October in the beeyard.
The big stump is a rather large colony of bees. It is too late in the year for me to attempt to cut them out, so I am going to try to get them through winter where they are.
Somehow, which I have yet to figure out, the bees have no flow, and apparently have not had a flow for some time.. I noticed no activity at one of the nucs, so checked on it, and found the bees in the cells head first.. I am completely astounded.. We have had exceptionally excellent weather. PLENTY of rain, and there are flowers/goldenrod blooming EVERYWHERE.. If I was made to bet on the state of things, I would have bet we were in the best fall flow for over ten years..
Last year, we got 0 inches of precipitation from the end of June to the beginning of August.. we got .10 inches, then nothing until the first part of October, and we had a mild flow the entire time, my bees made honey.. this year, with great rain, and a plethora of flowers my hives are nearly empty and I am feeding like a madman to get them ready for winter.. Go figure... Fumagilin syrup was fed, and now I am just trying to put on a little extra weight. Time is quickly running out. I will have to stop feeding by the end of this week, so they can get the syrup dehydrated, and hopefully capped.. After that.. we will be preparing to wrap them up for the winter. More pics of them when they are ready! Lets all pray for a mild winter!!
Keep those bees happy!
Scott