In a message dated 96-03-31 00:21:26 EST, Kelley Rosenlund writes:
 
>>I'll say disappointment. I have hives in groves near Daytona Beach and just
>>west of Orlando, Florida. A few hives are doing well but most aren't making
>>honey. At least they are making more bees for pollination. Hives in the
>>grove further south in Tampa are doing much better.
>>
>>God Bless,
>>Kelley Rosenlund  [log in to unmask]
>>Gainesville, Florida, U.S.A., 137 hives, 1 year in beekeeping.
>>
 
   Finally some good weather has arrived in Florida, as the orange flow is
winding down. One benefit of the erratic weather is that the bloom is
extended, with late varieties holding off.  This gives hives that are in poor
shape more time to build.  Reports are that the southern end of the citrus
belt has now gotten a good crop, while the central ridge is fair.  The
northen end of the belt is not yet finished.
 
   Here in South Carolina, after a record breaking frost three days ago, it
is warming up, and (finally) a little bit of a flow.  Our bees have the least
total honey on them in many a year; we are still feeding.  We put a lot of
brood foundation on this spring, and a lot of it is ruined.  When bees do not
get a flow, they go to mischief, chewing and building brace comb, etc.  We
are about two weeks behind the normal progression for the bees, and hoping it
doesn't turn hot, and end spring, before it even gets started.
 
   Discussions with a bunch of beekeepers tonight developed two points of
view, one side holding that beekeeping is an addiction, with the greatest
potential income in the field being to open a halfway house to cure the
addiction.  Others, including myself, regarded beekeeeping as a result of a
defective gene, for which there is no cure.
 
[log in to unmask]    Dave Green,  PO Box 1200,  Hemingway,  SC  29554
 
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