Joseph Clemens
03-27-2008, 08:24 PM
Due to our exceptionally bad season of 2007, and for the first time since I became a beekeeper, I started feeding small amounts of cane sugar syrup and pollen supplement patties in the first week of January 2008. During the Autumn and Winter of 2007/2008 we had a few modest rains that stimulated many wildflowers to bloom. These wildflowers are only seen in Autumn through early Spring, and only when the rains come at just the right times (about once every 5 to 8 years). I notice that a few weeks ago, after I had been stimulatively feeding for about five - six weeks, the populations had grown much, the wildflower bloom had replaced the need for continued feeding (to support the boosted populations). For a couple of weeks now I've been stealing brood to start nucs , but mostly to slow the bees down a little and perhaps reduce swarming (so far, so good), but today many of the colonies have become so populous and efficient at harvesting from the wildflowers that I've had to start supering.
My main honeyflow, no matter how bad the season, is mesquite. Even when we've had no rain for more than a year, from mid to late April through June or July mesquite comes pouring in. In seasons past, I've observed that my bees build-up during the beginning of the mesquite flow (the strongest part), and then have strong enough populations to store some during the final few weeks, if they haven't swarmed too much by then.
My plan this season has been two fold;
- Feed to compensate for the lousy last season, they were very light of stores, both honey and pollen. More than I'd ever seen before and there wasn't anything for me to harvest last year. I'm lucky they had enough stores to last until I started feeding them in early January and
- Feed so the colonies build up before the mesquite flow begins, so they can bring home more mesquite honey.
My main honeyflow, no matter how bad the season, is mesquite. Even when we've had no rain for more than a year, from mid to late April through June or July mesquite comes pouring in. In seasons past, I've observed that my bees build-up during the beginning of the mesquite flow (the strongest part), and then have strong enough populations to store some during the final few weeks, if they haven't swarmed too much by then.
My plan this season has been two fold;
- Feed to compensate for the lousy last season, they were very light of stores, both honey and pollen. More than I'd ever seen before and there wasn't anything for me to harvest last year. I'm lucky they had enough stores to last until I started feeding them in early January and
- Feed so the colonies build up before the mesquite flow begins, so they can bring home more mesquite honey.