October 2025 Newsletter

Thursday, October 16th, 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.

Tonight’s PPBA General Membership Meeting will be Thursday, January 16th, at the Gold Hills Mesa Police Station, 955 West Moreno Ave, in Colorado Springs

Want to know the best way to overwinter your beehives in Colorado’s high-altitude environment?

Gregg McMahan has the strategies you’re looking for. As a beekeeper with over 20 years personal experience, the owner of Rocky Mountain Bee, and founder of the Westminster Bee Club, he invites you to share the same methods he’s used to keep his hives strong through the cold winter months and thriving come spring.

Mentor Match – Come Early Tonight!

Are you willing to mentor a new beekeeper? Are you looking for a mentor? Come at 6:30 tonight! Grab a name tag when you come in tonight, and add a colored sticker:

RED: Looking for a mentor

GREEN: Willing to bee a mentor

YELLOW: Happy to meet up with bee friends

BLUE: Not interested right now

Executive Committee Elections

Elections are tonight!

If you would like to make a nomination (self-nominations welcome) please come prepared to present your choice. If you are nominating someone else, please make sure they are willing to accept the position. Anyone nominated should be ready to speak about their experience in beekeeping and with the PPBA, and why they would do a good job.

President: The President shall preside at all meetings of the Association, and shall perform such duties as are necessary and incident to the proper administration of the affairs of the Association, except such duties as are specifically delegated herein to other officers.
Vice President: The Vice President shall serve as an assistant to the President. In the absence of the President from any meeting of the Association, the Vice President shall preside over the meeting.
Secretary: The Secretary shall keep all records of the business transacted by the Association, send notices of all meetings of the Association, arrange for publication of the Association Newsletter, maintain an up-to-date roster of the Association membership, and perform other duties as ordinarily pertain to the office of the Secretary. The Secretary shall oversee the operation and maintenance of the Association’s website.
Treasurer: The Treasurer shall have custody of the funds of the Association, accounting for the receiving and the disposition of such funds. The Treasurer shall perform all duties as ordinarily pertain to the office of the Treasurer.
Board member-at-large: Three year position, attending board meetings and providing counsel and expertise.
We are also looking for a volunteer to manage extractor rentals, as Tim is leaving town. If you know Tim, please send him a thank-you, as he has done such a lovely job for so many years.

Beekeeping School at Bear Creek Nature Center, March 21 & 22, 8:30-3:45

Would you like to learn more about beekeeping, or do you have friends that are trying to get started? This two-day course covers all aspects of beekeeping in the Pikes Peak region. You will learn how to acquire bees and the necessary equipment to keep them. Bee biology and the skills to manage your bees through the four seasons, including disease management, will be covered.

We will also demonstrate equipment assembly and honey extraction. All lectures are presented by local beekeepers with years of collective knowledge. Whether you are interested in keeping your own colonies, or simply wanting to know more about these fascinating and necessary creatures and their wonderful product – honey – this easy-to-follow course will open a new door into the natural world for you.

Direct questions to pikespeakbeekeepers@gmail.com or PPBA_BeeClass@Ott-US.com

Third Quarter Hive Management

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

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.

Beekeeper tasks:

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.

Detailed Task “How to”: Overwintering a Honey Bee Colony

A colony of honey bees will over winter well when you prepare them for winter conditions. The colony must have enough bees to cover five or more brood frames. Smaller colonies usually will not survive the winter.
A young prolific queen introduced into the colony in August lays a large number of eggs during September and October. The young bees emerging during the fall maintain the colony through the winter.
Give the bees comb space for storing nectar and pollen in September and October. Remove the empty supers and store them under fumigation after mid-October. For the Rocky Mountain region, a colony should have either two hive bodies during the winter and the equivalent of 120 + pounds of honey. A full honey super or a candy board as extra insurance is always a good idea.
A colony should have at least 40 pounds of honey in mid-October for winter stores. This is equal to one full super and six frames in the second super. One hive body filled with honey weighs about 60 pounds.
Reduce the entrance opening by inserting the entrance reducer in early
Ventilate the top of the colony in November to vent excess moisture from the colony during the winter months. Vents and exits can be made by cutting slots 5/8 inch or wider through the inner cover cleat. Turn the slotted inner cover upside down -cleated side down and slide the outer cover forward over the hive. For best practices, it is recommended to install a quilt box as the uppermost chamber on top of the hive to absorb excess moisture and keep the bees dry over the winter.

November – Even less activity this month. The cold weather will send them into a cluster. They may not yet go into a full winter cluster. They may break cluster frequently on warm days and re-cluster at night. But they will begin to cluster for the winter.

Beekeeper tasks:

Store your equipment away for the winter.
Feed your light hives as long as the bees are taking the fluid.
Finish up all winterization of your hives.
On a cool day when the bees are all inside, weed-eat around your hives.
Start purchasing next year’s bee packages and equipment

2026 Meeting and Event Dates

January 15th	General Membership Meeting – Gold Hills Mesa Police Station
March 21st & 22nd	PPBA Bee School at Bear Creek Nature Center
April 16th	General Membership Meeting – Gold Hills Mesa Police Station
April 25th	Package Bee Pickup at Rocky Mountain Bee Supply
July 16th	General Membership Meeting – Gold Hills Mesa Police Station
October 15thh	General Membership Meeting – Gold Hills Mesa Police Station

Bees in the News

New USDA research links early 2025 honey bee losses to high viral loads and mite resistance

Championing pollinators at Denver Botanic Garden