Where I am, the average rainfall according to weather.com during the 180
days of May through October only averages .88 of an inch. But from
December to April, there is lots of nectar. My problem in the past is that
the bees couldn't take advangage of most of this due to numbers, but I
have solved it by combining hives. I'm already harvesting from the
eucalyptus locations, and I've recently re-queened so I'm optimistic about
hive strength this season. The two other management problems that I have
are very early swarming, as in Feb-March, and the bees moving up. I hope
that the new queens will help with the swarming problems, but I thought
I'd try to keep them down using excluders, and since crowding contributes
to swarming, I was thinking Murrays method may help. But I plan on doing
what was suggested and do it with just a few at first.

Just something else to throw out, the beekeeper I worked for briefly in
1983 used to say that the mustard caused the bees to swarm. The hills here
are covered with it early in the year, and whether it's just coincidence
or something about the abundance and quality of the pollen, I don't know.

Thanks again
Tim Vaughan

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
-- Visit www.honeybeeworld.com/BEE-L for rules, FAQ and  other info ---
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::