Beemaster's International Beekeeping Forum
BEEKEEPING LEARNING CENTER => GENERAL BEEKEEPING - MAIN POSTING FORUM. => Topic started by: Dr. B in Wisconsin on July 18, 2011, 08:46:08 pm
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Hello
Getting very hot, 95 in Wisconsin and the lawns are getting crispy. I ride my bike on the edge of town and there are quite a few wild flowers out there, I was wondering with the hot dry weather is there much nector in those flowers? Is the nector drying up in the flowers or maybe the flowers are under stress and put out a little extra to help pollinate?? The bees seem VERY active in the hot weather, what gives?
Thanks for any info.
Brian
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Yes, it was mentioned at our last monthly beekeepers mtg. that the extreme heat and low humidity can reduce the nectar available to foragers. We have had 34 days over 100 degrees so far this year in central Oklahoma and no end in sight. The flow was short and now the girls just seem to be just standing around watching the sun shine. Fortunately I live on a small lake so I know they at least have enough water to drink.
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I think I read here somewhere that when the weather gets hot, nectar is produced in the mornings and evenings so the plants can still attract pollinators, but can conserve their energy by not producing nectar during the heat of the day.
I don't know what the temperature break is, though it's something I want to research over winter.
We had some problems with that a couple summers ago in areas that did not have much surface water. It caught a lot of new beeks off guard to find that even through the backberries were blooming, there wasn't a lot of nectar for the bees. Feeding in July wasn't even on their radar and there were several losses. We all look for it now.
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had the same problem here too.we had hot weather and no rain for 2 1/2 -3 months.had alot of nector producing plants and flowers but they didn't have enough nector for the bees to store.i had to feed 30 out of 65 hives to help them make it . .....schawee
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This time of year the bees seem more intent on bringing in water. Flows are minimal now, next will be Golden rain trees, then goldenrod in October.
...JP
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what about crepe myrtles? They look like such a great source of food, and they are all around my neighborhood.
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Bees just don't seem to get a lot from Crape myrtles, don't seem to work them much either, not that they don't go to them, have seen them on the white ones, not on other colors.
...JP
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I hope the heat has not stopped the basswood trees from pumpin nectar in the river bottoms. We have been fortunate that with the heat we have had plenty of rain in the last three weeks. Must be close to a foot of it. Heat should break over the next two days and then be high 70's and 80's. What scares me now is the nasty storms the dry cold front will bring when it hits this nasty 95% hot humidity. I hope my hives stay standing!