November

The Bees

The queen's egg laying comes to a stop in this month. The bees begin forming their cluster for the winter. There will be some flight activity on the warmer days, mostly cleasning flights as there is almost no food/nectar/pollen for the bees to gather at this point.

At this time almost all of the drones in the hive have been kicked out. A small population may remain but it is more likely that all have been eliminated from the hive. As you may know, the worker bees remove the drones from the hive since they are a drain on the hives winter resources.

The Beekeeper

There is not much to be done for the bees at this time. Remove all medication treatments (if remaining) on a warm day with little or no wind. Ensure that entrance reducers are on the hive to help maintain temperature. This is the time of year when mice will try to enter the hive, check that your entrance reducers are on properly to keep mice out. Check that your hives have enough ventilation to help remove moisture from the hive; excess moisture can seriously harm your colonies. Catch up on some reading in books or trade magazines (see the Bulk Book Purchase feature). Identify additional markets for your bee related products for the next year. Make plans to attend the next association meeting in December. Take a well deserved rest and enjoy the upcoming holidays. Think about workshops and meeting agendas that you would like to see for the next year - share those ideas with the presidency of the association. Spread the word about the UCBA and lets see if we can't find some new members to share the joy with!