Planting Buckwheat in Monsoon weather...LOL

Some books tell us that it is useless to plant for bees unless you have acres of land.  I don't buy that.  Maybe it would be difficult to get a monofloral honey such as Sunflower, Clover etc without a very large nectar source but I think we can help our bees and other pollinators by providing diverse nectar sources -even if you only have a small patch of ground.

I like to plant a small patch of buckwheat in my garden in mid summer.  Buckwheat will usually produce blooms 30 days after planting and I use it to provide nectar in mid to late August. (A time that is usually a dearth time in our area).

This year with all the rain we have had. I cant get the soil to be dry enough to plow !  So I just skimmed off the grass on top. Spread out the seed, threw out a plastic snake to hopefully discourage the birds and stuck my plastic owl on a pole for good measure..LOL .  My regular garden has been a disaster this year... lets hope the buckwheat comes along and enough dry weather for the bees to be able to fly and harvest it.  (Buckwheat is poisonous to grazing animals be careful where you plant it.)

SC State Beekeepers meeting 2013

I had a great time at the 2013 State Beekeepers Meeting.  It is so wonderful to make bee friends from across the state and many of them I only see once a year at the meeting.  I also met a personal goal this year.  I have entered honey in the show for several years and have won a few ribbons but today was the big win.  3 blue 1st Place ribbons and a Best in Show.  Awesome !

Strange harvest

I harvested the first round of sourwood honey supers this weekend.  The outlook is not promising.  With everyone talking about the record rainfall during the last two months I shouldn't be surprised .

Swarms and Requeening

All the rainy weather we have been having causes increased swarming activity.  The adult bees stay inside during the rainy days and this leads to a feeling of congestion.  So, swarm preparations begin and on the first sunny day possible the colony swarms.  This is usually not good for the beekeeper who wants to make honey not more colonies.  The rainy weather can also cause a 1 - 2 punch.  Days and days or rainy weather can prevent proper mating of the virgin queens that are left behind in the mother colony.  Beekeepers have to be vigilant to check for queen right conditions as the summer progresses.

Sourwood harvest may be a bust.

Strange weather year continues. Way too much rain. Sourwood harvest is doubtful.  Heavy rain has ripped off ripe blooms and prevented bees from flying.  Also, the bloom is strange with some tree finished, some halfway and a few not even started.  Also, bees stay inside on these rainy days and eat. Some of the larger beekeepers are anticipating no sourwood honey this year.  It will be interesting to see how things evolve.

Scout bees inspecting bait hive

Bait hive

This is a "bait hive" that I have up in a tree across the pasture from the swarm mentioned in the previous post.   I had noticed that swarm up in a tree on Wednesday.  On Thursday, I noticed about a dozen "scout" bees inspecting my bait hive.  I waited out there for 4 hours hoping to catch a picture of the swarm moving into my bait hive.  No luck ! This is Friday morning and the swarm is still up in the tree.   Maybe they will move in today !  If so, I can them relocate them to a more appropriate long term home.

Bait hive in tree about 8 ft off ground.  Ideally, it would be higher in the tree but I do this alone and have to be able to get it down, full of bees !

It's swarmy weather.....

It is common for Honeybee colonies to swarm .  About half of the bees along with the queen leave to make a new home elsewhere.  The bees left in the old hive will hopefully be able to make a new queen.  As a beekeeper, I don't want my colonies to swarm.  I would rather they stay in the colony and make excess honey for me.  There are many strategies for reducing or preventing swarms.  Some work to a degree, nothing is 100%.  We are working against the basic nature of the colony.  When I have a colony "issue" a swarm, I want to catch it and place it in a new box.  This is not just my desire to have more colonies but only about 50% of swarms that leave make it through the first year.  It is usually better for me and the bees if I can re-hive them.

When the bees initially leave their old hive, they cluster in a tree or bush nearby before leaving for their permanent new home.  There is not a beekeeper alive that doesn't drool over the site of a large ball of bees hanging in a tree.  But sometimes, they are too far up in the tree to catch.

See the dark blob waaay up in the tree !

 

Wet crowded bees ?

We have had record rains this summer.  In addition to knocking blooms off trees and preventing the bees from flying, this inclement weather causes the bees to sit inside all day, feeling crowded.  This can lead to a perception of crowding and may cause more swarms.

Flowers for Bees

My bees are enjoying the purple cone flowers I planted last year.  This is just one of many plants that you can add to your yard to benefit bees and other pollinators.

Heavy rain knocks off blooms

This photo was taken several days ago.  Recent record heavy rains are knocking the blossoms off the Sourwood trees....argh...

Soggy Weather

Oh my goodness, this soggy weather is killing me.. LOL The sourwood is in full bloom and it is raining like a tropical storm is coming through.  At the least, it keeps the bees from flying - I just hope it doesn't knock off the blossoms.  !  As beekeepers, we are farmers and at the mercy of the weather.