March on to Autumn

The hot days are drawing to an end. Here in Cape Town, March is a transition month. We are marching on to Autumn.

As the days start to get cooler, it is nice to go out to the sites and harvest the last of the honey. Depending on where your apiary is located, you might still find a honey flow continuing until late April.

1. The Source of the Autumn Flow: Brazilian Pepper Incoming

Right now, we are taking off the last of the Eucalyptus honey and waiting for a very specific local sign: the pavements turning green with Brazilian Pepper blossoms.

This late-season flow is a bonus for Cape beekeepers. If your colony is still on a flow, use it! Think Inside The Box: consider whether your colony needs space.

Adding deep supers to your boxes now can be worth a try — we found that colonies with deeps added at this time came out of winter much stronger.

2. The Threat: Wax Moth

As the bees wind down, the pests gear up. Wax moth is a major issue at this time of year. If you have stored supers or weak colonies, wax moths can lay eggs that turn into larvae (worms) which decimate the comb.

Management Tip

When you take honey off, process the wax immediately. We collect beeswax all year round — from cappings and cleaning. Don't leave bits of comb lying around, or you will be running a worm farm, not a bee farm.

3. Harvest & Wax Collection

You should have a lot of wax from extracting and cleaning right now. We collect it all, melt it down, and process it. There are many uses for this wonderful product, from candles to foundation.

Did they survive the summer? Now is the time to assess. If you have large colonies, they need space to expand. Congestion now can still lead to issues.

4. Looking Ahead: Catch Boxes

We are already starting to prepare catch boxes and boxes that we will later use to make splits. While we often put catch boxes out in April and May (to avoid the sun melting the starter strips), now is the time to get that equipment ready.

Proper Preparation starts now.