In the autumn, things are winding down with the hives. I may have a bit more honey to harvest, but there is little nectar flow (few flowers) around for the bees. They are still working hard and collecting plenty of pollen (their sole protein source). Because there is so little nectar available, I will soon have to provide them with lots of sugar water to sustain them. Luckily, clever beekeepers have designed special hive-top feeders just for this purpose. They are boxes that sit atop the hive to contain the sugar water so the bees can climb up through the hive boxes to fill up any time they wish. The local beekeeping club (of which I am a card-carrying member) recommends feeding a solution consisting of two parts sugar to one part water. Each hivetop feeder holds about a gallon. Multiply that times three hives and you can see that I need a lot of sugar! Luckily the club sells sugar for 25 cents per pound.
The other interesting thing going on with the hives is the efforts the bees go to to keep the hives cool. They cluster on the front of the hive, especially in the evening and use their wings like fans to cool the hive. It looks a bit alarming to see tens of thousands of bees hanging out on their front "porches" on warm evenings!
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