<<If people can provide me information about bee forage seasons >>

Hello Gang,

I recently did a presentation at my local bee club on the merits
of keeping records. Although it was very well received and some
folks promised to begin keeping some kind of record, most of them
thought that they would not keep records to the same extent that
I do.

Call it lazy, call it lack of interest, but some folks are just
not going to do it. Some are not always new beekeepers, and ask very fundamental questions. Questions that are easily answered by reading a beekeeping magazine for a year.

Keeping records is essential for unique micro climates that exist
here in New Hampshire. The state has a sea coast and mountains and
valleys. Micro climates change in just a few miles here.
Lebanon NH is just 15 miles from Canaan where I live,
but the bloom is three weeks earlier there.
Lebanon has a major river flowing thorough it, and is at
a 364 feet elevation. We are at 1100 ft. elevation and
near a 3200 ft. mountain. This makes a big difference in bloom
times.

I have been frustrated in getting folks to keep local records. They agree
that it is very useful but I have not been able to motivate them all
to do it. I should be glad that SOME of them will do it.

El Nin~o, La Nin~a, will change bloom times by a month.
We used to get snow cover and a lot of it in Novemver.
Now the major snow fall is in March.
Christmas week was traditionally very cold, with sustained
temps of minus 25,f. Now it might get down to zero but not
stay there all day.

Dandilions were four weeks early in 1999, 3 weeks early in 1998.
Locust was early and did not last long. This is the main flow
here and began on June 1. Last frost date here was May 15, this
year. I have seen it as late as June 12.

I also record tell tale signs. Harbengers of coming events like the
first dead skunk on the road, ice out on local lakes, bird arrivals,
ant hill appearance, snow fleas appearance, maple sap running
and first bloom of Pussy Willows, our first bloom of the year.

I also keep track of high temps, low temps, number of days in a month
below 45 degrees f, and below 32f, number of days with the high
and low below 32. This year I plan to keep track of barometric pressure
as well. I also make a brief note on weather, wind, snow, overcast, etc.
After frost danger is past I keep track of inches of rain fall.
Rain fall is a major factor in nectar production and can be highly
localized.

I would like to see a computer program that could compile this data
for analysis. It's a big job to input the data collected from
local sources, but it would be very valuable.





Ernie Gregoire "Beekeeper," definition= partially brave,

                            partially excentric

Grist Mill Apiary

Canaan, NH. USA


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12/24/99 09:57:43