>
>
>
> Every area is different,  but after that first burst,  most hives will
> settle into a stable phase. This is where we get honey producers.
>
> Overall, quite a bit of worthwhile information there. Thanks for sharing.

In your experience, if you push a colony into that first burst phase (as
you put it) earlier than nature would have provided for it naturally, will
they still settle into a stable phase when they normally would have
swarmed, or do they continue to stay in a burst phase?

Typically, blackberry and tulip poplar are our big (and often only) blooms,
starting on average around April 10 and lasting through the second week in
May. Swarm season typically happens the third week in March through the
second week in April. The hives I push to honey production, I attempt to
have large colonies around April 1 (as last few years the flow started two
weeks early). Which ends up coinciding with the swarm season, and I
invariably get to watch bees fill bushes and trees, rather than boxes, if
I'm not on top of them. If they swarm the third or fourth week in March,
I'm not going to be able to get them full production by the flow, and there
goes the year. If I keep them weak the third or fourth week in March to
prevent swarming, I usually can't get them big enough by the flow, and
there goes my year. So, what if I fed the crap out of them in February, got
the main burst a month early, split and managed for swarms then. Based on
your experience, would they settle into a stable phase around the middle of
March? Or would they stay swarmy through the flow (genetics aside,
obviously)?

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