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| Spotted Knapweed Flower |
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| Spotted Knapweed Flowering |
I had a beekeeper in yesterday. He runs about 25 colonies. He purchased more supers. His hives have a total 100 supers, most of them are full of honey but not capped yet. He has pulled off some supers and extracted them to give him more room. His story is the same for many beekeepers that I have talked to.
This will be a record honey year for many beekeepers. Many beekeepers may get up to eight supers per hive. One tip: if a hive gets too high from too many supers, you can move full supers onto any under performing hives. The weaker hives will take care of the honey. When moving the supers you can move them with the bees in them. Just pull them off and move them.
I think the next seven to ten days may be the peak in the current nectar flow. The warm days and warm nights with dry days make the nectar flow in large amounts. Being the nectar flow started a little late, I think it may last into mid August.
If I was to put a number on it, I would say the nectar flow is about 45 - 50% done. This is about the midpoint of the nectar flow. So more nectar is still coming. The intensity may lessen as Basswood and White Sweet Clover start to wane after the next week to ten days, but the nectar flow is not done by any means.
More nectar plants are still coming. Joe Pye weed and Purple Loosestrife to name a couple, but there will be also other flowers that bloom in late July into August. I had a beekeeper observing his bees working on spotted Knapweed. He says they looked like they were preferring the Knapweed. Knapweed honey has a buttery flavor.
From a moisture stand point we need some rain. Quarter to half inch spurts spread out over the next month would be perfect. Not enough rain can turn plants. A little brown in the lawns is fine, but brown and crispy it too dry. Also large amounts of rain can also impact the nectar flow. Too much rain can possibly impact the nectar flow in a negative way.
If you are not getting any nectar in your supers, your hive may have swarmed or the colony has not enough foragers to bring in the nectar.
Stay ahead of the bees, check your supers every five days. I hope everyone is riding this nectar train.
