Honey - Preparation For The Harvest

An essential in honey production is to have the hive overflowing with bees at the beginning of the honey flow, so that the field force will be large enough to gather more honey than the bees need for their own use. To accomplish this, the bee keeper must see to it that brood rearing is heavy some time before the harvest, and he must know accurately when the honey flows come, so that he may time his manipulations properly. Brood rearing during the honey flow usually produces bees which consume stores, while brood reared before the flow furnishes the surplus gatherers. The best methods of procedure may be illustrated by giving as an example the conditions in the white-clover region.

In the spring the bees gather pollen and nectar from various early flowers, and often a considerable quantity from fruit bloom and dandelions. During this time brood rearing is stimulated by the new honey, but afterwards there is usually a period of drought when brood rearing, is normally diminished or not still more increased as it should be. This condition continues until the white-clover flow comes on, usually with a rush, when brood rearing is again augmented. If such a condition exists, the bee keeper should keep brood rearing at a 'maximum by stimulative feeding during the drought. When white clover comes in bloom he may even find it desirable to prevent brood rearing to turn the attention of his bees to gathering.