Thoughts on this month in beekeeping by Janine Sparks
AUGUST 2026
Well interesting times with bees. Everything has been so very dry and there is evidence of a dearth of nectar for my bees – they have been going backwards lately with the bramble over so early, and not much to replace it. I am pleased that they are now bringing in Himalayan Balsam, but whilst the ling heather is in flower, I don’t know if it will yield anything this year. I have noticed that on the very hot days, my bees have not been flying at the hottest part of the day – too hot even for them.
Swarming season is over (probably…. !) and I normally take a more relaxed approach to my bees. I know that my colonies are all queen right and unlikely to swarm now. Whilst once a week is a good routine during swarm season, I now try to ask myself why do I need to do a full inspection at this stage, when I will disrupt the bees and disturb the carefully controlled temperature in the hive on a hot day.
However this year I am keeping an eye on stores and may end up feeding them if things don’t pick up.
And wasps are a worry – I have had my fake wasp nests in position for some time, and they seem to work. I have also put doors in to make the hive easier to guard. Keeping an eye on my Yellow Legged Hornet monitoring station too.
I spent an interesting time at the weekend, working with Jo Madson trying to extract some bees from the branch of an oak tree that had broken off the main tree. It all turned into a sticky mess and we weren’t finding brood etc so we called in Greg who saved the day with his bee hoover and chainsaw! We found the queen and put them in a box – hopefully the bees will be happy in their new home once they have settled – I am off to get them tonight hopefully!
What is going on in the hive?
The queen should be laying still, but I have noticed a slowing down with the extremely hot weather – another reason to keep checking to make sure things pick up again later – eggs laid now will be winter bees taking the colony through the winter so they are important. It is important at this time of year to make sure that the hive is set up to succeed – disease free, low varroa mite numbers, plenty of stores, large enough in numbers to keep the colony going. So when you are next checking your hives, ask yourself whether they tick the boxes to make sure they are in the best possible place to go into winter. If a colony is small, it may be better to combine it with another colony.
Check the larder
My garden is like a desert but it is interesting to see what plants are nevertheless surviving – oregano (or it might be marjoram!) Agapanthus, and Buddleia are all doing ok in the garden (without watering!) and herb fennel is fantastic – such an architectural plant that attracts all sorts of pollinators (including a hornet mimic which I initially thought was a Yellow Legged hornet – until I realised the wings were not right and the legs weren’t yellow!!). Himalayan Balsam, Rosebay Willowherb and heather are around beyond the garden.
Enjoy your bees!
