I have 2 colonies at my house that have put up almost 150# surplus each year for the last 3. This year started the same, but then we hit a heat wave and they began to beard like crazy and haven't stopped. I do have SBB and vented tops. The last 2 weeks were very productive in my other yards, but when I went in to my home yard it looked like they made zero progress despite what I thought was very active foraging. Plenty of clover out there and star thistle started last week. Mid Summer flows are pretty dependable where I am.
Any correlation between bearding and production? Or is there something else I'm missing? Any hive manipulations you'd recommend?
TIA
Eamon
Any correlation between bearding and production? Or is there something else I'm missing? Any hive manipulations you'd recommend?
TIA
Eamon