Howard Kogan asked:

> Would the contributors please say what Horticultural zone
> they are in or what state, so the readers can know whether
> the contributor is coping with the same or different climatic
> conditions?

The "Climate Zone" in my view is of little use in beekeeping.
If you have never seen one of these maps, you can see one here:

        http://www.usna.usda.gov/Hardzone/ushzmap.html

Despite the "new and improved" addition of "a" and "b" sub-zones,
all the map does is define the lowest temperature recorded in the
1970s and 1980s.  While this is (somewhat) useful for making a rough
guess at which plants will survive where, it really is not of much use
even for that purpose.  Latitude is just as "accurate" in my view for
defining overall climate factors for beekeeping purposes.

For beekeeping, I want to know the "last frost date" above all else.

Here's maps of "last/first freezes" and "last/first frosts" for the USA:

http://lwf.ncdc.noaa.gov/oa/documentlibrary/freezefrost/frostfreemaps.html

One also wants a good idea of the progression of blooming amongst the
plants that provide nectar for bees.

Here's the rules of the game (it is called "Phenological Events Tracking"
by the bio-science majors):

a)  Last frost will vary year to year, but the maps provided by NOAA are
     the best estimate that can be made, and are updated every year.

b)  The number of non-frost days between last frost and bloom is fairly
     consistent for any one type of plant.  I have seen some people track
     this in terms of "degree-days", which is a neat way to think about it,
     and is likely data available from your local TV weatherperson (just
     ask, and these folks will BURY you in data!).

c)  So, one can track the official "last frost", or one can track the blooming
     of some early plant (skunk cabbage and dandelions are my favorite "indexes")
     and extrapolate the blooming date of your major nectar sources.

d)  Now none of this is all that accurate, but it can allow you to get your supers
     on at least a week AHEAD of the expected bloom date.

e)  The period of bloom for any one plant is also pretty consistent from year to
     year, and is really only effected by sudden weather changes (like the week
     of rain and cold weather that knocked down a significant portion of the
     Tulip Poplar bloom last spring in Southwestern VA).  So, one can also
     predict when to take supers off when one wants to go for "varietal honey".

f)   When in doubt, super your drawn comb early.  The bees don't mind it one bit.   :)

We don't have a whole lot of fall-blooming stuff where I live, but the same approach
works for predicting fall blooms.  One also would want to keep an eye on first frost
dates, since menthol is not going to bee of much use if the days are not warm.

        jim

        farmageddon  (where last frost is roughly April 15th)