Brood rearing declines dramatically to a small cluster of cells. Drones remaining in the hive are ejected by the workers. The bees begin to winterize their hive by collecting propolis, a sticky substance made from plant resins. The hive is now harder to open, and many frames are glued into position with propolis.

The bees are much less active. The honey flow often ends, and the beekeeper will notice that stings are more frequent! This is because the foragers have less to do, and consequently spend more time at home guarding the hive. Swarming is still possible, but much less likely. Bees are now searching for water to cool their hive, and will fly for miles to find it if necessary. They place small drops of water in the cells and use their wings to fan the air over the cells.

This month is much like May, except the hive will have more bees. The honey and pollen flows continue. The days are long enough that the bees can fly for 14 to 16 hours a day, and they will.

There is now plenty of drone brood, which is ideal for varroa reproduction. It’s too early to treat for varroa, but it’s good to look for these mites by uncapping and examining the capped drone brood cells. (See the KSU publication “The Varroa Mite: an external parasite of honey bees”.)