Hi Kevin & All

I may understand that the purpose of crowding is to ensure that the brood box is full of winter stores.  Unfortunately here in south central Ontario our last major flow is goldenrod which normally runs from mid to end of September.  This year it lasted a week or two into October.  The honey is not recommended for overwintering honeybees because of the solids present & its property of fast crystallisation.  Another species, humans, especially some ethnic groups love the stronger taste, so that there is a strong market for the stuff here.  It also contains some ragweed pollen(windblown) which is a major cause of hay fever here so that the honey acts as an antidote for sufferers.  I’ve even had people wanting to buy cappings as there are more pollen grains.  My Autumn comb honey sells well as a result.  I now have a problem of feeding syrup to fill the brood box after the last honey suppers are off, but the weather turned unusually cold & wintery in the middle of October then summerish in mid November.  I am predicting my highest winter losses ever this year.  Some might say, don’t be stupid, take the supers off earlier & let the bees have the stuff.  Several years ago I had 2 scale hives which both agreed @ 28 pounds weight increase per day for several days during this flow.  I guess my point is all beekeeping is local, our weather is not like California.

Bob Darrell
Caledon “Ontario
Canada 44N80W
 
> On 1 Dec 2020, at 10:21 AM, Bear Creek Honey - Kevin McMahon <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> 
> 
> I've read this passage several times trying to understand the logic behind it.

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