09/30/2026
BEEKEEPER'S UPDATE:
The summer is clearly coming to a close, and fall is quickly coming upon us.
The bees actually began preparing for winter not long after the summer solstice. The queen begins cutting back on her egg laying—which at its peak can be around 2,000 eggs a day—and the colony begins changing its focus. They put away pollen and nectar, converting that nectar into honey. They seal cracks and openings with propolis. And they begin raising a special generation of workers that we call winter bees.
As beekeepers, this is the time of year when our attention changes too. We want to make sure the colonies have plenty of food, plenty of bees, and are healthy going into winter. We try to give them every advantage we can.
Yesterday I spent some time with all of our hives, doing fall feeding and beginning our winter preparations.
On these beautiful late-season days, the workers are still frantically going out and collecting everything they can. Unfortunately, much of what was available to them during the summer is now dwindling away. The flowers are disappearing. Nectar is getting harder to find. Yet they will send workers out to scour the landscape for hours, searching for whatever is left.
Standing near the hives, you can see thousands of these workers flying out and returning. In the sunlight they almost shine as they move through the air, working hard to care for their families.
Most of those foragers will never see winter.
They will work until they have exhausted themselves so that the younger generations of bees—and their queen—have a chance to survive until spring.
One of the things I love about keeping bees is how aware it makes you of the seasons. You notice what is blooming and when. You notice the rain, and especially when there isn't enough of it. You pay attention to daytime temperatures, nighttime temperatures, the length of the days, and the changes happening in the landscape around you.
At this time of year, all of those things matter.
The bees are preparing for months when there will be virtually no new food coming into the hive and, here in Michigan, months of bitter cold. They will live on the honey they stored throughout the season, using it for the tremendous amount of energy needed to generate heat and keep the colony—and especially their queen—alive.
A strong colony can go through somewhere around 80 pounds of that golden honey during the winter, waiting for those first warm spring days and the maple blossoms to finally pop.
Honeybees are amazing creatures.
They possess wisdom and knowledge without ever being taught. They know their work, and there seems to be a satisfaction in simply doing what needs to be done.
I think there is something in that for us.
We should take pride and joy in our work. We should understand the value of hard work and sacrifice. There is a privilege in being able to work for and serve our families, our neighbors, and each other.
Sometimes I think we need to learn from the bees.
