July 2025 Newsletter

Thursday, July 17th, 6:30pm: General Membership Meeting

The PPBA meets from 6:30 pm – 9:00 pm on the third Thursday of the months of January, April, July and October. We are looking for a permanent location for our meeting but in the meantime, please be aware that the meeting locations may change from meeting to meeting. Meetings are open to the public.

The first half hour (6:30-7:00) of the PPBA General Membership meetings is reserved for socializing and general questions. The formal portion of the meeting will start promptly at 7:00 pm and will include association business and the presentations for that meeting. There will be time for questions during or after the formal portion of the meeting, but those questions should be limited to the topics being discussed.

The next PPBA General Membership Meeting will be Thursday, July 17th meeting will be at the St Constantine and Helen Orthodox Church – 2770 N. Chestnut Street, Colorado Springs, CO 80907.

Mike Daetwyler will be presenting on the apiculture of the Mendoza region of Argentina, following his recent visit there to help set up hives. We will be discussing some practices which could be helpful in the Pikes Peak region, and others which are uniquely Argentinian.

Third Quarter Hive Management

Hive management tips are from Rocky Mountain Bee Supply. More details can be found by clicking here.

July – If the weather is good, the nectar flow may continue this month. As the nectar flow subsides, the bees will become more flighty, searching for nectar which is not as plentiful to find. The bees are beginning the final effort to store up for winter, searching for final nectar sources. Golden Rod and Aster plants may provide some nectar flow in the fall. On hot nights, you may see a huge curtain of bees cooling themselves on the exterior of the hive.

Continue inspections to assure the health of your colony, add more honey supers if needed
Continue to check your supers! You’ll now begin removing and extracting your honey.
Most beekeepers begin to consider the amount of mites within hives during July. Most begin to treat, based upon mite count/survey results. However, most treatments cannot be administered in a hive while supers are on. This could contaminate the honey with chemical residue.
If mites become a problem it will be during the summer and fall months. It is best not to disturb the bees during summer nectar flows unless there is evidence of extremely heavy mite loads.

August – The bees are behaving much as they did in July, although the nectar dearth is more prominent in August. The bees are making a strong effort to store up for winter, searching for final nectar sources, which are few. Golden Rod and Aster plants may provide some nectar flow. The colony’s growth is diminishing. Drones are still around, but outside activity begins to slow down as the nectar flow slows. There shouldn’t be any more chance of swarming. Be vigilant for honey robbing by wasps or other bees.

What you do in August will strongly influence how well your bees do next year, and how well they overwinter.
Consider re-queening. You don’t have to, if your queen has done well. But it is advisable to re-queen in August, no later than September.
Continue to monitor Varroa mite infestation. Promptly take appropriate action to reduce the mite load early in the fall.
Take off all your supers. There is no need for them now, and you will want to tighten up the hive by removing excess supers.
If you have multiple hives, you must be careful not to let a strong hive rob a weak hive. Be careful not to open up the hive for extended periods as other hives may attempt to rob the hive while it is opened.

September – The bees are busy gathering available nectar from fall-flowering plants. This is their final opportunity to gather stores before the fall frosts. The queen’s egg laying is dramatically reduced to lay the necessary eggs that will be the workers to carry the colony through to the next spring, and is likely in the bottom brood chamber. The drones may begin to disappear this month. The hive population is dropping.

Harvest the remainder of your honey crop. Remember to leave the colony with at least 120 pounds of honey for winter.
This is the time to conduct a thorough inspection before the start of the fall cool temperatures. What you do here will influence the success or failure of your colonies for the coming winter.
Feed and medicate towards the end of the month (the first 2 gallons is medicated).
Apply mite treatment.
Continue feeding until the bees will take no more syrup.
Estimate colony strength. Combine disease-free, weak colonies with stronger ones. (Note: Exchange or combine equipment from different hives only after establishing that they are free of disease.)
Make sure the queen is present. If you do not find her, be sure that you see eggs. (Check several brood combs for brood quality, which is an indicator of queen quality. A good queen will lay a solid brood pattern with few skips. The fewer the skips, the better the queen. All of the combs need not be good, but most of them should have solid patterns.)
Take off all your supers. There is no need for them now, and you will want to tighten up the hive by removing excess supers.
REMOVE QUEEN EXCLUDERS to ensure that your queen isn’t trapped and left behind over the winter.
Weigh your hives. This is guess work unless you invest in a hive scale. Find something around the house that weighs around 70 pounds. Lift it up slightly with one hand. This will give you an idea what 70 pounds feels like. Now, go to your hives and with one hand, slightly lift the back. Only lift it an inch or two so that you can sense how heavy it feels. It needs to feel around 70 pounds. If not, you will want to start feeding the hive 2:1 sugar water.
Install entrance reducers and mouse guards late in the month of September.
Feed 2 gallons of 2:1 sugar syrup (by weight) with Fumidil-B for control of Nosema after removing honey crop.

October – There are less reasons for the bees to leave the hive. Flying is cut way down. The queen is laying fewer eggs. They are now shifting to winter mode. The goal over the past few months has been to have the bees fill the upper brood chamber during the fall flow, forcing the queen down into the bottom brood chamber. If you do not have enough room, the bees will fill the upper and lower brood chambers with honey and deprive the colony of space for brood rearing. If this happens, instead of having lots of young bees for the winter, you will have lots of older bees, and the colony will not successfully winter. Always err on the side of too much room, rather than too little.

Prepare your hives for winter. A wind break should be considered. Entrance cleats should be placed in the front opening, along with a mouse guard, to restrict mice from entering the hive.
A word about bees and winter. A large, healthy hive will not die from cold weather. They stay warm by clustering in the hive. They keep each other warm. The temperature in the hive is only warm within the cluster. They do not warm the entire inside of their hive, only the cluster. They can survive extreme cold weather. But, moisture can develop within the hive as bees do give off moisture like we do. If this moisture gathers above them, it can drip onto the cluster. This is what can kill bees during the winter. They are much like us. We can be cold and get by. But, we cannot stay alive long if we become wet and cold. Bees can get wet in the summer and it is not a problem. But you must prevent your hive from becoming cold and wet from condensation developing within the hive. Install a quilt box with absorbent material as the uppermost box of the hive to absorb excess moisture and keep the hive at a reasonable humidity level.
Consider “Not” wrapping the hive for winter, keep in mind that by wrapping your hive, you are increasing the chance for condensation to collect within the hive. If you must wrap, ensure that you have a quilt box on top to help mitigate moisture.
Winter winds can be strong, so place a heavy concrete block on your hives or ratchet strap them all together. If you live in an area above 7000 feet or where there is no windbreak from high winds, consider wrapping your hive with a water proof insulation–additionally, add a quilt box or moisture board to help mitigate moisture.
Watch out for robbing. This time of year is notorious for robbing behavior by rival bee hives and yellow jackets. Hover and darting behavior, fighting at the entrance, and a bottom board that looks like the bottom of a toaster is a sure sign of robbing behavior. Make sure to only feed internally and reduce the entrance to the smallest hole. Never put any resources such as pollen or sugar syrup or frames of honey within 50 feet of the hives as this encourages robbing behavior.
Keep Yellow Jacket traps out and baited with fresh bait.
Configure the hive for winter, with attention to ventilation and moisture control.
Setup a wind break if necessary.
Finish winter feeding. 2:1 Sugar/Water mix is recommended to reduce moisture in the hive.
For light hives or just as an insurance policy, consider leaving a full honey super (ONLY A FULL ONE!) or a candy board filled with sugar cake, fondant, winter patties, or a combination of either to ensure that the bees will not starve to death in case of a warm winter or a long winter.
Typically in Colorado, bees will starve to death around January through April if they have already eaten through their honey stores too early. We recommend 2 full deeps going into winter and a honey super/candy board if the hives are light, the winter is too warm, or the winter is too long.

2025 Meeting and Event Dates

July 17th	General Membership Meeting – St. Constantine and Helen Orthodox Church
July 19th	Package Check-in at Adrian May’s Bee Yard + Potluck Picnic at Fountain Creek Regional Park
August 23rd	Honey Extraction Demo at Bear Creek Nature Center – Volunteers and Volunteer Frames Needed
August 23rd	Western Museum of Mining and Industry – Super Saturday – Farming and Ranching – Volunteers Needed
September 6th	Fall Bee Yard Visit – Steve and Corky Watt’s Bee Yard
September 27th	UCCS Cool Science Carnival Day – Volunteers Needed
October 16th	General Membership Meeting – Gold Hills Mesa Police Station

Bee Yard Visit and Potluck Picnic at Fountain Creek Regional Park

Let’s check in on Adrian’s bees! After a bee yard visit in the morning, we’ll be doing a potluck picnic at Fountain Creek Regional Park. PPBA will provide main dishes, and you can sign up for side dishes on the link below. We’ll have food, games, and a baking competition (must include honey!). We are also planning on a smoker competition – bring your own smoker and fuel and see who can keep theirs going the longest!

Fountain Creek Regional Park

July 19th

9:00am bee yard visit, picnic down the road around 11:00am

Click here to sign up, and let us know what you’re bringing

Honey Harvest and Pollinator Celebration at Bear Creek Nature Center

August 23rd, 10:00-2:00

Volunteers 9:00-3:00

Bear Creek Nature Center

245 Bear Creek Rd, Colorado Springs, CO 80906

Honey Extraction Demonstrations at 10:30, 12:00, 1:30 (Though last year we had the frames and volunteers to run all day!)

We’re looking for volunteers to help with the event, and also capped frames of honey to use in the extraction demo. If you bring honey frames you need to bring containers to take your honey home!

For attendees: $3/person, pre-registration suggested

Pollinators make the world go ‘round! Watch beekeepers harvest honey from hives, purchase honey and art from the Honey Cottage & Cronk Art, take a hike to view pollinators around Bear Creek, and learn about native plants and the importance of pollinators with the Broadmoor Garden Club! Stories, crafts, ice cream from Josh & Johns, and so much more await!

Farming and Ranching Super Saturday at the Western Museum of Mining and Industry

August 23rd 10:00-3:00

Volunteers 9:00-3:00

Western Museum of Mining and Industry

225 North Gate Blvd

The Western Museum of Mining & Industry (WMMI) offers a series of fun, educational family days over the course of the year. Each day has a theme such as art, history, science, geology, mining, industry, and farming & ranching. WMMI invites local companies and organizations to participate at our Super Saturdays in order to educate the public and promote their service and products.

We are seeking volunteers to talk to the public about beekeeping in Colorado, PPBA will provide hands-on teaching elements like a learning hive and observation hive.

Fall Bee Yard Visit – Steve and Corky Watt’s Bee Yard

We will be meeting at the Watts’ bee yard to talk about fall season topics!

Colorado Springs, CO (Stratmoor)

Saturday, September 6

10:00am

Dates and times could change at the last minute due to weather. Approximately 48hr before the event we will check the weather, confirm the bees are on time, and then send out the address to the list of registrants.

Click here to sign up, and receive the event address