As always, All beekeeping is local. Here’s my offering for the beekeeping calendar for the South Carolina Midlands for the month of November:

Consider this, the 2026 beekeeping season has started. Can that be correct? Yes! The actions you take now will have a direct effect on next year’s production, health of your bees, and how enjoyable managing your colonies will be. The difference between a well-managed colony over fall and winter and an unmanaged colony is significant. Both may come out of winter, but the well-managed, healthy colony free of varroa and virus loads will outpace other colonies and make more bees and honey.

Plan on checks once this month but otherwise do not work unless necessary to prevent the triggering of robbing behavior. Try to not be too disruptive in order to allow them to get their house (brood box) in order for winter.

1) Make sure bees have enough stores (honey) for winter and proceed accordingly. Last month we suggested aggressively feeding colonies that were underweight using 2:1 syrup. The goal was to increase their weight to approximately 30 – 35 lbs of stores. This month with the cooler weather we increasingly start to concern ourselves with excessive moisture in the hive. If your colonies are still lagging behind in stored nectar / syrup you may be forced to continue feeding 2:1 syrup. If they have stored enough syrup, later this month you may wish to add some insurance in the way of a candy board or mountain camp style dry sugar feeding.

2) Moisture containment becomes a major management concern this month as we move into cooler weather. Moisture within the hive cannot be avoided. The bees breathe and, like humans, express humidity which condensates in the cooler weather. Additionally, the process of eating and metabolizing honey results in the release of water molecules. Important reading: A review of methods to control moisture within the hive can be found here.

3) Further reduce entrances if not yet done. The appropriate amount of reduction is what your bees can guard. Colder weather will result in the bees staying inside more and clustering. Lack of forage will also reduce their need for a larger entrance. You probably won’t see as many guard bees on your landing board. Rather than struggling with removing the current reducer, simply place a small piece of wood across the front of the current reducer to attain a smaller entrance. Addition of an upper entrance such as a notched inner cover is advisable prior to entering colder weather to allow for ventilation and allow moisture to escape. The upper entrance should be small, perhaps one bee width. If the colony is small, a piece of screen across the upper entrance will ensure no unwanted guests have access.

4) Make repairs on your equipment, assemble new equipment, and make some of those time saver gadgets.  Replace any bad equipment. Get started on that bait hive /swarm trap now for placement in early spring.

5) Using oxalic acid (OA), look for a time when the temperature is in the forties, the brood is minimal, and the bees are loosely clustered, to perform either a OA dribble method or vaporization. I suggest performing this treatment regardless of mite count. In fact, when I started beekeeping, some years back, the recommendation was to treat your bees for varroa in the fall, regardless. It’s still good advice no matter what your choice of miticide.

6) November is an excellent month for selling honey as customers prepare for the holiday season.

7) If you are considering an out yard for next year, now is the time to start looking for a suitable place. Use Google Maps, place an ad in the Market Bulletin, or cruise the countryside to find a place that has ideal forage.

8) Make plans to attend your association’s monthly meeting.

9) Start hinting at what books or equipment you’d like this year for holiday gift giving.

10) Start setting your beekeeping goals for next season. Plans made now will guide your activities this winter.

The above are general guidelines for the average bee colony in the Midlands of South Carolina. We all have hives that may be outperforming the average. We also have colonies that underperform the average. Use your judgement in making changes suggested here. Beekeeping is an art as well as a science. Only you know the many, many particulars associated with your physical hives as well as the general health and population of your colonies.