Bill H wrote:
>> Milkweed, Canada thistle, and smooth sumac are already out with staghorn
and winged sumac to follow. The sumacs will bloom all through August and
can end up being important nectar sources.<<
Interesting. Here in New Brunswick I only see staghorn sumac, which is
important here from early to mid July, but by then it is all done -
certainly no sumac in August. So those August-flowering sumacs must be the
winged and smooth?
I'm in the central Saint John river valley which is the warmest ecozone in
the province, summers are comparable to areas quite a bit further south
elsewhere in the NE.
We had a miserable cold April, and in early May some of my colonies had
zero brood - I thought they had gone queenless, but no, they started
building up, and are now looking good. Winter losses were patchy, some
locals lost everything (above average losses), whereas close neighbours, no
losses. No good understanding of that yet.
May was dry, June about average but a lot of cold nights including frosts,
which despite damage to some crops including whole vineyards wiped out,
did not seem to hold the bees back at all. July is normally our main flow
surplus for the year and some hives kicked in to flow mode at least a week
earlier than usual, seemingly fueled by raspberry. Sweet clover, milkweed,
dogbane and sumac are what make July our peak month. There are some
scattered locusts and basswoods but not enough to make much difference in
most locations. The exception is in our capital city where small leafed
lindens are a common street tree and they are usually stiff with bees in
mid-July - mainly bumbles. Beekeeping is not yet endorsed in the
city....one or two special exemptions, one or three guerillas.
Hives are now supered up and being worked steadily, overall it looks good
here.
Rob
Upper Kingclear NB
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