[Jay T]

How do you know when the honey flow has ended? What signs should I be looking for?
Thanks
Jay T

 

[Presidential]

Good question! I don't really understand the "flow". Are you watching your bees or are you watching the plants or both? Do you know that much about plants/flowers in your area... or is there a chart somewhere? I have a lot to learn!

 

[Michael Palmer]

The bees start robbing.

 

[jeff123fish]

I like to look at the cells surrounding the brood nest if they are dry then they are most likely not collecting enough nectar for their broods needs and are starting to remove some of their stores to feed them.

But if there is open nectar or nice white cappings I know that they are finding nectar somewhere

 

[beedeetee]

1. Robbing or interest in burr comb with honey that you cut off of a frame.
2. Washboarding
3. No nectar smell and fanning in the evenings.
4. When you look in a box that is being drawn out and the frames look just like last week.
5. Slower to start in the morning and bees are not as active on the landing board, unless your hive is robbing.
6. Bees all land on the landing board instead of on the ground in front of the hive.

Some of these will start before the flow is actually over, but is waning.

 

[Grant]

I notice that the uncapped cells on the honey frames are dry (no uncapped, ripening nectar) though there can be capped cells of ripened honey on the same frame.

Grant
Jackson, MO

 

[fish_stix]

When we run them through the extractor and air comes out!

 

[Michael Palmer]

Something I've noticed...

When the flow ends, the bees varnish the rims and inside surfaces up unfilled honey combs. It is noticable on newly drawn foundation.

 

[Omie]

2. Washboarding

That's cool- i've been noticing a lot of posts on the forum lately asking about what washboarding is- people seeing washboarding for the first time and asking about why their bees are 'dancing' on the hive. That would certainly coincide with our slow mid-summer decline of nectar sources. my hives are just now starting to do mass washboarding too.
Handy tip to watch for- thanks!

 

[Jerry Kinder]

New bee keeper here so take this for what it's worth and I have asked the same question. The answer I got is it depends on the flowers in your area. If you are in an agricultural area where a single crop will be the primary source of nectar then when the flowers wilt, the flow stops. In my area, the middle of a big city, the flow kind of dribbles on throughout the year, changing from one ornamental flower to weeds, to flowering trees, etc. and may not stop till fall, depending on the weather (read that rain). So the answer to your question is "depends on where you are and what is growing within a mile or so of you hives".

 

[milena]

That's cool- i've been noticing a lot of posts on the forum lately asking about what washboarding is- people seeing washboarding for the first time and asking about why their bees are 'dancing' on the hive. That would certainly coincide with our slow mid-summer decline of nectar sources. my hives are just now starting to do mass washboarding too.
Handy tip to watch for- thanks!

Ah ha! So THAT is what some of my bees have been doing! I have an observation window on my top bar hive and I've notice they do this only on the interior of the hive, on the path that the returning foragers seem to take from the entrance back to the cluster.