> We notice these days that our best honey producers often crash pretty hard
> a couple of months after the flow, as opposed to other colonies in the
> yards.

Not sure what you mean by crash.  Do you mean decrease in population 
suddenly, or die suddenly?

If you mean decrease in size, we've noticed that hives that plug out, 
especially on a heavy flow with little or poor pollen often dwindle 
and/or die in late fall or winter.  This is due to lack of replacement 
bees as nectar storage out-competes the queen for cell space during the 
crucial ending fall brood cycles.

This is the opposite what occurs if the hives are too light and the bees 
fly themselves to death in fall. The art of beekeeping is largely a 
matter of matching the hive volume to the bees' needs at the moment.

Reportedly, Ozzies have been known to pull hives off good flows which 
lack good pollen due to the cost in terms of bee life and vigour.

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