A lovely September Sunday in Columbus — full sun, low 80s, light wind. Bees will be flying freely all day.

Today's Takeaway

A lovely September Sunday in Columbus — full sun, low 80s, light wind. Bees will be flying freely all day. This is a fine day to open the hive if you have something to check on.

Current Blooms & Nectar Flows

• Clover is confirmed blooming locally through late October — high nectar, high pollen, and a consistent presence for foragers. Late-season clover in central Ohio remains a meaningful contributor through warm fall weather.
• Chicory is confirmed through late October — primarily a pollen source at this point in the season, with moderate nectar. Bees visit it reliably through the warmer morning hours.
• Butterfly milkweed is confirmed blooming locally through late September, offering solid nectar on warm afternoons.

Goldenrod is the big flow event to watch for — in Franklin County, it typically builds through September and can be a genuine nectar surplus if conditions cooperate. When it opens, you'll notice both the distinctive bright pollen loads and a shift in colony activity level.

Hive Care This Week

In the hive

Today and tomorrow are both solid inspection days — clear, warm, and calm. Use that access for the most important thing you can do right now: varroa monitoring. September is the critical window because the bees being raised this month will overwinter; mite damage accumulates silently and shows up as colony failure in February. An alcohol wash now tells you exactly where you stand. If you're at 3 mites per 100 bees, treat before the window narrows.

Wednesday into Thursday brings a frontal system with storms and elevated gusts — stay out of the hive those days and confirm covers are secure beforehand.

The flow right now

Clover, chicory, and butterfly milkweed are all confirmed in bloom — a solid combination of nectar and pollen sources supporting forager activity. The overall flow is modest rather than a surplus event. Goldenrod will be the meaningful addition when it opens; in Franklin County, that's the flow that actually builds winter stores.

Off-hive & maintenance

• Get varroa treatment on hand now — timing matters in September
• Check colony weight and assess whether fall feeding is needed to hit winter store targets (~70–90 lb for central Ohio)
• Stage mouse guards for October installation
• Store unused supers and protect frames from wax moth

Weather watch

Wednesday brings the week's significant weather — storms and gusts near 35 mph with the frontal passage. It clears quickly thereafter. Confirm outer covers and straps are in good shape before mid-week. The rest of the week is settled and warm — no sustained weather concerns for the colony.

A Beekeeper's Note

Columbus's urban and suburban landscape hosts a surprising diversity of late-summer forage. Street trees, park plantings, and unmowed rights-of-way along I-270 contribute chicory, clover, and milkweeds well into September. Studies of urban honey often find greater floral diversity than nearby agricultural land — the patchwork of gardens and uncultivated edges creates forage variety that monoculture farmland can't match.