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Follow the Bloom - 2023
The15thMember:
Oy, we really dropped the ball on this thread this year. :sad:
Ben Framed:
Reagan, I will contribute, goldenrod is blooming here. :grin:
The15thMember:
We are having a very nice fall bloom. Not enough to get the bees drawing or anything, but they are happy and easy to work, which is nice. We have goldenrod as well, along with native sunflowers and various other asters.
BeeMaster2:
I have Spanish Needle in full bloom here and Golden Rod is just starting.
Jim Altmiller
FloridaGardener:
I'll pitch in with a sum-up for NW Florida Panhandle - Okaloosa/Walton Counties.
At the start of the year, a hard freeze down to 17 degrees killed most of the citrus trees, unless gardeners added heavy blanketing. Locally we lost mature grapefruit trees, sweet oranges, and even a "Florida King" peach tree. Persimmons and Loquats were fine. Many other plants went to the ground for the first time in decades.
The Carolina Laurel - usually an early starter in late Feb - put on a poor showing with hardly any flowering. I made up nucs first week of March as most beeks here do - when significant amounts of drone brood is capped/emerging. Third week of March we had a long, tough cold snap. Drone brood was pulled everywhere. Not sure if they couldn't cover it or were just worried about stores with the onset of another 'winter.' They did all have enough stores and I was careful to insulate the nucs. But I had only 40% success on the nucs, whereas in five prior years have had over 75% success with all queening efforts.
The main flow was light. Everything I saw had a light proportion of bloom compared to prior years. All year long was a drought. Many of the manmade lakes here are almost empty. Every beek I have talked to said it was an awful year for honey. Some beeks had complete absconds with no evidence of cause in the "autopsy".
We usually have a long summer dearth beginning when the sabal palms stop putting out inflorescenses in early July. Our 2000-acre community has many hundreds of sabal palms. Oddly, this year the sabals continued producing new fronds of nectar-laden florets even until the last week of August. I couldn't believe it was real and took photos to document the dates. Perhaps the cold delayed their bloom. As a result, there wasn't a real dearth in summer...the bees kept putzing around on the sabal until the liriope, mexican clover, and spanish needle. It wasn't much, but the bees weren't sulking on the hot landing board.
Of course, now, in October, goldenrod and other autum asters are everywhere. Temps have been 70-85 and as November begins, the temps are dropping to 65 daytime. The bees have stores, but they're testy, as if they weren't bringing in enough. The are fussy and robby, quick to pick on an open hive. My larger colonies robbed and killed a small swarm I picked & brought back on up Oct 10.
Never before have I seen them forage in October on Chinese Lacebark Elm florets. There is an audible buzz in the lacebark elms when the evening sun warms up the tiny bracts. I was amazed an took photos. The ground is dry, dry. Mature azealeas are withering. But the sasanqua camellias have popped open this week and are providing pollen and some nectar also.
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