Am I in a dearth??

[Charles Wright]

How do I know when I am in dearth? I live in Georgia zone 8. Thanks.

[Michael Bush]

During a flow the bees fly with a purpose.  Straight out and straight back.  Not a lot of wandering around.  During a flow they are generally in a good mood.  During a flow a comb of honey in the open is usually ignored.  During a flow the colony is gaining weight.

During a dearth the first thing you usually notice is the bees are testy.  Also, when you are inspecting a hive other bees rapidly take an interest.  Often some signs of robbing are taking place at the entrances.  The hives are losing weight.  The bees are more listless and less purposeful.

[The15thMember]

As Michael said, the best way to know if you are in a dearth is to observe your flowers and observe your bees.  Bees during a flow will be content and busy.  Most obviously, they'll be drawing wax and filling comb with nectar.  The bees will be beelining to nectar sources and be crash-landing on the landing board under the weight of their full honey crops.  Out in the field, the flowers will be buzzing. 

During a dearth the bees will be more cranky and be searching for nectar.  Hives will be full of bees doing nothing except being aggravated that you are there.  The bees will be interested in anything sweet, like spilled sugar, sodas or sugary drinks, open hives, or bruised fruit.  You may see robbing or attempts at robbing, with bees investigating cracks in other hives.  Out in the field, there will be few flowers blooming, or those that aren't interesting to the bees, or are only providing minimal amounts of pollen and nectar.   

Once you get accustomed to your typical local flows, you'll be able to anticipate the dearths throughout the year.  For example, my sourwood flow just ended, and from experience I know things will be slim until the native sunflowers and goldenrod come in in Sept.  The bees required a little more smoke this week, and I had robbers investigating some equipment I left strewn around the bee yard.  It's a good time for me to set out wax from my crushing and straining for the bees to clean, as they are interested in it now, whereas a few weeks ago, when the sourwood was blooming, I couldn't even get them to clean my sticky frames.