Pulling honey in the rain...

[Ross]

is generally to be considered a bad idea, especially when you have a hot hive. It does keep down robbing however. They can sting through a wet Ultrabreeze when you have nothing underneath (no shirt).

[wcubed]

Don't think I would want to harvest in falling rain. Using fume boards to drive the bees down would push those bearding out front out in the rain. And the extra effort of keeping the honey supers dry would be a deterrent. Honey can absorb moisture through the porous cappings.

Walt

[Ross]

It wasn't raining much, just enough to keep every bee in the hive and on us. You can't always pick your days.

[Hambone]

Ross Kelly

I'm pulling in tha rain, just pulling in tha rain. What a wonderful feelin, I'm....exctracting again...:)

[dug_6238]

Yeah, there's a current tune on the hip-hop stations that goes something like "Hope it gives you ****, hope it gives you ****..."

That's more like the reaction I got when I tried messing with my bees in the rain. :no: :D

[beyondthesidewalks]

I'd rather pull honey in the rain in July than miss the rain after not having any for a month. I'll never argue with rain in July. We jusy don't get enough of it this time of year. Down by me that same band of storms happened overnight. We got just over an inch and we sure did need it. We had absolutely no run off. The ground absorbed every drop.

Our mesquite is putting out second blooms with beans hanging. Hopefully this rain will give those blooms some moisture to make nectar.

Another thought: normally by this time of year I have much wild sunflower blooming around me. This year I'm not seeing much of it. That's good because the wild sunflower makes for a bitter tasting honey. I don't know why it's not doing well, maybe lack of moisture at the right time. I normally use the wild sunflower bloom as a hint that I ought to pull honey.

[Ross]

I hope our mesquites go again, but it doesn't look like it.

[sqkcrk]

I'd rather pull honey in ankle deep snow, thank you.