Flows

[homer]

I always read about people talking about pollen/nectar flows.  How does one find out when these are happening in their area?  And how do you make sure that you capitalize on these specific times.  How important is it that you know when they are?

Sorry... dumb question... I should probably know this.

[buzzbee]

Not a dumb question at all!
Others can help on a time in your area. The importance of knowing when is so you can have your colonies as strong as possible to take advantage of the nectar flow for producing the honey we all want so badly.You want to start building bee numbers six to eight weeks before the flow starts to maximize your efforts.

[dhood]

I always read about people talking about pollen/nectar flows.  How does one find out when these are happening in their area? 


 And how do you make sure that you capitalize on these specific times. 

How important is it that you know when they are?

-If you watch the bees returning to the hive, you can observe when they are bringing in pollen, as well as seeing the pollen and honey stores in the hive when inspecting.

-Being prepared, if you are not aware of when your honey flow starts or when they have pollen coming in, the results could be devastating. They could either starve, or build up so fast that they plug up the hive and run out of room for the queen to lay and swarm, depending on the season.

-My grandfather always knew what was in bloom, and new what kind of pollen they were bringing in. Because of this, he taught me, he had a better understanding of the condition of the hives, and knew what they would need. I am keeping a record of the plants that bloom in my area, as well as swarm dates, etc. I believe that this will prove to be beneficial to your success.

[hollybees]

Homer,
It's not a dumb question and you'll see it for yourself.
when there's a flow, they fly like their on a mission....they shoot in and out of the hive like little golden bullets!
very cool to watch if sun is on them.
Watch the wildflowers...before I got bees I hardly looked at them, now I can't keep my eyes on the road.

-My grandfather always knew what was in bloom, and new what kind of pollen they were bringing in. Because of this, he taught me, he had a better understanding of the condition of the hives, and knew what they would need.

Sounds like a awesome Grandfather indeed, your very fortunate to have such great mentor!

[poka-bee]

.
when there's a flow, they fly like their on a mission....they shoot in and out of the hive like little golden bullets!
very cool to watch if sun is on them.

That brought back thoughts of last summer..my favorite time of day was early evening, when the sun was starting to get lower, bees zooming in & out looking like thousands of little golden lamps cause of the reflection on them.  J

[Cindi]

Knowing when the nectar/honey flow is going to occur is a great and wonderful thing.  But there is an ENORMOUS " but" here, meaning, but, there can be times when things are not right.  This is an example only.  We have a massive flow in our area (as do many others too), that is called the blackberry flow.  That is one of our main flows here.  Generally, when the weather is "normal" that flow occurs pretty much at the same time each year.  That be in the week of early June, generally, around the 5th of June.  That flow lasts for a month.

Last year, our area, and many other areas experienced an incredibly cold and dark spring, with not much sunshine, and it was EXTREMELY cold.  The blackberry flow did not commence until the first week in July.  Now that is one month past the general time.  That was very difficult on the bees.  They built up in the spring as they normally would (mostly due to a lot of human intervention, like giving pollen patties).  But then because of the lack of nectar/pollen from the blackberry flow, the bees ate most of what they had gathered from the alternate sources of food.  This caused hardship, amongst other things in the areas.  The bees did not have a chance to store/save an abundance of honey for the human consumption.  In British Columbia there was an incredibly low amount of honey that was able to be used for us.  There may be exceptions to this, where some may have had lots of honey, but none that I know of.  Anyways, so flows are so different, and can occur long before or after the anticipated honeyflow dates.  Just some thoughts here, have that wonderful and awesome day, life, attract great health.  Cindi