# Supering at the almonds



## BEESERIOUS (Feb 25, 2009)

do some of you do it, i ask because this year i took very strong hives to the almonds 16-18 framers and i am afraid they are going to swarm. I'm planning on splitting them after the almonds should i super them now. thanks


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## beesohappy (Jun 3, 2009)

I know that the blooms get a fungicide spray while their blooming and I've heard the honey is bitter.

My two cents.


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## loggermike (Jul 23, 2000)

I was putting feeders on Tuesday. Bees were flying well and bringing in lots of pollen, but there was very little nectar shakeout where I was in the Chico area.That orchard actually had very little in bloom yet.I am always more concerned with keeping feed in the hives than anything else. I know some beeks who will get some foundation drawn on almond nectar if it is one of THOSE years.

Yes some years there is a big nectar flow and some hives will swarm before you get them home.The way i deal with those is not look up at the trees.


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## Scott J. (Feb 6, 2007)

Loggermike, Do you feed 2:1 surup while they are in the almonds?


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## bfriendly (Jun 14, 2009)

I think most who super are getting ready to pull off a split (triple deep) or making it easier to shake bees (western and excluder, smoke bees up).

Watch the night time lows and make sure strong hives full of bees, don't move more brood than the bees can cover if it gets cold, you will probably be OK.

The reason most don't do it is extra equipment, less hives on truck moving/out of town. Just easier logistically to start splitting once they are out of the almonds


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## loggermike (Jul 23, 2000)

>Do you feed 2:1 surup while they are in the almonds? <

I am feeding Prosweet 77 cut 10% with water. Liquid sugar is actually cheaper right now.

>The reason most don't do it is extra equipment, less hives on truck moving/out of town. Just easier logistically to start splitting once they are out of the almonds <

Exactly. Mine get a super and excluder as soon as they get home. Then I shake bees when I need them.


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## KQ6AR (May 13, 2008)

Mike is up in the far North end of almonds, can probably still see snow on the mountain.
A friend of mine supered a hive he had in almonds last year just to share the almond honey. You talk about some unusual tasting honey. You should take one super just to experience it.


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## loggermike (Jul 23, 2000)

Yes almond honey rates right up there with fresh black olives right off the tree! Tasty indeed.


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## JRG13 (May 11, 2012)

LoL logger, it's not surprising it tastes bitter when I think about it, almonds are pretty bitter all the way until they're cooked almost.


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## Honey-4-All (Dec 19, 2008)

loggermike said:


> Yes almond honey rates right up there with fresh black olives right off the tree! Tasty indeed.


Dead on..... I often tell people they might be better off eating some wild weeds just after a horse just stopped by for a bathroom break (the liquid kind) 

Interesting indeed. 

One observation I've noted is that the flavor of almond honey is in the realm of bitter almonds. It has the same TWANG.... Strange that all the almonds kick out that nasty nectar but some trees kick out the sweet nuts.


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## loggermike (Jul 23, 2000)

And yet the bees do so well on it. Maybe this will be a good year for the bees to fill up. The north wind was blowing the last trip down so that was limiting the nectar. Looks like some rain coming next week. I bet the fungicide spraying will be going full bore today.


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## Ramona (Apr 26, 2008)

I'm wondring if the fungicides contribute in any way to the taste of the honey. I can't eat cherries (which are one of my favorite fruits) anymore because of the nasty taste/sensation I get in the back of my throat.

I love naturally bitter foods and would be curious to taste some almond honey that hadn't been exposed to any fungicides/pesticides. Does such a honey exist?

Ramona


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## jim lyon (Feb 19, 2006)

I have never heard of anyone getting enough of a surplus to harvest. Hive demands are great, I am happy getting bees out that are as heavy as they went in. I would concur, though, it is bitter to the point of being almost inedible in my mind.


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## beemandan (Dec 5, 2005)

jim lyon said:


> it is bitter to the point of being almost inedible in my mind.


The taste of money, perhaps.
I knew an old fellow who had several chicken houses. A visitor once commented on the ...uh...fragrance. The owner took a sniff of the air and said 'smells like money to me'.


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## JRG13 (May 11, 2012)

Ramona, do you attribute the cherry thing to spraying? My biggest complaint about most cherries in the store is they taste like crap. Either not sweet, or they're mushy, or they're kind of sweet but no real flavor to them. I can't wait for my new trees to be productive, I miss my old ones. I never sprayed anything, but I recall one of the trees produced some really bad tasting cherries time to time, typically it was the pollinator variety I grafted on there, but it was like eating plastic polymer it tasted so bad. The last few years was fighting the Cherry Vinegar Fly.... but hey, a little extra protein in your fruit doesn't hurt right.....


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## RAK (May 2, 2010)

Can't beat Washington cherries right out of the orchard. 

The almond honey will be mixed with sugar if you feed them before almonds. I use any excess for nucs.


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## Ramona (Apr 26, 2008)

JRG13 said:


> Ramona, do you attribute the cherry thing to spraying? My biggest complaint about most cherries in the store is they taste like crap. Either not sweet, or they're mushy, or they're kind of sweet but no real flavor to them. I can't wait for my new trees to be productive, I miss my old ones. I never sprayed anything, but I recall one of the trees produced some really bad tasting cherries time to time, typically it was the pollinator variety I grafted on there, but it was like eating plastic polymer it tasted so bad. The last few years was fighting the Cherry Vinegar Fly.... but hey, a little extra protein in your fruit doesn't hurt right.....


The trick to choosing delicious cherries is that the fruit must be very firm and very deep in color. I hand pick them from the bin at the market. I,m nearly always able to find very flavorful cherries using this technique but for the past 15 years or so I can taste some kind of chemicals almost as soon as the cherry is in my mouth. The taste then lands in my throat and stays there. Not only does it taste terrible but it feels terrible.

A few weeks ago I googled "cherries pesticides fungicides allergies" and found that cherries are some of the most treated agriculture...if I'm remembering right, upwards of 60 different substances are used, some almost always, some rarely.

The variety of cherry does not seem to make a difference to my mouth as far as the nasty chemical taste.

This year I will pay for organic cherries (if I can find some) and see how it goes...I love cherries and miss them...

Ramona


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## HarryVanderpool (Apr 11, 2005)

RAK said:


> Can't beat Washington cherries right out of the orchard.......


........unless you drive south across the big bridge where they are really Really, REALLY good!


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## rbees (Jun 25, 2012)

HarryVanderpool said:


> ........unless you drive south across the big bridge where they are really Really, REALLY good!


Thems fightin words harry


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## Scott Klein (Sep 13, 2012)

Ramona said:


> A few weeks ago I googled "cherries pesticides fungicides allergies" and found that cherries are some of the most treated agriculture...if I'm remembering right, upwards of 60 different substances are used, some almost always, some rarely.



""It's concerning," said Jason Belden, an environmental toxicologist at Oklahoma State University. "We have limited toxicological data for a lot of these compounds."
Fungicides are contaminating the majority of water bodies tested in states where there is heavy use, such as in Maine, Idaho and Wisconsin. Some are known to be highly toxic to aquatic creatures, but little is known about whether they are actually harming frogs or other animals in the environment. The potential threats to people are unknown, with new research on lab mice linking them to obesity."

By Brett Israel
Staff writer
Environmental Health News
Feb. 22, 2013
http://www.environmentalhealthnews.org/ehs/news/2013/fungicides


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## Davidnewbeeboxbuilder (Oct 6, 2012)

The question is probaly awnsered by ur situation is the amount of extra freight cost of supers cheaper than buying hfcs or sugar when u get them back to where ur going is the bloom still early. If not do u feel to dig through a hive every 12 and cut cells to keep cells cut out. Personaly it is worth it because two brood and 3 of honey is 125 dollars but u cant seem to make the honey. It all about situation


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