UK Beekeeping in 2026: How the Hot, Dry Summer Affected Our Bees

UK Beekeeping in 2026: How the Hot, Dry Summer Affected Our Bees

2026 has been an interesting year for UK beekeeping. Record-breaking heat, repeated heatwaves and prolonged dry weather gave honey bees plenty of flying days, but did that actually mean more nectar and better honey crops?

As we enter September, we're looking at what this unusual summer meant for bees, forage, honey stores and the colonies we're now preparing for winter.

The heat arrived early

One of the remarkable things about 2026 was just how early some of the heat arrived.

According to the Met Office, 2026 became the first year on record in which the UK reached 35°C during May, June and July. By the 15th of July, the UK had already recorded more days above 30°C than during the whole of the famous summer of 1976.

In June, a provisional temperature of 37.7°C was recorded at Lingwood in Norfolk, setting a new UK June daily maximum temperature record. Wales reached 35.9°C at Cardiff Bute Park, while Northern Ireland equalled its previous record of 30.8°C.

By July, the UK was experiencing its third heatwave in just seven weeks.

For anyone regularly opening hives this summer, none of this will come as much of a surprise. There have certainly been plenty of days when putting a bee suit on hasn't been the most appealing prospect.

Good flying weather doesn't always mean good forage

At first glance, a long spell of warm, sunny weather sounds ideal for honey bees.

Rain, strong winds and low temperatures can restrict foraging, so extended periods of settled weather give workers plenty of opportunity to leave the hive.

But there's another half to that equation: the plants need to be producing nectar.

Nectar production depends on the plant species and conditions including temperature, available moisture and soil conditions. A plant can still be flowering without necessarily providing bees with the same nectar reward it might offer under different conditions.

That distinction has been particularly relevant during such a hot, dry year.

It means you can stand beside a hive on a beautiful sunny afternoon, see bees flying strongly and reasonably assume conditions are excellent, while the amount actually being brought back to the colony may tell a rather different story.

It's one of the reasons why two summers with plenty of sunshine don't necessarily produce the same honey crop.

And 2026 hasn't JUST been hot

The lack of rain has also made an impact.

England experienced exceptionally dry conditions during parts of the summer, with drought and water availability becoming significant issues in a number of areas.

For honey bees, prolonged dry weather matters because their food ultimately starts with plants.

Plants need water. Soil moisture affects plant growth, and the availability and quality of forage can change as dry conditions continue.

Although, hat doesn't mean every beekeeper in Britain will have experienced poor forage this year. An apiary surrounded by gardens, woodland, farmland and reliable late-summer forage can have a very different season from one only a few miles away. Even rainfall can vary considerably over relatively short distances.

That's why asking “Has 2026 been a good year for bees?” doesn't really have one answer.

For some colonies and locations it may have been excellent. For others, the combination of heat and prolonged dry conditions may have made the season much less straightforward.

2026 has been a useful reminder to watch the hive, not just the calendar

There is a rough rhythm to beekeeping. Spring build-up. Swarm season. The main summer flows. Honey removal. Varroa management. Autumn feeding and preparation for winter.

The bees, unfortunately don't follow a set  timetable. The timing of swarming and gaps in forage can vary considerably depending on the weather and local conditions.

2026 has been a particularly good example of why that matters.

Weather can bring things forwards, slow them down or change the availability of forage. Colony strength varies. Queens behave differently. Local crops and flowering periods differ.

Two colonies in the same apiary don't always behave identically, never mind colonies at opposite ends of the country.

Good records become particularly useful in a year like this. Looking back at colony weight, inspections, supers added, honey removed and feeding can tell you far more about what actually happened than simply remembering that it was a hot summer.

September is where the season changes again

The emphasis inside the hive is gradually shifting away from producing the large workforce required during the main season and towards producing bees capable of carrying the colony through winter.

These winter bees are particularly important.

The National Bee Unit notes that winter bees develop during late August and early September. This coincides with an important period for Varroa management because mite populations can be high at exactly the point when those bees are developing.

Unlike the relatively short-lived worker bees doing much of the work during summer, winter bees are expected to survive all the way until March. Making the conditions of the colony going into autumn particularly important.

Stores can also tell us something about the summer we've just had

After such an unusual summer, it would be easy to assume that colonies must have accumulated plenty of food. The BBKA advises beekeepers to check stores going into autumn and says colonies may require supplementary feeding where their own stores are insufficient, including after honey has been harvested.

This year makes those checks particularly interesting:

How much honey did the colony actually bring in during the prolonged warm periods?

Did the strongest flows happen earlier than expected?

Did forage dry up later?

How much was harvested?

And how much remains?

The answers will be different from hive to hive.

It's one of those times when looking at what the colony has actually achieved matters more than what we might expect it to have achieved from the weather outside.

Varroa doesn't take the summer off either

The National Bee Unit says Varroa populations will usually peak in late summer. At the same time, the amount of honey bee brood in a colony is reducing.

This combination matters. Winter bees developing during late August and early September that are heavily affected by Varroa can have shortened lifespans, potentially reducing the colony's ability to overwinter successfully.

The National Bee Unit therefore recommends regular monitoring rather than relying purely on a particular date in the calendar.

It's another example of the same lesson that has run throughout 2026: look at what's actually happening in the colony.

So, has 2026 been a good beekeeping year?

That's probably a question we'll still be answering for a while.

It has certainly been a memorable one.

We've had extraordinary temperatures, very early heat, repeated heatwaves and prolonged dry conditions. For bees, that has meant plenty of opportunities to fly, but those conditions don't automatically translate into plenty of nectar.

Perhaps the most interesting thing will be hearing how differently the season has played out around the country.

Some beekeepers may be looking back at full supers and an excellent honey crop. Others may have seen promising weather without the nectar flow they expected. Some may have experienced both at different points during the season.

But now, the supers are coming off, winter bees are developing and colonies are moving towards the months when what happened during the summer really starts to matter.

How has the 2026 season been in your apiary?

We'd love to hear where in the UK you keep bees and how the season has treated your colonies.