While out and about I have noticed that the goldenrod flowers have mostly turned brown. Other than a few asters there is very little natural forage left for the bees. A classic nectar dearth.
This morning I went out to my Long Langstroth top bar hive and removed 5 frames in order to make a few cut comb squares. I transported these frames in a nuc box back to my house in order to have a clean area for cutting out the squares and to get away from pesky bees looking for a free lunch. I think maybe 50 bees came home with me. After cutting the squares and removing any residual honey I returned the clean frames to the nuc box by my back door. Within 1/2 hour roughly 1000 bees were surrounding the nuc box and in a robbing frenzy. The closest hives are about 1/4 mile away!
Face of nuc box
This brings me to the point of this article. Its time to put in the entrance reducer if you have not already done so. Adjust the reducer so the 4 inch long opening is open. This will make it easier for the weaker hives to defend their winter food stores. Do not close the entrance down to the 1 inch opening yet. We may still have hot days and the hives need the larger entrance to get adequate ventilation.
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