Walking a Virginia yard in September: what we are checking before fall
September in a Virginia yard is not the postcard month. The goldenrod can fool you into thinking the season is still generous.
Under the lid, the colony is already negotiating winter. In drought years like this, the individual colony may have been negotiating winter since May.
I walk the yards the same way every time. Even when there is a lot to do, I try to slow down. Listen first. Observe. Then open.
Queen-right, or we have a problem
I am looking for eggs. Not hoping. Looking. Fresh eggs mean she is there and laying, queen-right, and the colony has a future measured in days of brood, but really it is more than just eggs.
If I do not see eggs, I do not invent a story for myself. I keep looking, then I decide what the bees are telling me.
September is a bad month to be polite about a missing queen.
Nectar and pollen, both
Nectar matters. So does pollen. Right now I am not checking for one and waving off the other. The girls need carbohydrate for energy and protein for brood and for the long haul into cool weather. A yard that looks "busy" at the entrance can still be light on stored pollen. I want to see both in the frames, not just activity that photographs well.
If a queen is not laying well this time of year, it could be because the colony does not have enough pollen. Pollen is an ingredient we don't talk enough about, yet it is incredibly important to the overall balance of the hive.
If there is not adequate pollen, we substitute, just like we substitute for nectar if we have to. We only substitute when necessary to ensure the health of the hive. Never during the honey production season, except in cases like this year's drought, when it was a matter of life or death of a colony. And in those cases, that colony is no longer considered a production colony. They are on survival mode.
Mites, then formic if we have to
Varroa does not take September off. I check for mites. If the numbers say treat, we treat. Formic acid when it is necessary. I am not romantic about that part. Formic acid when it is necessary. I am not romantic about that part. Healthy bees make honey in the spring. Sick bees make for empty boxes. Treating with formic has been difficult this year because of the temperatures, even this September has brought heat in the upper 90s which is a recipe for disaster when using formic acid.
Treatment is a tool, not a personality. The goal is a colony that can raise winter bees, not a colony that looks pretty for Instagram while mites finish the season for us. Later in the year we will treat with oxalic acid, at the winter solstice.
Peaceful Fridays, then the road
Fall markets will eat my calendar soon, and Fridays with the bees are actually a peaceful way of moving into the busy weekend. Next week I head to Halifax, Max Meadows Lavender Farm, closer to sourwood country where my buddy Mike works the bees. Then home base in Bremo Bluff and the Fluvanna outyards.
If you want honey that is guaranteed to come off Virginia frames from people who still open the boxes, start with our honey collection. You'll get honey from Floyd, VA, Amherst, VA, and Fluvanna, or elsewhere across Virginia if you so choose. Connecting you with the actual keepers that work the bees, beyond Edgewood, is one of the things I care about most. We've got Shenandoah Springtime honey back this year from Greenville, VA. And our friends in Warsaw, VA and Fauquier, VA are busy bringing honey to market as well. Bring your questions to the farm store in Bremo Bluff or the Richmond walk-in at Stony Point.
Journey with the Bees.
