September Monthly Tips

September can bring cooler weather and some moisture—or more scorching
heat. Either way, continue to focus on maintaining 30 pounds of stored food for
your bees.
Test for mites, as mite populations can begin to climb, necessitating another mite
treatment. If you have two or fewer mites per 100 bees, treatment isn’t
necessary. However, if you do have two mites or slightly more per 100 bees, hold
off on treating yet monitor closely and test again in October.
September begins the rearing of winter bees. Worker bees rear two kinds of
bees—spring/summer bees and winter bees. Spring/summer bees are almost
disposable and are not fed quite the same diet. During those months, bees work
so hard that they work themselves to death in a matter of weeks; thus, they are
reared on a less-than-ideal diet. Winter bees are fed as close to a perfect diet as
possible to ensure they are able to survive the entire winter. As beekeepers, it is
crucial that we provide the bees with all the food and nutrition needed for our
bees to rear the healthiest- possible winter bees. We recommend feeding at least
two pounds of pollen substitute each month from September to November to
guarantee that sufficient nutrition is available.
If you want to requeen your hive, September is a great time to do so. This will be
the last month queens are available, so take advantage