The honey for this year has now been harvested, and I have now set the bees up for the winter. This means reducing the hive space down so they have less area to keep warm and its easier for them to keep water-proof. Removing un-used layers and honey frames saves them from lots of extra work. I had 2 colonies that were looking a bit weak, so these were united with stronger colonies. Now the honey is removed I treat the colonies for the pesky varroa mite, which if left, will overrun the colony and slowly weaken and kill it over the winter. The mites are vectors for various viruses and diseases. The bees are now getting a good feed, of any honey that was left over with the weaker ones getting a good sugar solution to make sure they take on enough stores to last them through the winter months where there is no food to forage on.