Dearth takes it's toll

[Bob Wilson]

I don't know how you beeks in other parts of the country fare, but dearth in Georgia takes it's toll.
We get our first swarms in early March, then the spring flow goes from early April to (perhaps) to mid June.
However, from Mid June, through July and August, we are hot and nothing is flowering. Dearth hits every year, and the bees just hang out in their hives, consuming through an amazing amount of honey.

[Ben Framed]

Dearths will take a toll. Fortunately in my location we had rain 'consistently' until a month ago. The greenest Spring and Summer I can recall. However when the rains stopped, they stopped. Goldenrod seems to be a bust, my last source of the year. 

Phillip

[Kathyp]

We had the same problem here.  Rained and even snowed into July and then just quit.  We lost a lot of the fruit tree bloom, but the berries were spectacular, so they got a late buildup on that, but when that was done we had nothing.  Have not talked to anyone else around here, but I'm guessing there was a skimpy harvest and a lot of feeding as our weather changes and we button up for winter.

[Oldbeavo]

The advantage of a migratory BK is that you chase the honey. We will go up to 200 miles to chase honey but prefer to stay around the 80 mile mark if we can.
Our bees can have 5-6 shifts per year including pollination shifts.
Sometime we will shift for survival, like grazing lucerne, that is not a big honey yielder in our area, but the bees will survive and grow on it.

[Acebird]

I don't know how you beeks in other parts of the country fare, but dearth in Georgia takes it's toll.

If you don't intervene the bees will adapt.  The toll is on the beekeeper that wants the honey.

[Ben Framed]

If we are talking of a regular season dearth experienced in a 'regular' season, while taking no honey the entire season, the bees will most certainly adapt.
If we take the possibility of dearth in mind, thus leaving an extra amount of honey for such consideration of the bees needs, the bees will again, adapt.
If we take an excessive amount of honey and then feed, the bees they will still adapt.

If we were to practice beekeeping only, never taking any honey 'what so ever', becoming a beekeeper who keeps bees just for the sake and pleasure of beekeeping. The bees would produce 'more than plenty' of stores for their needs in most years, but even then intervention would need to be considered.

Unfortunately even these bees may have small chance at survive, at least 'for very long' without intervention. Small Hive Beetles should be a major concern and consideration, as well as other pests in many area of the globe these days. Unfortunately the golden days of beekeeping, with non-intervention beekeeping practices are not as golden, at least for now when considering ones location.  Fortunately we have many 'well known' beekeepers and breeders globally who are 'striving' for a bee that requires non-intervention, yet are good honey producers, (with a good temperament).

Phillip

[Acebird]

Unfortunately the golden days of beekeeping, with non-intervention beekeeping practices are not as golden, at least for now when considering ones location. 

This can be attributed to intervention propping up weak bees to propagate.  In all farming today chemicals are used to gain yield not prevent extinction.  It is what it is.

[Kathyp]

I don't think a lot of people realize that hives in the wild or hives that people have left to the wild, die.  There are probably plenty of reasons they die...or move on, but no one kept track of that as far as I know, so no one knows.  It's also worth remembering that our honeybees are not native to North America.  They have adapted with the help of beekeepers for the production of honey and wax.  They have escaped into the wild and adapted. 

It would be interesting, and maybe someone like Michael Bush knows, what is the average life of a hive that is not managed?

[The15thMember]

I don't think a lot of people realize that hives in the wild or hives that people have left to the wild, die.  There are probably plenty of reasons they die...or move on, but no one kept track of that as far as I know, so no one knows.  It's also worth remembering that our honeybees are not native to North America.  They have adapted with the help of beekeepers for the production of honey and wax.  They have escaped into the wild and adapted. 

It would be interesting, and maybe someone like Michael Bush knows, what is the average life of a hive that is not managed?

Tom Seeley knows.  According to his book "The Lives of Bees", in his studies in the Arnot forest the average life span of a wild colony is 1.7 years.  He says this number is so low largely because the probability of a colony surviving its first winter is quite low, only about 23%.  However, when he tossed out the colonies that didn't survive their first winter, the average lifespan of a colony was 5.2 years.       

[Ben Framed]

Reagan that sounds just about right from my observation. A few years before I decided to take the plunge keeping bees. A swarm entered a hollow in an oak on our property. It lasted about a year and a half then another swarm took its place the following Spring with the same results. I assume there was a beekeeper somewhere in my area that was the origin of the swarms.
Phillip

[Bob Wilson]

I think we would also need to examine the difference between the longevity of a feral swarm VS a swarm from a kept hive. I would suppose those two new colonies would fare differently in the wild.

[Acebird]

I don't think a lot of people realize that hives in the wild or hives that people have left to the wild, die.

So how do honey bees survive where there are no people?  They survive but they are not that productive because they swarm a lot.  It is the beekeeper's intervention that is keeping them in the same hive for long periods and supplementing sugar for honey to increase their yield.

[Skeggley]

Location, location, location. We have feral hives here that never seem to die out.
Although single brood boxes are the norm here in SW WAust my colonies are static and rely on native flora. Every few years we have had summer deaths and most managed static colonies need to be fed. I use 1 1/2 brood boxes but leave the qx between them from spring to super removal early winter which has so far covered the dearth the last few years.
I've found swarms are more common during the summer dearth than during the spring build up.
Non intervention beekeeping is entirely possible here and a wall through the bush proves that with both untouched backyard hives and feral tree colonies.

[yes2matt]

I don't know how you beeks in other parts of the country fare, but dearth in Georgia takes it's toll.

If you don't intervene the bees will adapt.  The toll is on the beekeeper that wants the honey.

Sometimes (often!) adaptation takes the form of death to the colony. "These bees don't survive here like this" is the message. So then the beekeeper has to decide if s/he is going to adapt the philosophies/methods, or stop keeping bees. 

Sometimes, the bees adapt a little, the beekeepers adapt a little, and we end up with a mutualistic relation that is profitable for beekeepers in terms of honey and bees in terms of survival and proliferation. 

[Lesgold]

It?s interesting reading about how a dearth can vary in different countries or regions. I?m pretty lucky in the sense that I can predict the dearth quite accurately at least 12 months before it occurs and often have an idea that it may happen 2 years ahead of time. This is due to the flowering cycles of the nectar producing trees in my area. Often rain, cold or drought can have an impact also and some of these events are hard to predict. This year for example, I will have a honey flow that will occur during the summer months but next year I may not. I will get a better indication of what is going to happen by observing what trees are starting to bud up in the next couple of months. Some of the eucalypt trees hold their buds for up to 2 years before opening. Every tree is different. This helps me decide how much honey I should rob at any particular time. As I don?t feed my bees, it is critical that I get it right. Feral bees in my area survive quite easily with SHB being the only real issue to the colony if it gets weak. On the topic of human intervention, a silly mistake made by me at my last extraction allowed SHB to take over and destroy a hive. This is my first loss to this pest. I?m still cranky at myself for making a silly decision.

[Acebird]

Sometimes (often!) adaptation takes the form of death to the colony. "These bees don't survive here like this" is the message.

Darwin has it right.  Death of a weak colony strengthens the species.  Propping up a weak colony will only make the future worse.  This is not just for animals it applies to plants also.  I worry about our food supply.

[The15thMember]

Sometimes (often!) adaptation takes the form of death to the colony. "These bees don't survive here like this" is the message.

Darwin has it right.  Death of a weak colony strengthens the species.  Propping up a weak colony will only make the future worse.  This is not just for animals it applies to plants also.  I worry about our food supply.

I think there is some gray area for domestic animals (or semi-domestic in the case of bees) as opposed to wild animals.  I agree that breeding weak animals of any kind weakens the species as a whole, but in the case of domestic animals the only other option isn't death.  There is often a use for that weaker individual other than breeding.  In beekeeping a colony unfit to breed (as long as it isn't diseased) can be used to strengthen another colony or to rear queens from better genetics.   

[Ben Framed]

Sometimes (often!) adaptation takes the form of death to the colony. "These bees don't survive here like this" is the message.

Darwin has it right.  Death of a weak colony strengthens the species.  Propping up a weak colony will only make the future worse.  This is not just for animals it applies to plants also.  I worry about our food supply.

I think there is some gray area for domestic animals (or semi-domestic in the case of bees) as opposed to wild animals.  I agree that breeding weak animals of any kind weakens the species as a whole, but in the case of domestic animals the only other option isn't death.  There is often a use for that weaker individual other than breeding.  In beekeeping a colony unfit to breed (as long as it isn't diseased) can be used to strengthen another colony or to rear queens from better genetics.   

Good point Reagan. I for one agree, as you said "as long as it isn't diseased". Michael Palmer made a similar point some time ago.

Phillip