API of the Month
Mathieu Domecq
Editor-in-chief of the API of the month and of the blog
Without food and varroa treatment, colonies will struggle through the winter. In this article, we will discuss the right habits to adopt to prepare your beehives properly. Next, we will look at the use of Amitraz and oxalic acid, which are widely used in France to combat varroa.
Did you know that during winterisation, the colony will absorb between 8 and 15 kg of honey. This can mean up to 4 kg per month from autumn. (Source: https://www.naturapi.com/naturapicafe/tout-savoir-mise-en-hivernage-ruches/)
This month’s work
In October, the bees will still need you to look after their hives. Here is a summary of the beekeeping work:
– Fight hornets: it is important to identify them this year. They are continuing to cause damage to beehives. In addition to trapping, consider reducing the size of the entrance to your beehives with a door. Personally, I place a piece of magnetic strip on the metal door to leave an opening of only 5 cm where there are a lot of hornets.
– Insulate the beehive: if you have not done so already, place Apifoam (as a frame cover) in the roof of your hive. This will save heat for the bees. In the body, replace the frames that are not occupied by bees or honey reserves with an insulating partition frame.
– Clean the beehive: cut the tall grasses around your beehives to prevent there being too much moisture next to the colonies.
– Check your feed reserves: weigh your beehives from the back to assess whether they are heavy enough. A light beehive is certain to be lacking in food. If you have difficulty lifting the back, it must be full! To make up for a shortage, give the bees some syrup this season, which you can add with protein sugar paste to boost the queen’s laying if there are few bees left.

The honey flowers of the month: caryopteris, heather and sage.
Managing your colonies after the harvest
After harvesting the honey, beekeepers must carry out a thorough inspection of their colonies to ensure they are in good health and prepared for winter. This will involve looking at all the frames to assess the reserves and the presence of a brood. The main observation criteria are as follows:
1. Organising the colony in the beehive body
Essentially, we perform an inventory of the beehive at the end of the season. It is about properly preparing the colony for winter. To do this, you will need to find between 3 and 4 brood frames in the centre. The rest will be occupied by a stock of honey and pollen: Honey on the periphery, pollen next to the brood, and all the brood grouped together.
If, despite feeding the beehive with syrup, you do not manage to create an additional reserve to fill the empty alveoli, remove the empty frame and replace it with an insulating partition. Insulation plays a crucial role in keeping the colony warm. As a reminder, the core of the cluster must remain at 35°C throughout winter. In the blog you will find the recommendation from the book “La ruche basse consommation d’énergie” (The low-energy beehive) to better understand the use of the insulating partition. If the colony is far too small to spend the winter in a standard hive, do not hesitate to transfer it to a smaller one.

In addition, it is recommended to reduce the size of the beehive entrance to discourage intruders such as hornets or field mice, but also to prevent drafts. If your floor is fully ventilated, consider reducing its size or even closing it completely.
2. Monitoring the health of your bees
By observing your bees, you should be able to see whether or not there are any signs of disease. Look closely at the brood and the presence of eggs and larvae, but also the waste at the bottom of your beehive. Choose a day that is sunny enough and not too cold for this visit.
3. Assessing the queen’s efficacy
At the end of the season, the queen may have used up all her sperm. Once these reserves have dwindled, it is likely she will not make it through winter. You must then decide whether to group this colony with another one.
Check whether the lay is homogeneous and enough to cover good amounts of honeycomb. Winter bees are prepared in autumn. Their lifetime will be extended to 120 days compared to an average of 45 days for the rest of the season.

4. Monitoring food reserves
The beekeeper must assess the nutritional status of the beehive. Bees’ diets are made up of 80% sugar (honey) and 20% protein (pollen). Top up with ApiInvert syrup if any cells in the honeycomb are still empty to replenish the honey stock and stimulate the queen’s laying. You can also add protein sugar paste to help make royal jelly.
Understanding varroa treatment better: Amitraz VS oxalic acid
It is important not to neglect the varroa treatment on your colonies at the end of the harvest. Combating this parasite will make the colony more resistant throughout winterisation. It is also important to combat the proliferation of varroa destructor to other beekeepers. Over the years, beekeeping has undergone various treatment methods. This includes the use of chemicals such as Amitraz (Apivar by Veto Pharma) and natural treatments such as oxalic acid.
Some beekeepers use both of these two treatments to combat varroa. Nevertheless, the Veto Pharma laboratory demonstrates in an article that the potential interaction of these two products affects their efficacy.
For more information, you can read the article here: https://www.blog-veto-pharma.com/interactions-potentielles-entre-lacide-oxalique-et-lamitraz-dans-le-controle-de-varroa/
As usual, share your photos with us. We shall publish them on our website from social media with the hashtags #apifonda #apiinvert!
We will be back next month on the API blog with your faithful partner, Les Ruchers De Mathieu!
LES RUCHERS DE MATHIEU
Honey & Beekeeping Shop
Photos ©lesruchersdemathieu
