Bob,

>Actually we are on the northern tip. One would need to go around 200 miles
>north to find greener pastures. Northern Nebraska & Iowa.

Probably not cost effective with only 40 - 80 hives, besides I'd be burning up the highway wanting to check on them too often. I have farmer friends in South Dakota, someday. 

>Preparing your bees as if we might get the worst of winters is one key of
>wintering here. I would reduce all entrances and keep an eye on stores in 
>early February.

Will do, I had a couple starve last winter late because I made the mistake of not checking stores like you say. 

>What is going to be my best strategy to weather the drought?

>My situation is very different than yours but will try to advise.

>*If* you are content to simply keep your hive numbers up and not get a
>maximum honey crop then super the strongest and feed the weak. If you want
>to increase forget honey and split.
>split early while still plenty of early flow. Once queens are set you can
>bring the size up even with drought conditions through  feeding.
>Keep in mind bees are not fooled easily. In drought the tendency is to
>reduce population.
>Pollen patties might be needed at times.

I'm wanting to grow, but I don't want to feed because I think it's detrimental to trying to manage treatment free bees, so I guess I will make the call about doing splits in March/April after I see if we have gotten any moisture to speak of. I'll have equipment ready for anouther 50 hives just in case.

>I have been through three Missouri official droughts. One year I simply fed 
>bees all year.

Hope for our farmers sake we don't see that.

>My Missouri hives are in an all weather 35 acre rock quarry. North rock wall
>to block the wind. Set back from the trees far enough to get sun all day.
>part of the quarry is flooded providing clean water. I have never saw dry 
>yet.

My hives are still at outyards, not as sheltered as I would like and I wish I had them all together. I've got a location on the south side of a solid woodline that runs east and west, can bees be moved on cold days ok?
 
>The hives will stay until ready to move onto yards. Once places to use are
>picked the hives are moved. I have yards in many counties and even in other
>states (but none in Grass valley, California).

Wish I had started when I was 25 or 30 instead of 55, would have liked being a full timer. Going to try to build up to 3 - 500 over the next 10 years to give me something to do when I retire. Can't give up my day job now.

>I choose carefully the locations I use.

I try to too, I've secured property for 3 more outyards where the forage for our main flow looked good last year. If it's dry in the spring I think I will hold off on expansion and limit my hive numbers in any one yard to about 6 or 8, again so I can avoid feeding if possible. All locations are within 10 miles of my home. And I think I will move hives around more next year to take advantage of later isolated flows. In particular moving to soybeans after clover and then moving to good aster locations for fall.

>My past experience in the area (decades) has been drought last two years
>with the first year of the drought being the best and the second very poor
>with the drought ending with downpours in the third spring. if our area
>drought continues I would expect a poor year for our area or like the last 
>two years with the crop coming early and then flowers drying up.

Flowers drying up suddenly is what we saw last year, I don't think the bees made anything to speak of after late June. 

>Hope the above helps.

Yes it does, thanks tons Bob. Sure would like to buy you and your wife dinner some time and pick your brain.

I don't know what I don't know and at my advancing age it would be nice to limit mistakes.


Don

 

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