Forage in August/September is primarily goldenrod and aster and in some areas Japanese knotweed, basswood & sumac. Some areas may see a dearth, or time when flowers are not giving up their nectar. Keep an eye out as we get into September for bees sniffing around seams of beehives. These are usually robber bees. You can reduce the hive entrance. The obstacle created by 1/2 inch hardware cloth helps disrupt robbers from being able to scoot by guards at the entrance.

Harvest Surplus Honey
This is a good time to remove extra supers and harvest surplus honey, returning frames to be cleaned up by the bees. Do this during a good nectar-pollen flow and bees are busy and without exposing the colony to robbers. In some parts of the state it may be time to begin the consolidation process in preparation for fall-winter. This means keeping in mind how many boxes are going into winter and moving honey frames around empty ones to encourage the bees to maximize the space for storing the fall flow without leaving empty boxes or frames with just foundation on top going into winter. Comb building on foundation may stop mid-summer.

Brood laying will slow down the end of August, but not yet! Managing this takes some experience but keep space in the hive in mind if you add or subtract boxes. Keep the brood area intact. A colony normally will have a “wall” or frame full of honey and/or pollen defining the brood nest between them. Keep this section in order. This is their plan for survival.

Winter Honey – Keep in mind that one colony will need approximately 60 to 100 pounds of honey (that’s at least two medium supers full) to make it through winter.

As in July – In hot and humid weather, it’s not unusual for bees to hang out on the front porch, clinging to the hive. This is called “bearding” and it’s normal. They are relieving congestion so air can circulate and keep the brood at a safe temperature. Open up the entrance reducer when the bees appear congested at the entrance. If you don’t have a nearby source of water, make sure you provide one. Bees use water to cool off the hive. Whatever you use, the bees should have something to stand on so they don’t drown. Small rocks in a shallow pie plate work well.