# how's your summer



## jmgi (Jan 15, 2009)

Here in southern Michigan we have had an abnormally cool, rainy spring/summer and although the bees are not doing that badly on the main flow, it surely could have been twice as good with a little less rain, but its not over yet, so we're holding out hope that things will stabilize for the better the last half of the flow. John


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## Ben Franklin (May 3, 2011)

Northern Ohio has had enough rain to float a battle ship. Last year at this time I harvest honey, this year the girls are still working the first supper.


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## Bill91143 (Jun 7, 2013)

South central Kentucky, we've had rain, and rain, then more rain. Temperatures have been very good, a little on the cool side. Bees were doing pretty good, then for the last week it hasn't stopped raining. Sun came out this afternoon and I noticed lots of bees flying once again. I really need to get into some hives if the weather will let me tomorrow. Checked 5 this afternoon. Hope to check the other 20 tomorrow if the weather holds. Been 2 weeks since they have been checked. I don't know if it is because it has been so wet but I have never seen so many ticks as I have this year. I can't walk outside without finding 2 or 3 ticks crawling around on my clothing when I come in. They are so bad every time you come in from even being in the yard you have to take a shower.


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## snl (Nov 20, 2009)

Rain, rain & more rain! Crop looked good the last time I took a peek. Now if it would just stop raining enough to get to it!

Have to admit the corn, soy & cotton are looking great!


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## The Honey Householder (Nov 14, 2008)

Rain, rain, and yes day 14 of rain with little brakes. Down 40+ barrels from last year already. Between rain and colder weather looks like this year is going to be a wash.:ws: Another week of rain forecasted. Just can't cut cell fast enough. Hive looking really good, just need the weather for them to work in. 

Anyone know where to buy bee raincoats????


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## irwin harlton (Jan 7, 2005)

"I have never seen so many ticks as I have this year."Abundance of those parasites here too and I notice there season is getting longer...global warming?Honey flow has just started here, weather will be the determing factor of crop size


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## Ben Franklin (May 3, 2011)

While it is off topic, we have had a problem with ticks this year too.


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## Chip Euliss (Sep 2, 2010)

Tick city in North Dakota this year too! Main flow is just getting underway but a few supers are full already. We could use a shot of rain to keep things going but we're doing pretty good considering the late spring.


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## dadandsonsbees (Jan 25, 2012)

In eastern NC it has been rain rain rain rain and more rain. Hot hot hot hot hot and more heat. The rain and heat has made it miserable to do anything especially working hives. It has been a humid type hot. I am also down in production. My recliner in the house has been cool and comfortable though (when the wife and my 8 year old son will let me get in it.)


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## Roland (Dec 14, 2008)

It has been generally cool and really wet, until the heat of today. Basswood is budding, but no activity in the trees yet. On the whole, plants started out 3 weeks behind, about 2 weeks behind, and catching up. Should bring some honey in tomorrow.

Crazy Roland


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## wildbranch2007 (Dec 3, 2008)

it didn't rain last tuesday, well thats about it for the last 30 days. walking into bee yards pulling a little red wagon with three honey supers on it does tend to get old, especially when I end up having to pull them back out because the hives don't need them. Had one farmer tell me yesterday, why aren't you driving in its not that bad, I walked in, he drove in, he was pulling himself out with a tractor on my way out. still better than the drought last year.


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## sqkcrk (Dec 10, 2005)

W/ all this rain we aught to get a lot of Water White Honey, right? lol It could stop for a while now already.


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## jmgi (Jan 15, 2009)

Just to add what I posted above, with all the rain there may be a benefit in that the blooming season for all the clovers, white dutch, yellow and white sweet may be extended quite a bit. I have already noticed a big difference between the last couple years and this year. Normally by now our white dutch is burned up from lack of moisture, not this year, its going crazy everywhere. And although the sweet clovers can handle drought conditions, the yellow sweet is usually done blooming by now here, and I still have never seen so much of it in bloom. The white sweet clover has been blooming for about 2 weeks and I expect a longer season from it also, along with the thistle. So, if the bees can just get out of the hive there is still a good flow going. John


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## jim lyon (Feb 19, 2006)

The good news is the honeyflow conditions out this way have been nearly ideal. The bad news is coming off such a severe drought it isn't a huge clover year over most of the state. All things considered, though, the crop seems to be shaping up surprisingly well around here for early July. Hoping to start extracting in another week.


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## Barry (Dec 28, 1999)

Roland said:


> Should bring some honey in tomorrow.
> 
> Crazy Roland


Bet it was only rain! I've only got a few cells of honey in my supers. Lots of activity but nothing for the supers. Another week of off and on rain here.


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## Tina 2Bees (Feb 13, 2010)

Jim and Chip pretty much summed up what we are seeing too here in SW ND. Cautiously optimistic about this years crop. 

Side note: Also seeing more than our fare share of ticks. I started sticking double sided tape around each leg. The ticks couldn't move up across the sticky tape. I was catching around 40 ticks a day for awhile. Yuck.

Tina


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## coopermaple (Aug 30, 2009)

We too have been having way too much rain. Bees have been filling supers surprisingly well. They are not capping much though. I assume it is do to too much moisture. Would like to start pulling supers and extracting as we are running out of drawn supers. 
And the ticks are doing very well here also.


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## Grizbee (Sep 23, 2009)

Here in NW lower Michigan the bees are built up and ready to make a crop,the early season was cool and wet to build up good ground moisture, then no rain since mid june. I've never seen the basswood hanging with so many buds, and the star thistle is 3-4 ft tall also in bud,the bees are rockin' on the sumac, and today an unexpected and very timely inch of rain, saw some heavy full hives ready for supers today. The stage is set for a crop, but don't count your chickens before they're hatched


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## mark g (Jun 6, 2006)

Around here everything was late. Along Missouri river bluffs 50# starting with locust, into basswood, just finished with sumac. Away from the river not much off 1st. cutting, but starting to fill supers as it has warmed up bit in last week or so. We could use a good rain. SE Nebraska, NW Missouri


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## Davebcrzy (Mar 12, 2011)

While April and May were wet due to rain, June was dry and hot. We got two beneficial rains about a week apart. Ticks don't seem any worse this year than in the past. I began harvesting honey last week. I am half through and what I thought was going to be a low honey harvest year has turned out to be quite nice. However, I have a problem I would just as soon not have. One group of my bee hives is sitting on 30 acres or so of sunflowers. They are in full bloom and my bees are working, bitterweed and not sunflowers!


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## MNbees (May 27, 2013)

Weather is perfect and timing is excellent i think this could be the year!
lots of honey to be made and some of the hives already have a 100lbs





http://s1293.photobucket.com/


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## Ian (Jan 16, 2003)

Keith Jarrett said:


> Out west here things have been very dry, But bees are doing ok. Down south , NM, AZ, S CALif got really hot and killed lots of hives, hearts go out to those folks. Then back east I hear rain rain too much rain. How's it going in your area? Hope most of you can make a crop with these high prices, best of luck to all.


what kind of heat are they having to kill a bee hives?


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## Keith Jarrett (Dec 10, 2006)

120-130


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## Ian (Jan 16, 2003)

wow, that kind of heat doesnt just kill bees


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## Sticky Bear (Mar 15, 2012)

Bees are doing great here in Western Colorado, dry as usual (upper 90's to mid 100's F, lows in the low-mid 60's) but with all the irrigation, this season is looking good for a honey crop. Working single and double supers and hoping to increase those end of this week. We seemed to still be running 3 weeks behind forage-wise and forage should run until the first hard freeze.


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## biggraham610 (Jun 26, 2013)

Virginia has been swamped too, but I cant Kick. most years we are in a deep drought by now. I dont rely on honey for an income so I will take the rain, on sunny days, the girls are coming home with baskets full of clover. Buckwheat on the way. G


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## BeeGhost (May 7, 2011)

Keith, you seeing much star thistle this year?? I checked my old stomping grounds in Livermore to see if it came back after a terrible year last year out there...........and again it was a no show this year. One sideliner in that area has about 150 hives..........and six 250 gallon totes full of HFCS in his yard...........I feel for that beekeeper.

My bees are doing good, especially for how hard I split them this year. The safflower is almost done, but the alfalfa is getting ready to bloom or in bloom again!


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## BigDawg (Apr 21, 2013)

It's been a fantastic summer here in the Willamette Valley! Nice warm Spring, decent amount of rain in May and June (somewhat unusual for us) and the fruit trees bloomed out great and now blackberries are going like crazy! My package hive (installed 4/15) is now on it's 3rd honey super--they took the 2nd super from bare foundation to completely full of capped honey in 10 days! Really, I don't think we could be doing much better. I've actually already got some ripe cherry tomatoes in the garden, and usually we don't see ripe tomatoes until the end of August/beginning of September. My condolences to folks who are having a tough time this summer.


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## Dave Burrup (Jul 22, 2008)

It has been very dry and hotter than normal. Our bees are doing fine, but the honey crop is about 1/4 of what we had last year. Our irrigated bee pasture has lots of activity, but there does not seem to be much nectar.
We are past the main flow.
Dave


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## Barry (Dec 28, 1999)

Roland said:


> Should bring some honey in tomorrow.
> 
> Crazy Roland


So what did you find, any honey coming in yet?


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## JRG13 (May 11, 2012)

Beeghost, seeing more starthistle up here than in the last few years, but it's still sporadic in most places.


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## sqkcrk (Dec 10, 2005)

I just got back home from putting more supers on my next to last yard. There is a lot of honey out there.


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## BeeGhost (May 7, 2011)

JRG13 said:


> Beeghost, seeing more starthistle up here than in the last few years, but it's still sporadic in most places.


Where I had my bees at in Livermore when I first started bee keeping, was loaded with star thistle, I'm talking probably a couple thousand acres of it, since I moved it hasn't come back at all! I loved the honey that came off if it, but hated dealing with the weed!


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## Nordik (Jul 13, 2013)

My season is good so far, even after the long winter we had, I've gotten more then 120 lb per hive so far this season, the cloverhas just starten to flower and in August i hope for a good season With heather


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## woodedareas (Sep 10, 2010)

Barry
I am in northern Lake County and I my hives are having mixed results. Most are on the second super and a couple on the third super. We are having a good flow now so i am leaving them alone for a couple of weeks.




Barry said:


> So what did you find, any honey coming in yet?


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## linn (Nov 19, 2010)

Dear Honey Householder,
What do you mean, "you can't cut cell fast enough?" Are you talking about queen cells?


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## Roland (Dec 14, 2008)

Both scale hives(Home and shop 20 miles west) have been gaining 3 lbs a day since the rain stopped 10 days ago. The yards we worked this week average one deep for every 4 hives, with most all have a "next time" deep. One yard that usually does poorly(wet area) averaged one deep per hive. 

Barry, closest hives to you, in Racine county, both had a full deep, and 2 "next times". 

It is most definitely the "beginning of the beginning". We just hope the "beginning of the end" is a long way off.

Crazy Roland


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## Keith Jarrett (Dec 10, 2006)

BeeGhost said:


> Keith, you seeing much star thistle this year??


No, it's pretty sparrs over here, not seeing much tar weed either. Jim Pysen once told me the stars shine the brighest when it's the darkest out.....
Nice to see some post that the bees are bringing it in by the boat loads.


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## irwin harlton (Jan 7, 2005)

honey by the boat load usually comes from China


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## jmgi (Jan 15, 2009)

Well, just did first extracting yesterday and today here in southeast Michigan, and looks like this year is going to be extremely poor compared to last year for me. I have three times as many hives going as last season, and I'm really wondering if my production is going to exceed last years, really, its that bad, all due to the late cold spring, and the recent 3 weeks of near daily rain during the main flow. There is still quite a bit of clover and thistle going and the weather has improved dramatically in the last couple days, the bees are working hard, but they need to pick up the pace from here on out to salvage the rest of the season. Colony populations just now peaking. John


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## The Honey Householder (Nov 14, 2008)

linn said:


> Dear Honey Householder,
> What do you mean, "you can't cut cell fast enough?" Are you talking about queen cells?


3 weeks of rain makes a lot of queen cells for some reason. 
Glad to see the sun again with only chance of afternoon showers. 
To hard to make comb honey with this weather. Only put 75 supers out this year and just hopeing to get that many completed.


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## MNbees (May 27, 2013)

Summer is good so far, it will be interesting to see what happens to the bees after the corn tassels.

Heres a video for ya from yesterday.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kZGCXC1GwUk


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## Ian (Jan 16, 2003)

got some honey in those boxes MNbees, did not see the corn tassels though


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## Keith Jarrett (Dec 10, 2006)

Outstanding MNBees, man haven't seen anything like that in a long time. Nice video, that made my day.


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## Beeslave (Feb 6, 2009)

Good yards look great.....poor yards look poor. Overall looks like this may be my best year yet for total honey production.


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