Summer dearth in mid-state Georgia.

[Bob Wilson]

Being a new beek, I was not prepared for dearth this summer. Not that my bees are dying. I haven't touched their honey. But I did'nt understand the lack of flowers during the green summer months. I did not anticipate the inactivity of the hive during the dry weeks of drought. It seems like the hive exploded in spring, only to screech to a halt. I looked in the hive last week, and saw nectar, but I wonder if the bees just never capped it. Are they eating all the honey stores?

[BeeMaster2]

You could have a small flow starting.
Where is the nectar at? Is it near the brood or is it in the supers?
If it is in the supers, they may have run out of flow before it was capped. If it is around the brood, that is honey they are using to feed the brood.
Lift up the back of the hive to feel how heavy they are. I put the front edge of the hive box lined up on the front edge of the stand and leave an inch hanging over the back edge of the stand. This gives me a fingertip area to lift the hive and see how much it weighs.
If you lift your hive on a regular basis, when it is just starting, after inspections and after adding empty supers, you will bee able to judge if they are adding or loosing weight.
Jim Altmiller

[Bob Wilson]

Thank, jim. I am building a second long hive with SHB traps built in, and will put both boxes in a better, more stable area so i can begin testing their weight by lifting one end. When I do that, I am going to move this established colony into the new box, by moving the frames into the same relative spot in the new hive. Hopefully I can get it done this weekend. I will inspect all the frames at that time and get back with you.

[cao]

The summer dearth can be pretty shocking when you are not expecting it.  When I first started with bees and was doing splits, I had a lot of trouble with the later splits.  Around here, any splits made after June need a lot of attention.  In late July it is like someone flipped a switch and the bees stop growing.  If I'm very lucky there might be a little bit of a fall flow for the bees to store.