September is here. You either have or should be removing the surplus honey soon. Then its time for a hive inspection. You need to look for the presence of a laying queen. You need to either see her or evidence of her presence such as eggs or uncapped brood. (PS-don't be fooled by random capped and uncapped drone brood) This time of year the hive is raising the "winter" bees. These "winter" bees have extra fat cells to help them through the winter months. If you don't see 8 to 10 frames covered with bees there is a good chance the hive is queenless.
Many beekeepers tend to skip hive inspections during the honey flow. Then they discover their hive is queenless. Do the inspection prior to investing in any winter supplements (sugar water or pollen).
If you discover a queenless hive then you need to make a decision whether to re-queen. See the post of several weeks ago on that decision process.
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