I drove into St Paul this morning and was a little surprised by all the yellow sweet clover blooming in the ditches of the freeway. I will have to say, the main nectar flow is starting or will be starting in the very near future. Make sure supers are on any overwintered or package colonies (if they are done drawing comb).
If the supers are new, with foundation, I would not use a queen excluder initially.
Check the supers every five days, once the bees start making comb and are putting a little nectar in the new comb, then put in the queen excluder.
Supers go on two at a time. Check them weekly. On a strong hive with a good nectar flow, the bees can draw out, fill the new comb and cap the honey in one medium super in a weeks time.
So get ready, the payoff of all our hard work is coming now.
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| yellow sweet clover |
