Re: [BABA] Abridged summary of boston-beekeepers-club@googlegroups.com - 1 update in 1 topic
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Bill Perkins
Oct 14, 2021, 12:05:12 PM10/14/21
to boston-beek...@googlegroups.com
Hi Grace --
In general, bees are pretty resilient. If it weren't for Varroa destructor, the devastating mite that has eliminated feral colonies and causes annual colony losses between 30-70%, bees would be in pretty good shape. Climate-wise, what we're seeing is an extended autumn, a longer period where autumn flowers bloom themselves out by the usual date, and where additional nectar sources are all but unavailable. Asters, a limited nectar source, seem to bloom until the frost, but there's really not much else out there that I see. Perhaps riverine and marsh plants bloom later but, in Boston, flowering plants have mostly completed their cycles.
My worry is that, while bees continue to forage yet find little to no nectar to gather, they are consuming more resources than they are collecting. If temperatures were cooler, they would only be using enough energy to keep the queen and developing eggs/larvae/pupae (brood) warm inside the hive, not flying around fruitlessly looking for nonexistent nectar. A fellow beekeeper who monitors her hive's weight year-round saw this occurring last fall.
Many beekeepers compensate by either leaving more honey in their hives, or feeding a simple sugar syrup in early to mid-autumn which they convert into honey -- virtually the same, but lacks small bits of pollen that get mixed in during the process, and probably a host of minerals and micronutrients as well.
Other folk see the same/have the same concern?
I hope this helps, Grace.
--Bill
In general, bees are pretty resilient. If it weren't for Varroa destructor, the devastating mite that has eliminated feral colonies and causes annual colony losses between 30-70%, bees would be in pretty good shape. Climate-wise, what we're seeing is an extended autumn, a longer period where autumn flowers bloom themselves out by the usual date, and where additional nectar sources are all but unavailable. Asters, a limited nectar source, seem to bloom until the frost, but there's really not much else out there that I see. Perhaps riverine and marsh plants bloom later but, in Boston, flowering plants have mostly completed their cycles.
My worry is that, while bees continue to forage yet find little to no nectar to gather, they are consuming more resources than they are collecting. If temperatures were cooler, they would only be using enough energy to keep the queen and developing eggs/larvae/pupae (brood) warm inside the hive, not flying around fruitlessly looking for nonexistent nectar. A fellow beekeeper who monitors her hive's weight year-round saw this occurring last fall.
Many beekeepers compensate by either leaving more honey in their hives, or feeding a simple sugar syrup in early to mid-autumn which they convert into honey -- virtually the same, but lacks small bits of pollen that get mixed in during the process, and probably a host of minerals and micronutrients as well.
Other folk see the same/have the same concern?
I hope this helps, Grace.
--Bill
Bill Perkins 617-388-7378 (m)
On 10/14/2021 7:35 AM,
boston-beek...@googlegroups.com wrote:
- Science Journalist with Request - 1 Update
Grace <gracecv...@gmail.com>: Oct 13 09:07AM -0700
Hello Boston Beekeepers,
I'm a science journalist looking for some opinions from you all about how
the wonky weather in the Boston area has affected your beekeeping or your
honey harvest. ...more
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