ENVIRONMENT

As of 7/31, the blackberry flow is over and there is now robbing going on.  It's easy to tell robbers from your bees.  Robbers come out of the hive with their stomachs full of honey. So they crawl up the hive box before they take off.  They need more lift.

Be sure to have an entrance reducer on. I leave mine with the three inch opening available to them.  They can protect that.  If the colony is weak, perhaps then the one inch opening would be appropriate.

I've seen some very strong hives with three deep boxes full of bees and brood and lots of honey (plus supers)!  If I had those hives I would likely do a split. I'm not going to suggest how to do it because there are too many options and that's addressed elsewhere.  Be sure to move the split to another bee yard.  Your bees are welcome here....

I suppose most people would buy a queen for the split but there's still enough time for them to raise their own, for her to get mated, and for her to lay the eggs for the winter brood. They always raise a better queen than we can raise (or buy).

Our next batch of queens, if they succeed, will be available about August 8th.  We've had folks pick up queens from Marion Berry Bees in Hillsboro, 2 miles from 185th exit.  503-997-8830. They are the same price as Starr Farms. Starr Farms sends them overnight mail for $17. Gas from here to Hillsboro?....  More than $17.

It's time to get serious about treating.  You've got a huge colony, it's going to be heartbreaking to lose them over the winter. Formic Pro is the only treatment that kills the mites in the cells and can be used with supers on. For medium size colonies, be sure to use the half dose method. Don't treat colonies that are in the process of raising their own queen.

Ever onward.