Fwd: [Buzz] The Dearth

[Catherine Edwards]

---------- Forwarded message ---------
From: Jennifer Robin Berry <jrobi...@gmail.com>
Date: Tue, Jul 16, 2024 at 3:44 PM
Subject: [Buzz] The Dearth
To: <bu...@buzz.marinbeekeepers.org>

The Dearth is upon us. What's The Dearth, you ask? It's the term we beekeepers use to describe the period during the summer when it's hot a dry and the flowers are producing less nectar. It signals a dramatic shift in bee behaviour, where the bees are no longer increasing in population and ripen any honey they have gathered during the nectar flows of the spring and early summer.  The Dearth usually lasts from July to early September, depending on where you are. Then you can expect ivy, or coyote brush, or other plants to pick up the pace in the fall. 

When hives shift from maximum growth to hunkering down, we see many changes in the hive. There are fewer young bees, so wax production is reduced and sometimes ceases altogether. You'll notice that new frames may show a pattern where any comb drawn with honey is capped, no matter how small the cells have been built. Bees will steal any wax from foundation in order to complete the honey capping process. With natural wax foundation, this means the bees will chew those edges and may remove the foundation completely to use elsewhere. For plastic foundation, they'll remove the wax coating, and that means during the next nectar flow the bees will not be eager to build on that naked plastic. 

Bigger, stronger will begin to rob the weaker ones for resources. If you have a big strong colony and you see they are more defensive this time of year, suspect they could be robbing. If you're in a place where you have open space, farmlands, or in an area where there are many smaller lots and homesteads and lots of people keeping hives and you still have a strong nectar flow, suspect robbing. This is important to note because hives that rob will bring back any problems and pests in hives they are robbing from. 

Keep those entrances small enough so that you see a backup of bee traffic trying to get in. Forget what you think you know about needing to give the bees room to come and go freely- this is a mistake that you'll learn from the hard way. It shouldn't be too easy for bees to get back in the hive this time of year, or you'll have robbing. 

If you see bees on the outside of hives trying to get in at the gaps between boxes, robbing is beginning and you'll need to take immediate steps to shut it down or you'll risk losing your colony. 

If you have a colony that is less than a deep + medium and/or if they need to build comb, please do consider feeding sugar syrup. Never use a boardman entrance feeder, it will result in robbing. Instead, invert that feeder on the top of the inner cover and close it inside under an empty super with the lid on top. 

I can't stress enough that this is The Dearth and the hardest time of the year for hives. With starvation, robbing, yellow jackets, ants, and queenloss, this is the time when new beekeepers often lose their new hives. It takes 1/2 an acre of blooming almonds to feed one hive. I have hives at a fancy 12-acre estate in Kentfield that is mostly garden, and even those hives will see a decrease in honey production this time of year. Take all of that into consideration when guessing from your garden whether you have enough forage or not. Better yet- stop guessing and do an inspection. Your bees will thank you!

Jennifer Berry
1 (415) 205-7440
President MCBA
jennifer-berrybees.com

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[Rob Seeley]

This is a great post. Thanks for sharing!

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