Skip to Content.
Sympa Menu

ocba - Re: [ocba] When is the main nectar flow

ocba AT lists.ibiblio.org

Subject: Orange County, NC Beekeepers

List archive

Chronological Thread  
  • From: Randall Austin <ra41717 AT gmail.com>
  • To: jenshobbyfarm AT gmail.com, "ocba AT lists.ibiblio.org" <ocba AT lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [ocba] When is the main nectar flow
  • Date: Fri, 16 May 2014 11:47:42 -0400

Hey Jennifer,

Our major nectar flow here is from tulip poplar trees, which are supposed to bloom from around April 15th through May. This year has been a little wacky, with the southern part of the county seeming to start a good bit earlier than the northern part, and the whole thing being hit or miss depending on your specific location.

Regardless, tulip poplar is the money-maker, supplemented by blackberry and other fruiting plants which bloom roughly at the same time. These all will dry up by the end of June in a typical year.

We get a minor flow in the fall from asters and goldenrod (this should start by early September or so); our bees make their winter stores from this, if all goes well. This flow lasts until we get a strong frost. The amount of honey we get from it varies from year to year but it isn't enough to have excess to harvest.

A few miles one way or the other can make a big difference in the micro-ecology and can impact your results. So can the passage of time, as "old field succession" naturally transforms the floral make-up of an area.

I'm had years with extremely bountiful nectar flows where I extract twice, once in mid/late May and again in late June/early July. After the first extraction I return the supers to be filled up again. This allows me to only need to have half as many supers. For years that aren't so abundant, I extract once, some time in June.

Keep an eye on how much honey is in the deeps as well as the honey supers. If the honey is all in the supers and not the deeps, one option is to pull the supers and extract as the flow is winding down but before it is actually over, and don't return the supers to the hives. Then the bees will store the last honey in the deeps for their summer supply. Make sure you don't do this too early or the deeps will become honey-bound and your hive will swarm or suffer from hampered population growth.

Randall Austin


On 5/15/2014 11:26 PM, jenshobbyfarm AT gmail.com wrote:
Hello, can someone tell me when the main nectar flow is for Orange county.
Also, the time to harvest. Does anyone do two separate harvests ? One of my
hives has lots of honey, but the hives I did not use drawn comb in
aren't doing much yet.
Thank you for your help !
Jennifer Hall
Hall Hill Farm
Hillsborough
Sent from my iPhone
_________________________________________
ocba mailing list | North Carolina Beekeeping| http://www.theocba.org/
Manage Your Subscription: http://lists.ibiblio.org/mailman/listinfo/ocba/






Archive powered by MHonArc 2.6.24.

Top of Page