Yes, cotton is tricky to work with.  It can have blooms that look like a
carpet of flowers and produce little nectar.  The trick is to receive rain
while the cotton is blooming.  For a brief time, it will produce more nectar
than your bees could possibly collect.  You need to have every super you can
find on the hives with every colony at peak population when this happens.  I
put 5 or more on each hive just before it blooms.  Soon, the nectar dwindles
back to almost nothing.  Another shower, more nectar.  For some reason,
irrigated cotton doesn't produce a good tasting honey - at least not here.
Irrigated cotton is often BT cotton which may explain the taste.  I've also
run into the same nectar dearth with mesquite trees.  Mesquites bloom up to
4 times a year, but have little nectar until it rains.

West Texas Mark

> Pellett points out (quoting several sources) that
> the on light sandy soil, cotton makes little honey, and this was the soil
> type here.  This colony was very good, making each year eight to ten
gallons
> from other sources, but none during the month of August, early September
> while the cotton was in bloom.
>
> Bob Barnett
> Birmingham,  AL