Fall is a very busy time in the bee yard. After extracting the surplus honey the ladies are left to free forage the variety of fall blooms to keep their stocks topped up in preparation for winter, but the beekeeper gets little rest.
The colonies are each inspected and we spend the month balancing population, evaluating queens, checking stores, and ensuring there are no signs of disease. We also treat test and treat for mites as those are the biggest killers of bee colonies over winter.
We use “soft” organic acids for this: Oxalic and Formic acids. Oxalic acid is found in rhubarb, and formic acid is employed by fire ants as a defense mechanism. Both are effective against varroa mites which plague bees and beekeepers and require constant vigilance to keep suppressed.
Bees will be brought into the wintering sheds or wrapped for outside wintering around Halloween, and spend the fall consolidating resources, collecting nectar and pollen, and plastering up any cracks or holes with propolis to eliminate drafts. The queen slows down egg laying production as a heavy population isn’t needed with the flowers and forage rapidly declining.
They gauge the production of new bees with the amount of pollen and nectar arriving every hour, the angle and minutes of daylight that is reduced every day, and the population decline as old bees start age out and expire.
Bees hatching out this time of the year are physiologically different from their summer sisters, as they need longer longevity to see the hive through our long winters. If you are a fan of biology and wish to know how the process works in detail, this guy gives an eloquent and detailed overview of the seasonal differences: https://theapiarist.org/winter-bee-production/m (external link)
Wanna be a beekeeper like all the other cool kids? Send me an email ( honeyb@mymts.net ) and I’ll get you on your path to adventure! A physically demanding, sweaty, summer consuming adventure. Good Times Guaranteed!
No? Well, I still gotcha covered. The new crop is in, and once we get some traction, we will be expanding our retail section at our shop at 128 Victoria Ave West hopefully in time for the holiday shopping season.
We will be featuring new stuff, and multi packs, and more gifty items for your family and fellow honey aficionados. Propolis and pollen capsules, new honey jars, and lots of cool stuff!
A big shout-out, and thank you to our friends at Little Brown Jug! They were set up at Folk Fest promoting the awesomeness that is LBJ Golden Ale.
I’m not about stealing thunder from the best brewmaster in Manitoba, but good food and drink starts with premium ingredients and John Russell Honey is one of the quality components of LBJ Golden Ale. Silver Heights Restaurant (http://silverheightsrestaurant.ca/) knows what I’m talking about. The immortal Al? Creator of the best honey dill on the planet? I’m honored that my honey contributes to that masterpiece. (recipe printed on every jar of Honey with Dill)
Bumble Bee Rescue and Relocation was rocking this summer! 19 nests relocated, 13 more consulted and preserved, and 9 honey bee swarms captured, that did not include 2 cut outs from soffits that were successfully transplanted. A big acknowledgement to the Red River Apiarists’ swarm team that stayed “on call” all summer to ensure these swarms made it to safe harbors.
We will be road testing a Pineapple in Creamed Honey in October. This is an insane Hail Mary, but I’ve never been accused of being mentally stable. We will give this one a spin and send it to the court of public opinion, and see if there is a genius behind the madness. I’m betting not, but my lead hand Faryns’ Pumpkin Spice was a hit despite my objections and you will see my successful offering (despite my initial poor judgement) now on sale as fall comes upon us. Thank you, Faryn: You again prove to be the voice of reason.
See you next time, my friends. Until then, have a honey of a day!
John Russell
