No more brood in early October?

tjc1 · October 12, 2014, 12:01:05 AM

I went through two hives the other day - both seemed to be doing well, but neither had any uncapped brood (just some fairly old looking capped brood). I'm up in MA, but the weather has been pretty nice still - is this early for the queens to have stopped laying?

biggraham610 · October 12, 2014, 01:31:48 AM

Im seeing the same down here, fall flow was nearly non existent. I'm dumping the 2-1 to em and just hope they have the cluster they need. Good luck. G :chop:

ScituateMA · October 12, 2014, 01:33:22 AM

Mine have all stages of brood but the queens are not as big as they used to be. I feed them protein patties

rookie2531 · October 12, 2014, 05:33:42 AM

Quote from: ScituateMA on October 12, 2014, 01:33:22 AM
Mine have all stages of brood but the queens are not as big as they used to be. I feed them protein patties

Do the queens shrink? During winter only? When they run out of fert. Eggs?

sterling · October 12, 2014, 11:01:04 AM

When the workers want the queen to slow down egg laying they don't feed her as much. When the pollen starts coming in late winter early spring they will feed her and fatten her up so she will start laying big again. They also slim her down so she can fly before they swarm in the spring.

capt44 · October 12, 2014, 12:35:41 PM

I am noticing the same thing here in Central Arkansas.
I am feeding 2-1 sugar syrup and joining weaker hives with stronger ones hoping to have a larger cluster going into winter.
By indications I'm seeing from bees and nature in general I believe cold weather is going to set in early this year.
My way of thinking is I'd rather have 1 live hive in the spring as 2 dead ones.

biggraham610 · October 12, 2014, 01:58:48 PM

Capn, that thought has been racing through my mind. Im only in my second year and am having difficulty making that decision. By all accounts, we had a rough winter last year and of my 2 hives, the small cluster survived. Im wintering singles, but thinking of maybe putting the weakest back to a nuc. Decisions decisions............ G :chop:

Jim134 · October 13, 2014, 07:19:32 AM

Quote from: tjc1 on October 12, 2014, 12:01:05 AM
I went through two hives the other day - both seemed to be doing well, but neither had any uncapped brood (just some fairly old looking capped brood). I'm up in MA, but the weather has been pretty nice still - is this early for the queens to have stopped laying?

I do know a few beekeepers in your area that says they are having a droughtno rain no nectar.All I can say do the bees have enough stores for winter

BEE HAPPY Jim 134 :)

tjc1 · October 15, 2014, 08:54:45 PM

Very true, Jim. It has been beautiful but dry here and I was shocked 2 weeks back to find how light the hives were. Have been feeding like mad to catch up, but know that I'll have to stop soon...

Rurification · October 16, 2014, 08:51:21 PM

Very little capped brood left here in southern Indiana when I inspected last weekend. In Sept they had zero honey stores [2 hives]. We had a very good fall flow and they took some 2:1 as well. Still not as heavy as I'd like and it made me wonder if the winter was going to be better here this year than last. Either these are some lazy bees or maybe they just know that it's going to be a manageable winter. I hope the latter is the case.

I put a bag of sugar on each hive Mountain Camp style just in case.
R

OldMech · October 23, 2014, 12:47:45 AM

We have had excellent rain, and there is a veritable plethora of blooms, including goldenrod at this time, and there is NOTHING coming into the hives.. i lost one nuc to starvation before i smartened up and started feeding.. I have brood again... Don't ask me why there is no flow, by all accounts, we should be having the best fall flow in the last ten years right now...

GSF · October 24, 2014, 10:46:44 PM

These last 3 or 4 posts is one of the reasons this website is so informative. It's good to know that someone else is going through the same thing you are at the same time.

biggraham610 · October 26, 2014, 10:35:25 AM

Quote from: OldMech on October 23, 2014, 12:47:45 AM

We have had excellent rain, and there is a veritable plethora of blooms, including goldenrod at this time, and there is NOTHING coming into the hives.. i lost one nuc to starvation before i smartened up and started feeding.. I have brood again... Don't ask me why there is no flow, by all accounts, we should be having the best fall flow in the last ten years right now...

Ditto here. I didnt lose any but one is light on bees. I think I took for granted there would bee fall nectar. Im sure I caught them just in time. I have been feeding all they will take, and like you, they are brooding again, small but solid patches on 2 or 3 frames. They are almost up to weight now. Just a couple more frames to fill. They were almost bone dry when i noticed what was going on. I plan to keep an eye on weights closer next year. If I had fed earlier, im sure I probably would have been better off. Just waited for the Flow I always heard about. Good Luck all. G :chop: