The gains I have posted below are not much for some a lot of you, I know, but it was an amazing week for me after this summer's dearth. Background: This summer has been one of little rain (4 inches in July & August combined, <1 inch in the past 26 days) and heat (highs - M/J/J/A/S - 94/89/97/95/96, 19 days over 90, longest string over 90 - 6 days). Not a big deal down South, but not typical for northern New England. Spring came three weeks early, based on apple bloom, with a hard frost at peak bloom that wiped out a lot of the crop. Early rains, early flow, looked good, harvested some supers, then hot and dry and everything pretty much dried up. After a peak in early July, my platform scale has been slowly losing weight all summer, even with the various goldenrod blooms that also started early. Until last week. Here are the numbers, along with the daily high:
Daily Gain Temp
0 77
2 83
2 92
3.5 91
5.5 95
9.5 95
12 96
18.5 91
-1.5 83
As I wrote, a 40 lb. gain in three days may not be a lot for some/most of you, but it impressed me. Keep in mind I've only been tracking weight for two seasons, so this might happen all the time, but will take several years to make that determination. My sense from what I have seen/experienced in prior years is it was unusual. Note that this gain was at the peak of a late summer heat wave (with higher humidity the last few days before the weather changed); the bees were rockets flying in and out with many house bees fanning the hives like mad, even with ventilation boxes and screened bottom boards with slatted racks. The smell was almost intoxicating. Then, Earl passed by Friday night (did not get a drop of rain from it, dang), and a cold front moved through yesterday (again, no rain). Not particularly cold, but a definite change in the weather with some pretty gusty winds all day and a decided drop in humidity.
So, what happened to the flow, and why a sudden loss of hive weight?
A few guesses:
- Whatever was in bloom ended. Goldenrod is still blooming (and they are bringing in lots of bright yellow pollen), and I have looked for, but not seen, Japanese Knotweed. Seems odd that it would shut off like that.
- The weather change threw off the bees. Perhaps, the gusty winds really reduced their collecting efficiency?
- The lower humidity yesterday allowed them to more efficiently drive off moisture and the weight loss was just from more efficient evaporation.
- This colony was a very small survivor colony that needed some TLC this summer (although they still gained 50 lbs. this spring flow before things dried up). It might have been that their numbers just hit critical mass right at the peak of fall flow and a heat wave combined, sort of a perfect storm of honey production.
Today looks to be cooler, with highs in the low 70's, breezy, with low humidity and party/mostly sunny skies. I am very interested to see if their harvest picks up, again. But, even if it doesn't, it was pretty cool to see it happen. I checked a couple of hives yesterday, and they are, suddenly, almost honey bound in a three deep configuration. If the weight gain picks up again today, then I may have to add supers back, just as a precaution.
Any and all thoughts appreciated.
Bill
p.s. Apologies to those, who use metric. I usually convert and show both, but there were just too many numbers to post. My guess is you are all probably used to converting in your heads.
###################################
Bill Greenrose
Claremont, NH
+43.35687 +43° 21’ 25”
-72.3835 -72° 23’ 01”
CWOP: D5065
Weather Underground: KNHCLARE3
HonetBeeNet: NH001
***********************************************
The BEE-L mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned
LISTSERV(R) list management software. For more information, go to:
http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html
Guidelines for posting to BEE-L can be found at:
http://honeybeeworld.com/bee-l/guidelines.htm
|
