October 2025 in your Central Oregon Apiary

Well, it’s now actually feeling like Autumn.  Leaves are turning, occasionally nights are getting down to freezing, I think I’m starting to smell pumpkin pie spice outside the local coffee stand, and the heat seems to need to be turned on in the mornings.  There are still a few flowers blooming in town, and the average high temperature is moving from the 70s to the 60s.

Your bees are now working hard to finish preparation for winter mode.  For the most part, they’re just finishing off ripening the honey they’ve collected and capping it.  They’ll also be sealing up unwanted holes and cracks in the hive, AND kicking out the drones.

If your colony is light (less than about 70% full of food), you still have a chance to provide non-emergency food.  Since the bees are really no longer collecting and processing much nectar, I generally will feed 2:1 heavy syrup as long as the average temperature is above 55 degrees (other opinions are to only feed 1:1 syrup and stop when average highs are below 60 degrees.)  Once that lower average high temperature is reached, really the only way to help your bees are to add reserved full frames of capped honey, or a sugar patty of some sort or fondant.

If you’re still having issues getting your mite levels down to winter levels (in my opinion 1% or less), you can still provide treatments.  The ones that work now, are formic acid (above 50 degrees), Apivar, hopguard 2 and multiple treatments of oxalic acid (remember there are still capped brood).  Please see the HBHC tools for varroa management for specifics……AND follow the directions on the package.

If you harvested your honey and haven’t yet extracted, it would be advantageous to finish extracting and bottling before the temperatures get too low both from the viscosity point of view, as well as the possible crystallization point of view.

After extraction, remember to store your supers appropriately.  You can store them either wet (little bit of honey still there) or dry (cleaned out by the bees).  Either store them in a tightly closed area (shed or basement with no “holes”) or in the open, but tightly sealed.  This is both to stop robbing, as well as keep the wax moths out.

At this point, that weak colony won’t have time to build up.  The best action, if you want to “save” it, is to combine it with another colony, assuming neither one is diseased or has issues like a drone laying queen.

Finally, If you’re planning on insulating your hive, this month would be a good time to complete that task.  As pointed out in September, there are many ways to, and thoughts about insulation.  My main concern is to have something (rock or strap) holding down the cover, so it doesn’t blow off in a storm.  I also like an entrance reducer primarily to keep mice out.

Enjoy the change in the seasons.

Allen Engle