Brood Rearing Declines
Verhalten der Bienen
With shorter days and a declining nectar flow, the queen throttles her laying step by step.
With shorter days and a declining nectar flow, the queen throttles her laying step by step. From the summer solstice onward the brood nest already shrinks, the number of bees falls, and the composition of the colony changes fundamentally.
The bees that emerge from August onward are winter bees: well nourished, with a large fat body, and built to last many months rather than the few weeks of a summer bee. They have to carry the colony through the winter, rear the first brood in early spring, and do not die until late March or early April.
From this follows the most important rule of late summer: the winter bees must not be damaged by Varroa mites. The treatment has to take effect before these bees grow up. Exactly when it begins depends on the measured infestation and on the treatment concept of the responsible bee institute. Treating too late means an empty box in February despite full food stores.