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| Basswood tree in bloom. When the flowers open up, the pungent odor of the nectar fills the air. |
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| Little white flowers on the Basswood tree. Notice the light lime colored leaves. When these light lime green leaves open that exposes the flower heads. My Basswood trees this year do not have any of these as of yet. |
I think most of us are experiencing a nectar flow. It may or may not be intense.
I talked to a beekeeper that lives near me north of Stillwater, he has one super being capped and was adding another super that had foundation. He wanted to know the best way to put it on the hive. I suggested that the undrawn new foundation should go on top of the queen excluder and his box of honey that is being capped be put on top. He could also take one frame from the top super and switch it to the bottom box to bait the bees into the new box of frames.
Basswood trees have been blooming in St Paul and in Stillwater that I have observed. My Basswood trees have not dropped any seed pods and at the time of this post, I do not believe that my Basswood trees are going to produce anything this year. I am not sure if this is just at my place or if this will be widespread. Basswood nectar is what usually gives beekeepers large crops of honey. Without a good Basswood flow our honey crops tend to be on the smaller amounts. Sometimes Basswood flows can be localized and sporadic. Too early to tell yet.
White Sweet Clover (WSC) is beginning to bloom. I did see some blooming WSC on the 694 freeway. Roadways and cities usually are area's that bloom first so soon WSC should be blooming everywhere.
Don't fret yet. Sometimes the main nectar flow starts with a trickle, then turns to a torrent very quickly.
I think another week should tell the tale of how this flow will develop. I am hoping to see the nectar gate will lift up fully.
My supers in one yard were getting nectar into the boxes. I am going to check them in a day or two and give another report, so stay tuned.
