November in your

Central Oregon apiary

Wow, Fall is fallen.  November is always an interesting month.  We suddenly, and kind of permanently went from a nice extended warm autumn to a cold and drizzly “pre-winter”.

Well you’re bees are “hunkered down” and only taking the occasional flight during those few 50 plus degree days.  There isn’t much more currently you can do for them inside the hive.  Outside you can still finish your winterizing if you’re not yet done.  These are all your choice, however wrapping or insulating your hive, adding an entrance reducer or mouse guard, adding some wind protection (straw bales maybe) upwind, putting that all important rock on the cover and ☹ ( closing up the dead-outs) ☹.  If you have access to an infrared camera, it’s kind of fun and enlightening to watch where your colony is in the hive throughout the winter. 

Next, during these stormy days, spend a few minutes or hours doing a recap or critique of this last season for you.  Were you happy with your mite counts/treatments, did you have the appropriate number of colonies, did you spend the right amount of time on your bees vs other important activities in life, were you happy where your colony was located, were you happy with your package/nuc/queen acquisitions?  I find it’s best to question my last season while it’s still relatively fresh, and to write down my thoughts.

Perhaps you’ve done some harvesting from your colonies this Fall.  Now might be the time to create some holiday decorations/gifts from the products of your hive, honey, candles, lotion, kitchen gadgets.  They’re pretty easy and satisfying to do, and people seem to really enjoy things you’ve created yourself.  Frequently December is a good deal busier so November can be a good time to do this.

Finally, enjoy your friends and family.  They’re one of the main reasons I enjoy life.

Happy Autumn,

Allen Engle

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