Hello All,
Yesterday at our beekeepers meeting many beekeepers reported a stop in their
bees brood rearing when our temperatures were around 100 degrees F. for over
a week last fall.  They reported not having enough emerging brood to winter
well. I personally didn't have this problem as my bees were working a above
average Goldenrod flow but thought the subject might be interesting to put
out on Bee-L.   There are of course many other possibilites such as disease
and mites as the reason but at least 7 or 8 longtime beekeepers reported the
situation in their hives.  I travel the longest distance to the meetings and
my bees are in a different floral area than most our members bees.
In the spring of the year i have seen a stop in brood rearing for no
apparent reason.  Usually occurs in early May.  We have discussed the
problem at our bee meetings but have never quite been able to figure out why
for sure.  There allways seems to be plenty of pollen and most of the hives
are being fed.  We have seen the stop in egg laying last from 5 days to
10 days. We have came with plenty of answers to argue about.  Any comments?
Sincerely,
Bob Harrison
Odessa, Missouri
PS Preparing to swarm always comes up but crowding is not a problem and
there are no swarm cells.  All hives seem to follow the same pattern.  Very
strange i must say.  We have seen the above happen when weather is normal
and during cold spells.