Murray said:
In his very fair reply Gerald actually said he had not considered
starvation a possibility, and had not thought about feeding.

Gerald's area is at least two weeks ahead of mine. Plenty of both nectar &
pollen coming in both areas. Hard for me to see a swarm (without brood to
feed) starving to death this time of year but I suppose always a
possibility.

Murray said:
 Among your list of current tasks Bob, as written above, is feeding.

There is a big difference between the way the beekeeper making a living from
beekeeping and the hobby beekeeper thinks. Hobby means "does not care if
sustainable"

I look at the scenario like I have been standing in front of a slot machine
and feeding money and waiting for a jackpot to get my investment back.
Sometimes you do. Sometimes you don't and every once in awhile you get a
bumper crop!

Will share a few Missouri secrets.

Right now the big picture is getting hives into position to maximize the
honey flow. I am feeding to create foragers for the main honey flow. I only
feed the hives that need feed or else those which don't will swarm. Current
timing is May 15th. south and June 1st. for my area.  I am moving hives
toward Gerald's area as the honey flow is two weeks ahead of my area. The
Yellow Blossom sweet Clover will bloom on last years plants so you can judge
the forage if you know what to look for. At the  end of the south  flow I
will move those hives back to catch the last two weeks in my area. I have
completely emptied yards in areas which look like a late or poor flow. I
have moved my stronger hives into areas which look promising.
I do not guess about a location.  I go out and look. Get out of the truck
and check fields.
Usually my hard work pays rewards in higher honey production. This week I
have been looking at fields white with Dutch Clover without a bee on the
flowers. Bumble bees but no honeybees. For unknown reasons can happen and
has happened before. I am concerned!

I have got time now but if two weeks into the main flow and the bees are not
on the Dutch Clover then its time to relocate the hives to either Yellow or
white sweet clover as our main flow only runs 5-6 weeks. Sitting in one
place and getting half a honey crop is not an option.

In our area the sweet clovers are always dependable as they are deep rooted.
We are getting short on rainfall. White Dutch is shallow rooted and burns up
easily.

Commercial beekeeping is complex. I know from my private talks with Murray
over the years we have been friends his movements in Scotland are dictated
by floral sources and weather conditions. I know that many beekeepers have
tried to make a living from bees in Scotland to only end up in failure.

In other words you can be a bee-haver in the Dakotas of the U.S. and be
successful ( 200 lb. average) but in Missouri (50 lb. state average) you
have got to work at making a crop!

Sincerely,
Bob Harrison

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