In a message dated 98-01-17 18:47:42 EST, [log in to unmask] (Greg Hankins)
writes:
 
<<  I'm in the southern end of the North Carolina piedmont. Data from the
state
 university tells me I'll see blackberry bloom the second week in April
 (following two months of maple bloom and a month of dandelion), followed a
 week later by some clovers, and a couple of weeks later by tulip popular.
 I'm keen to catch some honey from the blackberry and the tulip poplar.
 
 So, how many weeks in advance should I start feeding syrup and/or pollen to
 stimulate brood rearing that will get me a healthy band of foragers by
 April 12?
 
 If it's 21 days from egg to bee, and another 10 for newly emerged worker to
 move outside the hive, it seems I'd want to begin stimulating strong
 egg-laying at least six weeks out (about March 1) through feeding both
 syrup and pollen substitute.>>
 
   We start stimulative feeding here in S. Carolina about the end of February.
I have never seen any need for pollen supplements, as there is a generous
natural supply in late winter and spring. The best hives are given a second
brood box, so they can produce nucs.
 
   Once you start, you cannot stop, as bees build quickly and run out of
reserves just as quickly, if you neglect them for a few poor days. While
pollen is plentiful, nectar is not, at least until the end of March. Maple
bloom is not two months; it is early, quite brief, and is followed by several
weeks of dearth. It tends to stimulate the queens, so the bees expend all the
maple, and then quickly start using up remaining honey reserves.
 
   Another caveat: bees will transition practically overnight from needing
feed to wanting to blow off swarms when you feed like this. So keep on top of
things.
 
[log in to unmask]     Dave Green  Hemingway, SC  USA
The Pollination Scene:  http://users.aol.com/pollinator/polpage1.html
 
Jan's Sweetness and Light Shop    (Varietal Honeys and Beeswax Candles)
http://users.aol.com/SweetnessL/sweetlit.htm