WEATHER CONDITIONS

• No specific conditions

GENERAL MANAGEMENT

• Move colonies to winter yards.
  • All apiaries are not created equal. Some are fine for producing honey but do not provide adequate winter protection. Once you identify a good winter yard, move as many colonies into it as will comfortably fit. Do not worry about overcrowding, as the bees will be living off of their own stores. A yard that holds 24 colonies during the summer can hold 2-3 times that many during the winter.
  • Colonies can be moved back to spring/summer yards the following spring. Just be sure you can access the yards involved by truck in the early spring.
• Prepare colonies for winter
  • Reduce bottom entrances.
  • Install mouse guards.
  • Tilt hives 2-3 degrees forward to allow water to drain.
  • Feed colonies with insufficient stores. This may be combined with the use of medication for prevention or control of Nosema apis.
  • With larger numbers of colonies, it is easier to remove all of the honey above the queen excluder and feed colonies to bring them to the target weight
  • If you a treating with Mite-Away II, you will need to wait until after the 3 week treatment period to feed.
  • Tip on feeding!
  • Make sure each colony has one or two full combs of pollen covered with honey or syrup in the middle of upper the brood chamber. They will need this in late winter and early spring.

IPM for HONEY BEE PESTS, PARASITES, PATHOGENS and PREDATORS

PESTS: Wax Moths and Small Hive Beetles

• Keep all of your unused combs in mothproof stacks or in a mothproof room or building, preferably unheated. Tape cracks between supers or repair supers so they fit tightly together. Inspect regularly! Treat with Para-moth® or Fumigator® at first sign of wax moth.
• The best solution for wax moths during the winter is to keep your combs in an unheated, mothproof room where they will freeze during the winter, but not be re-infected in the spring.
• To minimize damage from Small Hive Beetles:
  • Extract honey within one week of removing it from the hive and return supers to hives or place in cold storage.
  • Keep your honey house scrupulously clean.
  • Return extracted supers to the hive to be cleaned out. Place them above an escape board (an inner cover with the center hole left open) in the evening or on a cold or rainy day to avoid robbing. Do not set them outside to be robbed out.

PARASITES: Parasitic Mites and Nosema

• If you have not already done so, initiate fall treatment for Varroa destructor with Mite-Away II, Apistan, CheckMite+ or Api-Life VAR after removing honey crop.
• Initiate treatment for tracheal mites with Mite-Away II, Mite-A-thol or a grease patty after removing honey crop.
• Wear nitrile rubber gloves when handling Apistan or CheckMite+. See the labels for Api-Life VAR and Mite-Away II for special handling instructions.
• If your bees are rearing brood through October, you will need to exchange drone combs one more time during the last two weeks of October.
• Feed 2 gallons of 2:1 sugar syrup (by weight) with Fumidil-B or Fumigilin-B for control of Nosema apis after removing honey crop.

PATHOGENS: AFB and Other Diseases

• No specific action required.
• Always abate AFB colonies when you find them.
• If you are unsure about a diagnosis, send a sample to the Bee Research Laboratory for analysis.

PREDATORS: Bears and Skunks

• Maintain bear fences. Check voltage and trim grass.
• Check for skunk damage and install skunk guards if needed.