>That demographic shift creates nurse bees with surplus nutrition,  and the
extra protein is stored as fat bodies.    The fat bodies "dilute" the
effect of juvenile hormone releases -- and this slows the caste transition
from house bees.   It is only at spring brood up does the consumption of
protein "release" the house bees to make the forager transition.

This is a very parsimonious explanation, worthy of looking into.  However,
it raises the question of why the nurses, if they were well fed, would be
restricting the broodnest.

> My mutts, carny and WSU based, will mostly shut down in early to mid
> Sept. with still a month of available pollen that they continue to haul in
> and store until the end of Oct. By then they can easily have 3 or 4 frames
> surrounding the nest of mostly stored pollen.


This is a new observation to me!  When I've kept environmentally-responsive
bees, such as Russians, in my area, they may completely shut down
broodrearing during the August pollen dearth, but brood up in November as
if it were spring if fall rains initiate a pollen flow.  Has anyone else
observed colonies shutting down broodrearing in fall when there is still a
good pollen flow coming in?

I'm really curious about the cues that the bees use to determine when to
start and stop broodrearing.  I see zero evidence that it has to do with
daylength.  It likely has something to do with temperature.  A lot to do
with incoming, nutritionally-complete pollen, and something to do with
incoming nectar at some times of the year.

I'm still looking for someone to lay out a full explanation...


-- 
Randy Oliver
Grass Valley, CA
www.ScientificBeekeeping.com

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