We now know officially that October was very warm. On 1st November I ate a picnic lunch outdoors in conditions that were more reminiscent of Summer than winter. I saw both honeybees and wasps on the wing that day and I have heard reports of bumblebees being remarkably active. There has been little or no frost and so plants and insects keep going. Two of our apple trees have been in blossom through much of October. Our bees will continue to work the ivy through November and December whenever conditions allow. Ivy honey stored in brace comb between frames has already granulated in some of my hives. Colonies that were not fed and which have taken an abundance of nectar from ivy will have difficulty utilising this in the depths of Winter. They need an ample supply of water to convert the granulated stores and so may benefit from an artificial stream near the hives.
Varroa treatment should be finished by now. Feeding would normally be complete but colonies will probably be able to take down syrup and ripen and cap it in this mild weather. It is an open question whether the warm autumn will benefit colony survival. Greater activity may draw more heavily on stores and lead to shortage later in the Winter. Once feeders and lifts have been taken away and hives have been prepared for Winter, take the opportunity to 'heft' each hive and make a mental note of the feel of the weight. If stores drop too much the hive will be obviously light and emergency feeding may be necessary. A very interesting method of emergency/precautionary winter feeding is advocated by A.E.McArthur in 'Milestones in Beekeeping and the Swarm Trigger Discovered' (I've read it three times and I still can't find it!). This involves placing up to four 1Kg. bags of sugar above each colony overwintered on a single brood chamber. The bags are wetted and placed directly over the brood frames on which the bees are clustering. Surplus water in the hive is taken up by the sugar which can be used by the colony without breaking the cluster. Further advantages include suppression of too-early brood rearing and reduced defecation in the hive.
Last year I overlooked putting a mouseguard on one hive. Mice duly moved in and destroyed much of the comb. The colony survived only because it was on 11/2 boxes and the mice stayed on the brood chamber. Even with a thorough Spring-clean, the colony failed to thrive and was eventually united to another.
The British Bee journal for 5th February 1891 gave an interesting account of a wild colony of bees on bluffs near the Cumberland River, Kentucky. Boatman had observed the bees for many years and it was thought that there must be a considerable amount of honey stored within the rock. The entrance to the hive was inaccessible and so a well-borer was called and a three-inch hole bored 85' from the cliff above. In the words of the Boston Transcript "barrels and tubs by the score were filled and carried off to neighboring farms, and the syndicate has sent to Louisville for more". The same volume of the Journal published a piece about the cause of foul brood being "the burning of rotten and decayed wood in our smokers". Inspiration for this theory came from accounts of the origin of influenza in Russia. "It is caused by animalculae, generated between the bark and the wood of their firewood. When those billets of wood are laid on the fire, the germs float off to spread the disease". Greater virulence is due to colder winters depleting timber stacks down to the most rotten wood! So, no burning of rotten wood in our smokers, nor on our open fires this winter!
Will Messenger 6th November 2001