Forecast period: 27 to 30 September 2026

Weak dependable nectar and restricted forage access leave stores as the central concern for autumn preparation across the UK. Inspection windows are changeable, with some useful periods in parts of England and Wales but a narrowing window in Northern Ireland.

Stores and nectar

Nectar remains low or very low in most regions. South-east England has a temporary nectar trough, Wales deteriorates later, and stores pressure remains elevated or high because dependable nectar is weak. Rain and showers interrupt flight and forage access; wind can make exposed flowers harder to work, and prolonged dry conditions can reduce nectar reward.

Inspection conditions

Inspection improves in South-west England, East Anglia, the Midlands, Wales, North-west England and North-east England, although wind and showers still make the window changeable. Northern Ireland remains difficult as wind and cool conditions narrow the opportunity. Use the more workable periods for cautious local assessment.

Pollen and access

Pollen collection is restricted through much of the Midlands, northern England, Northern Ireland and Scotland. South-east England is more supportive for pollen collection, but practical forage access and nectar collection remain limited. Entrance activity alone does not establish useful nectar intake.

Why stores are the priority

With dependable nectar running short, colonies may be using stores faster than they can replace them. Poor flying conditions can also stop colonies reaching or working forage, leaving less coming back into the hive.

About Apiary Forecast

Apiary Forecast gives you local inspection, forage, stores and queen-mating guidance for your own saved apiaries. There’s a two-week free trial at ApiaryForecast.com. The Founder’s Offer closes 30th September and won’t be coming back, so now’s your chance to pick up Apiary Forecast at a good price. Don’t let the time of year put you off, it’s an annual subscription so pay now and it’ll be working for you and ready for the spring season too.

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Forecast period: 20 to 23 September 2026

There are still useful inspection opportunities in parts of the UK at the start of this forecast, but the forage picture is less helpful. Wind restricts access to exposed flowers in many areas, while recent dry conditions continue to reduce nectar reward. Every region has at least one period of weak nectar collection over the four days.

Stores pressure is elevated across much of the UK and high in the Highlands. A busy hive entrance may therefore give a misleading impression of what a colony is actually bringing home.

• Why flying activity does not necessarily mean useful nectar intake.
• Where inspection conditions are workable at first and where they become harder later.
• Why north-west England deserves attention as stores pressure builds.
• How wind, showers and the continuing effects of dry weather affect different regions.
• Why checking colony weight and recorded stores is more useful than assuming every active colony is finding enough forage.

Workable conditions are indicated at first in Wales, Northern Ireland, south-west, south-east and north-west England, East Anglia and the Midlands. Conditions become harder later in south-west England and Wales.

Nectar collection deteriorates later in Wales, Northern Ireland and south-west England, mainly because of wind. Showers combine with the continuing effects of recent dryness in north-east England, while showers are the main restriction in the Highlands. Stores pressure builds later in north-west England.

Apiary Forecast provides local inspection, forage, stores and queen-mating guidance for your own saved apiaries. A two-week free trial is available at ApiaryForecast.com.

There are useful inspection opportunities at first across the UK, although conditions become less helpful in several areas later.

Forage is the bigger concern. Practical forage access is restricted across the UK, with wind repeatedly making exposed flowers harder for bees to work in much of the country. Recent dry weather is also reducing nectar reward across much of the UK.

Linked blog about flowers, wind and bees.

Stores pressure is already a concern in south-east England, East Anglia, south-west Scotland and the Highlands, so colony weight and recent intake are worth checking rather than judging the colony only by flight activity.

Nectar collection weakens across much of the UK as the period goes on. Bees may still be flying, but useful intake can fall even while flowers remain visible, so entrance activity on its own can give a misleading impression of what is actually coming home.

Why can inspection weather look fine when colonies are under stores pressure?

A useful point this week is that inspection weather and stores pressure are not the same thing. You can have a perfectly workable spell for opening a hive while the colony is still struggling to replace what it is using. This week, for example, north-east England and Northern Ireland show stores pressure building later even though there are still usable inspection opportunities at times. So a decent inspection window shouldn’t be read as evidence that forage is good. If you do get into a colony, it’s worth looking at usable stores, colony weight and recent intake rather than judging things from flying activity alone.

For autumn feeding, the usual choice is heavy syrup, roughly 2:1 sugar to water by weight, when a colony genuinely needs to put on stores and bees are still active enough to take it down and process it. It’s better for building winter stores than thin spring syrup. Once conditions become too cool or unsettled for colonies to process syrup reliably, fondant becomes the more practical option. Fondant is especially useful as a late-autumn or winter insurance/emergency feed because it can sit directly above the cluster and doesn’t require the colony to handle as much water. It can also be used earlier if a colony is short and you don’t want to add more liquid feed, but for actually building substantial stores in autumn, heavy syrup is usually the first choice.

In this episode

We look at weakening nectar collection and what it could mean for autumn stores, where stores pressure is building and where inspection opportunities become harder to find later in the period.

About Apiary Forecast

Apiary Forecast gives you local inspection, forage, stores and queen-mating guidance for your own saved apiaries. There’s a two-week free trial, and the current Founder Offer is £25 a year rather than £35; UK beekeeping associations can also contact us for a member discount code.