Track this against your own hives - free, on the web and the App Store.
Where this comes from. The National Bee Unit’s fact sheets on preparing colonies for winter and on starvation, its best practice guidelines on feeding sugar and on varroa, and its Starting Right with Bees. Sources at the foot of the page. Each job links to the guide that goes into it properly.
What October is for
October is the month the hive gets closed up. The feeding has to finish, the weight you want to keep through the winter gets fixed in your hands, and the hive is made safe from damp, mice, woodpeckers and wind. After this month you are checking from the outside, not working the colony.
Finish the feeding
Syrup has a deadline. Depending on where you are, the weather and the size of the colony, bees may not be able to process syrup and store it properly beyond the middle of October. If there is not enough honey on the combs by the end of the month, feed fondant instead. 1
Do not leave syrup on into the winter. It is too cold for the bees to use it, and syrup left in a feeder for a long time can grow mould. 1 2 The target for the whole autumn is about 20 kg of stores, honey and syrup together. 1 Feeding for winter works out the amounts, and Fondant covers what comes next.
Ivy is the late flow in much of the UK, and ivy honey can set very hard. Feeding syrup while the bees are still bringing ivy nectar in mixes the two in the comb, which may help stop the stores setting so hard. 5
Learn the weight
Once the feeding is done, heft each hive to learn the weight it has now. That is the weight to hold on to through the winter. If a colony gets noticeably lighter, it will probably need fondant. 1
- Lift one side of the box, then the other, in case the stores sit at one end. 1
- Heft every other week through the winter. 1
- Hives can be heavier than you expect. Lift safely, and ask for help. 1
The October mite check
October is one of the four key times to monitor varroa. This check tells you whether the late summer treatment worked, and whether a winter oxalic acid treatment is needed at all. 3 Write the result down: it decides the winter treatment. Oxalic acid and the broodless window covers the winter treatment.
Close the hive up
The National Bee Unit’s winter list for the hive itself: 1
- Mouse guards on. Mice nest in hives over winter and can kill a colony.
- Woodpeckers, where they are a known problem: a cage of chicken wire around and over the hive, at least 300 mm from the walls so the bees can still fly.
- Strap the hive to its stand, so the wind cannot take the roof. Go carefully with polystyrene hives, which an overtightened ratchet can damage.
- Roofs watertight, hives up on stands, and tilted very slightly forward so condensation runs out of the entrance.
- Open mesh floors: the inserts can come out over winter, unless the site is windy.
- Queen excluder out, so the cluster cannot move up through it after food and leave the queen behind.
- Cut the space to fit the colony. A small colony in a double brood box may need taking down to one box, or dummy boards to close up the spare room.
It is damp, rather than cold, that kills bees, so keep the air moving. The roof, the entrance and the floor usually give enough ventilation. Insulation can help where winters are harsh, as long as the ventilation stays. 1 Winter protection and Securing hives before a storm go further.
Wasps and robbing
Wasp numbers begin to fall from around late September. Until they have gone, keep the entrance blocks in, which makes the colony easier to defend. 6 Wasps and robbing has the rest, and the yellow-legged hornet guide covers what to report.
From now on, check from the outside
Through the winter, do not open the hive unless it is warm, but keep checking the food, at least once a month. The bees will survive a very quick check. They will not survive starving. 4
When you do look, pick a warm, sunny day with some bees flying, so they are not in a tight cluster. Lid off, check the food is there and close to the cluster, lid on: about 20 seconds. A clear crown board lets you see without letting the heat out. 1 How often to inspect a hive sets out the year.
In the shed
October is a good month for the kit that came off the hives. Storing supers over winter, cleaning the extraction kit and rendering the wax are all jobs for now, and November in the apiary picks up from here.
The short version
- Syrup finishes by mid October. Short at the end of the month? Fondant, not syrup.
- Heft every hive once fed, both sides, and remember the weight. Heft every other week from now.
- Do the October mite count. It decides whether you need oxalic acid in the winter.
- Mouse guards on, straps on, roofs sound, excluder out, hive tilted forward.
- From now on, quick food checks on warm days, at least monthly, and no full inspections.
This guide is general information, not legal advice. Rules change - always check the current guidance on GOV.UK before relying on it.