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Southern California Honey Crop above or below average?

How is your crop looking?

20K views 47 replies 25 participants last post by  Bleemus 
#1 ·
Not much of a honey flow where I'm at. Even with the strongest colonies it is pretty light. Seems like the blooming times are a little out of whack too.
 
#8 ·
My hives in town are packing away the black berry flow that is happening right now, both hives almost had a full medium super packed and I added another medium to them. One hive is a swarm hive I picked up at the end of March, the other hive threw a swarm on me in April and is already built back up to strong numbers. These hives are two deeps and two mediums now!!

My other hives in the country have stores, maybe from the vineyards or something, but just enough to sustain until the star thistle blooms. I think the star thistle is going to be late this year, seen very few plants blooming along the road ways, but in the pastures not much is even growing yet, hope it does, because last year was phenominal and I could have easily pulled around 400+ pounds if I had the hives I do now!!

Hope to extract the city honey in a couple weeks after things are capped!
 
#10 ·
spring flow was good in N. Illinois. I pulled 29 pounds off my strong hive about three weeks ago. Saturday I pulled a medium super off both of my hives. Harvested 60 pounds. This honey must have a heavy linden content because it sure is minty.

The bees are now working milkweed and thistle. After that we might slow down for a while until we the goldenrod, aster, and sunflower bloom.
 
#14 ·
We had some HOT days here and the bees really worked their wings off. I was hoping it would last more than two or three days. Temps dropped down into the low 70s after that and then we had cool rain. It was in the 40s or low 50s last night.

When it was hot clover and staghorn sumac were blooming like crazy and bees were seen yesterday working on the cranberries. One yd in particular has hives almost as tall as me, 6'3", after I gave them another three shallow supers, because they already have three supers of honey above the brood boxes.
 
#17 ·
Just saw the weather map showing the heat staying down below the NY State line for the next week. Bummer.

Keth, you seeing any Basswood yet? I'm not sure whether it will even bloom here this year. Though it isn't yet the 4th of July. We had no locust.
 
#22 ·
Yup, you are right. I see now. I saw the Thread Title and clicked on it and answered the Poll w/out reading the whole thing. I guess everyone who isn't from Southern California has skewed, or screwed up, the Poll. Can the OPer delete unwanted responses? I bet not.

Sorry. You'd better start again. Thanks for pointing that out Solomon. My bees in S.CA. didn't do well at all. Starved. :)
 
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