April is the busiest month for bees and beekeepers. Populations of bees are expanding toward their maximum, and flowers are coming into bloom in abundance. Bees eagerly gather nectar and pollen to produce brood food for rapidly expanding colonies. Heavy springtime nectar flows often lead to brood nest congestion when nectar is stored in the brood nest. Without available cells for the queen to lay eggs, the colony divides and swarms, with swarming reaching a peak in April and May. Beekeepers attempt to capture swarms of bees, as these have the potential of growing rapidly into productive colonies. For those hives that lose a large population of bees through swarming, it usually means the loss of the year’s honey crop. April saw periods of nice weather, conducive to bees’ foraging, interrupted by periods of extreme weather. Numerous thunderstorms and tornadoes along with severe localized flooding lingered across Arkansas and neighboring states. Some bee hives were overturned by strong winds, and some were flooded.
April found beekeepers busy expanding their operations. Bee
Day activity at Bemis Honey Bee Farm in Little Rock attracted beekeepers from
throughout the region to pick up hundreds of packages of bees and nucleus colonies.
I participated in speaking sessions held throughout the day. Dr. Cameron Jack
of the University of Florida spoke on varroa mite and small hive beetle
integrated pest management practices, and he described his ongoing research on seasonal
varroa mite treatments. Bo Sterk and Dave Westervelt of Bees Beyond Borders,
www.beesbeyondborders.org, spoke on swarms and splits, common mistakes made in
the bee yard, and feeding bees among other topics. Dr. Jon Zawislak of the
University of Arkansas described queen genetics, and I spoke on honey bee
communications. An interested group followed my presentation on ethical
beekeeping. I joined Bo and Dave who remained in Little Rock for two days of
beekeeping workshops, sharing their experience, much of it involving their
training of beekeepers across the Caribbean. Today’s photo: catalpa, a prolific
bee forage tree.
Posts
