Keeping up with the flow!

Hey all! I harvested two frames today for a total of 8.5 lbs of gorgeous golden magic :star_struck:

Flow super was placed on 4/18 & the rest of the frames are almost full and capped. I checked back this evening and the bees are already refilling the empty frames :grinning_face_with_smiling_eyes:

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Mines getting close too! Very excited.

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Wow! Do you know what your bees are primarily foraging, Eva?

I bet it is flowers!

:rofl:

Sorry, couldn’t resist that one… :blush:

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:joy:

I am sure that there are others but here they got an early start with about 30lbs of willow, maple (it’s usually too cold for them to get much), then dandelion, apple/crabapple/serviceberry, cherry, now Hawthorne, buckeye. I hear conflicting things about (invasive) honeysuckle. Some say the flowers are too deep and I haven’t personally seen bees working it much. My hive has been putting on 3-5lbs. (1.4-2.7kg) per day over the last couple weeks.

I have a double deep with a 7 frame flow super.

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Yup, Dawn you’re right again, mostly flowers :joy::joy::joy: - and I’d say my region is similar to Alok’s regarding the types of trees with early nectar. It came out almost clear, with just a little golden color as the jars filled. It has a floral, grapey essence!

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Oh, and clover. Which is probably the biggest here right now.

Y’all. Just took this pic a few mins ago:

The middle two were EMPTY, yesterday.

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Same here, and I thought of this yesterday when for the first time, I saw a honey bee collecting pollen from honeysuckle in my yard. I don’t think they can reach down to where the nectar is on the common/invasive type that grown abundantly here. Bumble bees will make a hole in the petals near the base and collect it that way. I learned to look for flowers without holes as a kid, foraging for nectar myself :yum:

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My first hive was so productive that they swarmed so I am on round 2 and the bees are working furiously in the super right now. I notice that they seem to put a little red propilis inside the combs of the super before depositing the honey. Does that cause difficulty in turning the handle for draining the honey when the time comes?

Hi there and welcome! Some propolis is probably okay, but if the bees are using it on all the seams that could cause problems with harvesting. Any chance you can post a pic or two?

Also, when does the primary nectar flow start and end in your parts?

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The propolis seems very thin right now from what I see peering from the back of the hive. They are putting it also on the bottom of the plugs which might make then a little more tricky to remove. Nectar begins in the Pacific Northwest in March/April will all the fruit tree blossoms. My honeybees fly over my lavender and zinnias and even a little bee balm to harvest wild (invasive) blackberry blossom nectar. At least that’s whereI think they are going. I never see any of them on my own flowers that seem well visited by wild bees which is positive for the environment. The honeybees are very busy producing honey though and I am anxiously awaiting my first harvest.

I think zinnias and bee balm are much more popular with butterflies and bumblebees even if there isn’t much else for the honeybees.

Pretty much the same here in southeastern PA. It typically peters out by mid to late June, and we have officially hit the wall over the weekend with the recent heat wave. I still see lots of clover, but doubt there’s much nectar to be had with how dry it’s been. I do know that my bees’ demeanor has changed - they are now on the defensive because of the dearth, and while there is still brood being raised the nest is shrinking and cells back filled with nectar. I’m about to harvest the remaining honey in my two Flow supers and remove them.

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The bees are still really busy here and filling the flow frames, albeit much slower than a few weeks ago. The basswood bloom ended and now it seems they are busy working the neighborhood panicle hydrangeas and hardy geraniums along with Chinese lantern trees on the street. They are on the clover too but like you said, not sure how much nectar they are getting from all of those. Some rain coming now and intermittently over the next few days so maybe the nectar supply will rebound a bit.

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We had three consecutive days here over 110 degrees last weekend, an ungodly heat 30 degrees above the normal temp for this area for this time of year. Surprisingly, the honey bees seem unphased by the heat and just as productive in filling cells with honey. I removed the tray and provided more circulation in the hive by raising the roof but they seem to have adjusted to the temps. I provided a ready source of nearby water but that was it. The intensity of the sun sure fried my raspberries and blueberries unfortunately. A thousand year event they say.

Gosh, that IS unfortunate - sorry to hear it :frowning_with_open_mouth:

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we get very high temps here in Australia. Up to 47C. In those conditions I place shade screeen cloth over all my hives. Hives can ‘melt down’ and collapse during a heatwave. Shade helps.

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I agree with @Semaphore in relation to shade. I also like to have my hives painted white, which doesn’t get as hot as darker colors. A good idea is to feel how hot the outside of the hives get on a hot day. The better insulated a hive is the better. I’m not a fan of added ventilation, it only lets more hot air in. Let the bees air condition their hive (which they do, beautifully) with the assistance of the nearby water you are leaving.

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Nice to see and the color light gold really good