Planning ahead for the coming season

[Lesgold]

Hi Folks,

I was just out in the bush around my place to do a bit of research for next season. As a non migratory beekeeper, Mother Nature tends to dictate what happens in relation to  supplies for the bees during the spring and summer times. Many of you have predictable flowering periods each year and can plan for them to a certain extent. Cold winters, late springs, hot or wet periods all impact on the flowering of plant species and what value they can provide to the bees but there is, to a certain extent a loose pattern that you look for in your own area. In my neck of the woods, the pattern is not as regular nor is it consistent every year. The major source of honey production around me comes from a variety of Eucalyptus trees. I have about 8 species that provide nectar and/ or pollen but unfortunately only one of those varieties flowers annually. The rest have cycles that vary from about 2 to 10 years. This often means that there are boom or bust years for the bees and of course, the beekeeper. This past season was one of those poor years that pop up every now and then. In my home yard I normally keep 20 or so hives. This year, not a single frame of honey was taken from those bees. The reason was simple. Apart from a brief flowering in the early spring, there was nothing else apart from a few bush and garden plants to keep the bees going through the warm months of the year. As we get close to winter, most of the hives have very little in the way of stores to get them through the cold months. They may be able to scrounge a few bits and pieces from the garden over the cold months but I?m expecting a higher than average number of hives that won?t make it to spring. Looks like I?ll be making quite a bit of foundation over winter and taking a good number of splits in the spring to compensate for the losses. My research for the coming year is simple. A pair of binoculars and a long walk is all that is required. I check all the tree types and look for bud formation and can generally get a reasonable idea of what is going to happen in the near future. From my walk today, I was able to determine that the stringy bark should flower in the last month of winter and the first month of spring. It will provide good quality pollen and give a reasonable nectar flow during the build up period. It should be a good start to the season as the buds are quite thick. Obviously adverse weather conditions could change this dramatically. This coming season should also give a strong flow during the summer period. I will be able to make some comb honey this year due to the quality of the nectar flow from iron bark and mahogany. Red gum should flower in August of 2025 as their buds are just starting to develop. Blackbutt buds will start developing soon for the 2025/26 summer period and in 6 months time buds should start to form on the spotted gum and they should flower through the winter of 2026. The poor season I had this year was planned for. I knew what was coming in 2021 and was actually more than happy to have a relatively easy year. In 2021 and 2022, I had a honey flow that lasted almost 18 months from a variety of trees. They weren?t big flows but they were constant. As a result, there was nothing to flower in 2023. Below is a picture of the types of buds that I expect to see on Eucalypts. Each species will hold buds for different lengths of time. This also helps in the planning process. As an example, the ironbark holds buds for about 6 months before they open whereas the spotted gum buds sit on the tree for 18 months before changing colour slightly prior to flowering.  This beekeeping is so much fun.🥴🥴🥴🥴

[max2]

You are spot on. Les.

We are surrounded by thousands of hectares of forest here.

The list of trees is hard to imagine and yet, like you, we can have relatively poor year.
Our limiting factor can be the lack of rain.
Not this year, It is raining yet again and more is on the way.
This will just about guarantee  a good start with Blue Gun ( e.tereticornis) and Clover.

My second yard is facing a pretty large National park. While the takings are quite poor in winter, there is always something flowering the reats of the year to keep the hives going.

I'm lucky to be next door toabout 70acres of irrigated White Clover. They are just about a certainty to give me comb honey...if the weather is clear.
My third yard  is mostly used for nuc's and I flood this one with drones.
A good yard for early nectar and pollen ( Blue Gum, Clover and Pecan Nuts)

Yes, fun to plan ahaed!

[Lesgold]

Hi Max,

You are lucky to have the clover. That is a real bonus. Looks like the comb honey is going to be hard to produce when varroa hits. The number of times we will have to treat hives in the first few years is going to make things a bit on the tough side for this type of beekeeping.