>If you have bees in the manzanita belt your bees should be able to find
>much pollen and do well except in the few years when the manzanita will
>bloom so early in the season that nothing else is in bloom. This is
>common in the costal manzanita but I have not seen it reported for your
>area. Manzanita is one of the plants that can bloom almost anytime after
>the first rains and can bloom more then once in a season, not common
>but it does happen once or twice in a lifetime. There are at least 50
>verities of manzanita in California and some have been increased for
>roadway, and home garden use. The honey can be water white, has a
>distinct flavor when first extracted which will change if it is allowed
>to stand in the honey tank for a day or two, and granulates to the
>consistency of bon bon cream relatively fast. It is seldom sold as
>manzanita honey and much can be mixed with orange honey to extend that
>crop. Years ago when gasolene was cheep many hives were place in the
>manzanita of northern California to build up and fill up and then moved
>to the citrus of southern California to make very big crops of orange
>honey.
 
 
Andy Nachbaur:
 
Thank you for your Informative response.  I just Talked to my father in law
who along with his R.V. is summering at my place east of Red Bluff.  He
said the passed two or three days it rained a lot up there.  The bees
stayed in and did not consume much syrup.  Today however he says it is
sunny and they are going like gang busters.
 
About the manzinita at my place.  It blooms best in wet years like the last
few.  However this means a good number of "no fly" days for the bees,so I
guess it is a crap shoot. The beekeeper up here says that they build up
with the manzinita flow in the spring.  I would like to have manzinita
for my self and I can feed syrup if that is what it takes.  What is the solution
to getting the bees up to harvest an early flow?  There are about two months
between the manzinita and the star thistle, which should be able to be
used for build up and apistan treatment.
 
 
Thank You
 
Jeffrey