Author Topic: Hard lesson for a new beek....  (Read 2953 times)

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Offline Nugget Shooter

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Re: Hard lesson for a new beek....
« Reply #20 on: March 05, 2017, 04:01:56 pm »
Nugget, did the bees draw comb in the top boxes over the past few weeks?  Was thinking you had only had foundation up top.  If they did draw out good comb for you, you had a strong flow but it was likely brief and didn't let the bees keep up the momentum.  From my experience, a real gusher of a flow, even one of sort duration, will yield some nice drawn comb if there's little space and the queen is laying hard.  The spring flow in North Dakota often produces abundant but fairly watery nectar that doesn't last long.  Some years, I shake some out plus add extra empty drawn frames as I'm making splits; at such times, the queen doesn't have avery many nectar-free cells for laying.  I think you'll be surprised how quickly they rebound when you add a good 2:1 sucrose syrup, especially if you invert it with acid.

Yes they drew comb in the top deeps, but it was all empty and clean white except a couple center frames with evidence of brood and one with brood in the middle they were removing because all dead in the cells. This fall there was honey in the other frames, now gone.
Cheers, Bill

Offline Chip Euliss

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Re: Hard lesson for a new beek....
« Reply #21 on: March 05, 2017, 07:28:46 pm »
Sounds a lot like the flow dynamics we have here in spring.  Is your main honey crop mesquite?  When does that start or is there another floral source that produces most of your honey?

Here, we get that early spring flow that's intense but short lived.  The pollen comes from many different plant species so it's very nutritious (multifloral pollen is the best from a nutritional perspective) and it really gets the brood rearing ramped up and the bees get really strong really fast.  Then, we have a dearth where little nectar is available and fewer species of pollen are available.  Our spring flow generally starts in April and runs to mid-May, sometimes June.  Then the dearth hits until the clover kicks in hard in late June.  I feed pretty hard (sub and syrup) from early spring through the dearth to keep the bees building until the main flow.

I'm sure you'll get your bees back on track and do well.  Keep us posted--always nice to hear from other parts of the country!
Chip

Offline Nugget Shooter

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Re: Hard lesson for a new beek....
« Reply #22 on: March 06, 2017, 08:37:35 am »
Hello Chip, yes one of our main sources will be Mesquite along with Palo Verde, Cat claw, and many more. Flowers are just developing now on Mesquite and will be blooming early April or late march.
Cheers, Bill

Offline Chip Euliss

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Re: Hard lesson for a new beek....
« Reply #23 on: March 06, 2017, 02:18:57 pm »
Any value in Ocotillo?  One of my favorite plants in AZ.  I know they are especially responsive to rain so probably having a good year!
Chip

Offline Nugget Shooter

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Re: Hard lesson for a new beek....
« Reply #24 on: March 06, 2017, 07:50:46 pm »
Yes and one of my favorite desert plants, so well adapted that one has to have respect.

https://www.toddshikingguide.com/FloraFauna/Flora31.htm
Cheers, Bill

Offline Chip Euliss

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Re: Hard lesson for a new beek....
« Reply #25 on: March 06, 2017, 09:55:12 pm »
Yep, one of mine too.  Years ago, my first javelina I shot with my recurve was standing right beside an ocotillo.  Plant looked so cool, I had to figure out what it was! You have some terrific plants in AZ
Chip