Summer Survival Guide for Strong Fall Hives

It might be blazing hot outside, but your bees are already thinking ahead to winter. What you do in the next few weeks will make a big difference in how well they make it through. That might sound like a lot, but don’t worry.

Follow a few simple steps, and your bees will do the rest.

Here’s what matters most this time of year:

Varroa Control

Always number one. Stay on top of mite levels with regular testing and timely treatment. Read more HERE! 

Nutrition

After honey harvest, feeding is crucial.

• Target: 30 pounds of syrup in the second box (or 15 pounds in a single deep). For easy math, fully capped frames weigh approximately 10 pounds each.
• Pollen: Natural sources are drying up. Use pollen patties  or Stan's Soft Sugar Bricks inside the hive and offer dry pollen outside.
• Water: Bees need a steady source within 50 feet to cool the hive and feed larvae. Watch this closely as summer progresses.

Summer Boxes

Knowing when to add or remove boxes is key in beekeeping—and we’re often better at adding than taking away! The 80-percent-full rule applies to both. While most hives won’t need extra boxes now, some may need space reduced as the queen slows laying during the summer dearth. If the colony has shrunk, remove only unused frames—keep brood in the center and resources on the edges. Just be sure the hive has truly downsized before condensing. Note: With good feeding and management, most hives hold their strength.

Mean Bees

August heat and nectar dearth make bees cranky. Other causes? Hungry bees, queen issues, overcrowding, or outside annoyances (like weed trimmers!).

Equalizing Hives

•       Brood: Take a capped brood frame near emergence (dark, solid cappings) from a healthy hive. Gently shake off the bees and place the frame just left or right of center in the weaker colony. Remove an empty or less valuable frame to make space. Only use healthy brood frames.

•       Bees: Take a frame of open brood (uncapped larvae) and either shake off the nurse bees at the donor hive or carry the frame with bees and shake them into the entrance of the weaker colony—but smoke lightly first. This helps ensure acceptance. You can do this with up to three frames, using different donor hives to avoid weakening them.

•       Honey: If a strong hive has extra honey frames, add one to the edge of the brood nest in the needy colony. You can also give undrawn foundation, but the bees will need a steady feeding of syrup to draw it out—trickle feeding is ideal.

Keep up with biweekly hive checks, treat for mites as needed, and keep feed on until dearth ends. Summer’s tough on bees and—let’s be honest—on us too! But staying consistent now means you’ll head into fall with strong, happy colonies.

Cover photo: Stan Gore