Ever since he was able to walk, Andrew has enjoyed climbing around inside pickups and heavy equipment cabs. Here he is happily dreaming of the day when he gets to drive off into the distance! Today is not so bright as the day of the picture. The last few days provided a warm window into fall. Today is a wet one, so all of the bees are cuddled up. Hopefully they are reasonably free of these pests at this point. See below for the villainous mites accosting a worker and beetles that showed up in a varroa test: Beetles are almost never a problem in the live hives out in yards for us--just a honey house issue to manage by making sure that nothing sits long enough to support infestation. That's a privilege of living in a temperate climate. The mites appear to be well managed in most of the hives. The very last ones I harvested this year look more dubious as usual. It's amazing what difference you can see between an August treated hive and a late September treatment in Iowa. There are still a few winterizing steps to look after in the coming weeks, but I'm looking forward to the slowdown as the summer moves into the rearview mirror! (Though I will miss the warmth and green of summer!!!)