JOEL N SWINK wrote:
Early spring rain and cool weather has kept my bees from the first of the
nectar flow the past two years.  They are very partial to the maple trees
here and the flow is heavy whether the bees can fly or not.

Joel
I think that you have hit the nail on the head.
It may be interesting to predict when a crop will flower, but if the weather
is then so bad that the bees cannot fly then all of our efforts are wasted.
This has been the case in the UK this year.  Weather up and down like a
yo-yo in the spring, then July onwards has been a nightmare.  Knowing when
crops would flower was really a total irrelevance!

It is weather conditions that are more important - had I known in advance
that August would be so bad then I would not have wasted time and money
hauling bees to the heather moors - and I might have started feeding at the
beginning of July!

Peter Edwards
[log in to unmask]
www.stratford-upon-avon.freeserve.co.uk/

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