But 1 long row of flowering broccoli will net you a frame of honey, or two.
Ooh I like these numbers. That means I could fill up my whole hive with one acre of broccoli alone.
I am almost safe with the 1/2 mi. figure. I like that too. Got any more good tidbits, I'm still listening?
That is a lot of broccoli ;). You can also fill up a hive with a few acres of buckwheat or goldenrod too...weather permitting!!
The 1/2 mile is conservative...if it is a dry year, they go as far as they need to. Not so safe then with a well watered golf course just right there... ;)
The whole theme here is weather weather weather. If you get a drought and see the empty hives, you'll be tempted to break out the sugar....
If you want more than a few hives and want some hive increase, it sure is simple to feed them a bunch of syrup for a big buildup. To just dismiss sugar, another tool in the beekeeping toolbox, is imho, very ignorant. Give it a few years, then make up your mind.
BTW, if you mow down the gardens and burn the woods, it would hinder the bees a little bit. Mostly from the smoke ;). But they are good at flying, and love the flowers in the highway median and along side of the highway (which I think I saw in your pictures).