> Waldemar wrote
>
> Can malnutrition occur under East Coast conditions?

Here in the Finger Lakes  of NY after the Basswood flow in July--there  
is a dearth.   This lasts from end of August until September.  Pollen  
flows slow & almost stop.  In some years (like this year) its a good  
idea to feed sugar.  My colonies were putting on nothing & my scale  
hive was back pedaling--couple pounds a day.  I pulled supers, added a  
1 lb patty & put on two gallons of 1:1 sugar per colony.  (July 28)

   Now I have pollen traps back on & the Bamboo is flowing, some  
Goldenrod (not strong yet) and clover pollen--they get little honey  
from dutch clover this time of year, but quite a bit of pollen.   My  
hives are on the mend.  rather than gobbling up the first week of flow  
after this dearth they will start to gain weight because I fed them.   
(they also got to clean up the supers following a pitiful extraction.   
1 barrel--should have been 3-4 by this time of year.

  Prior to the release of the three insects for Loosestrife control,  
beekeepers could get Loosestrife honey if near a swamp in August  but  
thats gone around here--beeks complain that biological control of  
invasive plants destroyed such a nice olive oil green honey.

So yes on the east coast there are periods ( in places) with hive  
malnutrition.

Mike

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