September

September

September Beekeeping Guide

This is the month to get serious about winter.

September is one of those months where there are things that need to be done now, not in a few weeks.

The days are getting shorter, the bees are changing from summer bees to long-lived winter bees, and the colony is preparing for the months when there won't be much food coming in.

This is also a critical time for varroa mites. Mite populations can increase quickly while the colony is producing the bees that need to carry it through winter.

If you have a weak queen, high mite levels, or a light hive, September is not the time to hope things improve on their own.

Get the hive where it needs to be now.

Items Needed This Month

Start Preparing for October

  • Feed 1 gallon of 2:1 syrup (when needed)
  • Continue monitoring food stores
  • Continue monitoring mite levels

What You Should Be Doing Every Inspection

Inspect about every 14 days.

You're looking for three things above everything else:

Is the queen still laying?
Are the bees healthy?
Do they have enough food?

Check for:

  • Eggs
  • A healthy brood pattern
  • Pearly white, moist larvae
  • Honey and pollen stores
  • Overall colony strength
  • Signs of disease
  • Signs of excessive mite damage

The colony will naturally begin shrinking as summer bees die off and winter bees replace them.

That's normal.

What you don't want to see is a sudden or dramatic population crash.

If the population is dropping faster than expected, investigate before assuming it's simply the change of season.

New Beekeepers (First-Year Hives)

If you've made it this far with a healthy first-year colony, you're getting close to the finish line.

But don't relax yet.

Your goal now is to get that colony heavy, healthy, and well populated before winter arrives.

Get the Honey Harvest Finished

If you still have honey supers on the hive, this is the time to get them off.

You should be down to roughly the equivalent of two deep brood boxes for winter.

Don't take more honey than the colony can afford to lose.

The bees need that food. Otherwise you can feed to replace empty food stores.

Check Your Winter Stores

Ideally, your hive should be approaching 100 pounds total hive weight by October in our area.

That's a target—not an exact requirement for every hive.

Weather, equipment, colony size, and the amount of stored honey all make a difference.

If your hive is light, start feeding 2:1 syrup now.

Don't wait until October.

Feeding 2:1 Syrup

The goal is to get food into the hive while the bees still have enough time to process it, reduce the moisture content, and cap it.

If the hive is significantly light, you may need to feed more aggressively.

If you have the equipment and the colony can handle it, larger amounts can be fed at a time. Otherwise, feed smaller amounts more frequently.

Just keep an eye on the brood nest.

Don't fill every available cell with syrup.

The queen still needs room to lay the last rounds of winter bees through October.

A hive that is packed with food but short on young bees can still have a difficult winter.

Overwintered Hives (2+ Years)

The same basic rules apply, but your established colonies may have a much larger population and can consume or store food much faster.

These colonies are also often the ones carrying the largest mite populations.

September is when I want to know exactly what I'm dealing with.

Mite Management

September is one of the most important times of year to get your mite levels under control.

The bees being raised now need to live through winter, and high mite levels can seriously weaken those winter bees before winter even arrives.

My approach is simple:

Test. Treat. Test again.

Don't assume a treatment worked just because you put it in the hive. Check your mite level again after the treatment is complete. Treatment is only half the equation. Knowing whether it worked is what protects your bees.

How to Test for Mites Video

Your Treatment Options

There are several treatments that can work well. Choose the one that fits your colony and the conditions you are working with.

Formic Pro (Formic Acid)

Formic Pro is a good option when temperatures are within the product's recommended range. One advantage is that it can be used with honey supers on the hive when the label allows it.

  • Read the instructions before applying
  • Don't use it on colonies that are too weak
  • Watch the weather forecast carefully
  • Temperature is especially important during the first few days
  • Test again after treatment to see how well it worked

Apiguard (Thymol)

Apiguard is another option for controlling varroa mites, particularly after the honey supers have been removed.

  • Remove honey supers before treatment
  • Make sure temperatures are appropriate for the product
  • Follow the application directions on the package
  • Give the treatment time to work before deciding whether another treatment is necessary
  • Test your mite level again after treatment

One thing to keep in mind with Apiguard and Formic Pro is that it can temporarily affect bee behavior and brood rearing while the treatment is in the hive. That's one reason I prefer to use it when I can still give the colony plenty of time to recover before winter.

If you have already treated and your follow-up mite test is still above your treatment threshold, consider an appropriate follow-up treatment rather than assuming the first treatment was enough.

Oxalic acid treatments are a softer treatment and can also be used as part of your mite-management plan or follow up treatment.

  • OAV — Oxalic Acid Vapor
  • OAD — Oxalic Acid Dribble
  • OAE — Oxalic Acid Extended Release

Don't Combine Treatments Unless the Label Says You Can

This is important.

More treatment does not necessarily mean better mite control.

Choose a treatment, follow the label, and then test again. If mites are still too high, you can make a decision about the next treatment based on your new mite count and the current conditions.

Hive Configuration for Winter

By now, you should be down to approximately two deep boxes.

Upper brood box

Ideally, the second box will contain:

  • A substantial amount of honey
  • Some pollen
  • Some brood toward the center

If the box is nearly all honey, make sure the lower brood nest still has enough open cells for the queen to continue laying.

Lower brood box

You should see:

  • Most of the brood toward the center
  • Honey and pollen surrounding the brood
  • One or two frames of honey toward the outside

Some colonies will have more honey than this, and some will have less.

The important thing is that you have enough food without sacrificing the brood nest.

Start Protecting Against Robbing

By September, the nectar flow is usually pretty poor here in Utah.

That means robbing pressure increases.

Wasps, yellow jackets, and other bees will take advantage of a weak or poorly defended entrance.

Put your entrance reducer back on after mite treatment.

For a strong colony, I generally use the larger opening.

For a smaller colony, use the smaller opening so they have less entrance to defend.

Looking Ahead: Preparing for Winter

This is the month when winter preparation becomes very real.

The bees being raised right now are some of the most important bees the colony will produce all year.

They're built to live much longer than summer bees and carry the colony through the winter.

That's why September mite control is so important.

A colony can look strong on the outside while mites are quietly damaging the bees that need to survive until spring.

Your checklist is getting pretty simple now:

Healthy queen.
Low mites.
Healthy winter bees.
Enough food.
Strong population.

If one of those is missing, fix it now while you still have time.

September Checklist

All Hives

  • Inspect every 14 days
  • Confirm the queen is laying
  • Check brood quality
  • Check population
  • Check food stores
  • Harvest remaining honey
  • Test for mites
  • Treat and verify treatment effectiveness
  • Reduce the entrance
  • Feed 2:1 syrup as needed

New Hives

  • Make sure the colony is heavy enough for winter
  • Continue feeding if stores are light
  • Protect the brood nest from becoming honey bound
  • Watch population closely

Overwintered Hives

  • Evaluate queen quality
  • Check winter stores
  • Get mite levels under control
  • Continue feeding until adequate weight is reached
  • Make sure the colony still has enough brood and young bees

Winter Readiness Check

Before you close the hive, ask yourself:

Is my queen still laying well?

Are my mite levels under control?

Does this hive have enough healthy bees to form a good winter cluster?

Does it have enough food to make it through winter?

Is the entrance small enough for the colony to defend?

If you can't answer "yes" to one of those questions, September is the time to fix it.

Final Thought

September is not the month to put things off.

The weather will soon make it harder to correct problems, and the colony will have fewer opportunities to recover from mistakes.

Get the mites under control.

Get the hive to weight.

Make sure you have a healthy queen and plenty of healthy winter bees.

Then let the bees do what they've been preparing to do all summer.

Get ready for winter.

Keep your Hive Alive.