes, I know that I’ve ended the season with 14 colonies (having started with 3); that swarming lasted from the end of April till the end of July; and that I’ve got a couple of stellar queens from which I’d like to raise 2-3 nucleus colonies (Nucs) from next season. I’m going to need a minimum of 35 new frames, with wax, next season, just for these Nucs. They need to be ready before swarming starts. In addition, a third of brood frames in the hives will be rotated out and replaced over the season, another 50 frames with wax. With this many colonies I shall use the Nuc boxes for swarm control. I think I’ll need more than this if my queen rearing goes well.

Once the hives get going, I’m going to need additional Supers (where the bees store the honey). To this end I’ve acquired an additional 30 Supers, each of which will take 10 frames. The wax foundation I’ll have to put into the frames. Whether it’s an average season, or not, it’s always easier to build the frames (fortified with a glass of wine) in the winter, rather than in a rush as I go to the apiary.

II suppose I’ll just have to order some more red in (more enjoyable and time flies if its decent) and get on with it.

Nick Pendleton