This year will be one for the beekeeping not-so-positive record books, and it is only August. We look back and shake our heads.
The year 2023 started out normally, our bees were healthy, and we began raising honeybee queens early. Then we had a late freeze in March; that killed many blooms, especially on fruit producing trees, bushes, and vines. Next came weeks of rain when new honeybee queens would normally go out to mate. Rain reduced the number of days queens could fly and mate, resulting in poorly mated queens and low new bee production. Currently, we are experiencing 40+ days of no rain and a delayed bloom, if it ever comes, of the fall-blooming nectar-providing plants like golden rod, fall asters, and partridge peas. Wonder what the next few months will bring?
Beekeeping and horticulture are inextricably linked. When we teach pollination to children, we use the repeatable phrase, “Bees need flowers, and flowers need bees!” Without flowers from which to collect nectar and pollen, all pollinators are having a hard time finding the nutrition they need to rear young and to store away for the coming winter. Without copious quantities of pollinators then many fruits receive incomplete pollination resulting in low yields or misshapen fruit. “Bees need flowers, and flowers need bees!”
