Bee Chronicle

5 JULY 2022

Chinese chestnut bloom is waning (brownish look) just ahead of sourwood

Sourwood blossom stringers on trees in shade. Bloom starting in sun.

Staghorn sumac full bud in some places

Bees working false dandelion, what else. (not hydrangea)

17 June mid season dearth Honey bees are sitting on front porch during the day with nothing to do! There is a lull between tulip poplar and sourwood bloom. You might consider field feeding pollen substitute so the forager bees still think there is a bloom going on. Don’t feed syrup while the non-capped honey frames are on the colony.

18 June By the time you get this it will be too late. BUT, next year this time! During this break before sourwood nectar flow, it is a real good time to split your best hive. Not a big split which would reduce the work force during sourwood, but maybe 4 frames with the old queen. Treat the new nuc for varroa mites. You are creating a brood break in the strong old (now queenless) colony. That will reduce the mite load in the old colony. You still have a nearly complete population of foragers and lots of brood that will emerge over the next 21 days. The peak population will coincide with the start of sourwood nectar flow, hence, not losses there. There is now space for the new queen to lay eggs and she should not swarm right after the nectar flow. The old queen, if left in a super good colony might have swarmed.

20 June The end of the wild black raspberry fruit. Crepe Myrtles blooming. Sourwood starting to bloom. Blackberries are mostly in red phase, not quite ripe yet. Watch future years to see if these acts coincide on a regular basis.

Be prepared for a good sourwood season. Have empty honey supers ready to go.

Be prepared for after sourwood. The nectar flow can last from 3-7 weeks. Soon after the nectar flow stops, swarming will begin. Have extra hive bodies or nucs ready for splits.

Have extra boxes of foundation frames. Right after you remove the honey supers from the colony, there are too many bees for the remaining space. This will stimulate swarming. Use the large number of bees to draw new brood comb and honey combs to use at the end of this year or the beginning of next year when you rotate out old comb. You will have to feed syrup for these bees to have enough “nectar” to make wax. The colonies also need to maximize storing honey for the winter. Don’t wait until October to start your winter feeding. Feed for the spring in the fall. Use all those old foragers before they die of old age.

Have your medications on hand to fight varroa mite as soon as you remove your honey.