kit-kit
05-06-2010, 12:54 PM
April showers mean flowers, forage for bees
Issue Date: April 28, 2010
By Christine Souza
Assistant Editor
https://www.cfbf.com/agalert/images/2010_apr_28.jpg
Orin Johnson of Johnson Apiaries in Hughson looks at sage that is in bloom in the rangeland west of Patterson. Bees are very active currently as they visit these blooms from wild sage plants and then return to their hives where they make sage honey.
After three consecutive years of struggling with a lack of natural forage sources for their honeybees, the tide may now be turning for California beekeepers. The moisture that has soaked much of California this spring is excellent news for beekeepers such as Orin Johnson of Johnson Apiaries in Hughson, who has been feeding bees costly sugar supplements to keep them healthy and active enough to produce a good honey crop.
"Everyone is excited. The rain should make for a good sage honey year, which we haven't had in awhile. It's also helping vetch and other floral sources," Johnson said. "Hopefully, we'll have a good citrus honey crop this year too. Now if it will just warm up and stay warm for a couple of weeks, I think we're going to see spring honey production just go off of the chart."
Eric Mussen, an extension apiculturist with the Department of Entomology at the University of California, Davis, said beekeepers are confident that things could turn around for the apiary sector this year due to the quality of bee forage.
"There are a bunch of beekeepers who think that the rains will help keep the spring flowers fresh a bit longer and then help summer and fall flowers get going," said Mussen, an academic liaison to the California Farm Bureau Federation Bee Advisory Committee. "It is possible that the seed bank is rather low after so many drought years, but if the flowers are there this year, the bees should set a good crop of seed."
Mace Vaughan, pollinator program director for the Xerces Society, a nonprofit organization that conducts pollinator-conservation work, said the increased precipitation is good for all bees.
https://www.cfbf.com/agalert/images/2010_apr_28_2.jpg
Beekeeper Orin Johnson checks one of his beehives on rangeland west of Patterson.
"When you've got good rains, you've got a more prolonged bloom, better germination of wildflowers and healthier plants that are going to result in a greater diversity and abundance of pollen and nectar. This is going to be a great year for both honeybees and native bees," Vaughan said.
In addition to moisture, the next step in creating an optimal honey year is for warm temperatures to remain long enough to make it worthwhile for the bees. Beekeeper Troy Bunch of Turlock said he plans to feed his bees a supplement until the temperature warms up for the bees to have some flying time. Honeybees typically exit the hive to collect pollen when temperatures reach about 50 degrees, although they don't start producing honey until close to 60 degrees, beekeepers say.
"Everybody is pretty optimistic the wild forage will be there. Once we go to the irrigated crops like alfalfa seed in June and July, the bees will feed themselves plus make some honey," Bunch said.
He added that an increased amount of natural forage will save beekeepers time and money.
"It takes a lot of work. We can only feed a couple hundred hives a day, so to get through 1,300 hives takes all week. And it is healthier for them to get the natural food rather than corn syrup," Bunch said. "Last May, I was probably feeding each hive at least a gallon per week so that is about $3 per hive per week. And we just received a load of corn syrup that was $10,000 for 3,500 gallons, so it is expensive."
Many beekeepers now focus on the spring honey crop. For Johnson, that means sage honey.
"Sage is one of the premium honeys of the world. We only get sage in extremely wet years," Johnson said. "Occasionally, we'll get a little 'micro' sage area that got extra rain, but the last major sage crop was in 2005."
For his sage honey crop, Johnson maintains hives near Patterson in Stanislaus County and Hollister in San Benito County.
"I hang onto all of the sage honey I make because I never have any problem moving it right out of the door," Johnson said. "Packers will not put sage honey on the shelf because it is one of the few honey varieties that does not crystallize, so they use it for blending."
While he cares for hives near the sage, he also has a few bee colonies that are placed in the orange bloom in Fresno County. For the summer honey crop, beekeepers will move bee colonies into irrigated crops including alfalfa, hay and cotton, as well as to other locations such as over to the eucalyptus growing along the coast.
"If the weather conditions are right, we can make a box of honey in a couple of weeks," Johnson said. "The amount of honey per hive for the spring crop is variable. If the conditions are ideal, I've seen them in the citrus and sage where one hive may make 70 to 80 pounds within a few weeks. Last year in the citrus it was the worst crop in 25 years. I made no honey. Most guys made a tenth of what they normally would make."
"Last year, the state average for honey production was only 33 pounds per colony. It is supposed to be up around 60 pounds per colony," Mussen said. "Only during the drought of 1976-77 was production that low previously."
U.S. Department of Agriculture National Agricultural Statistics Service reported that national honey production in 2009 totaled 144 million pounds, down 12 percent from 2008. Yield per colony averaged 58.5 pounds, down 16 percent from the 69.9 pounds in 2008 and was the lowest yield since 1989.
On average, beekeepers earned $1.45 per pound for honey in 2009, 3 cents higher than the previous year. Beekeepers said they expect to do much better this year, given the superior weather conditions for forage.
Beekeeper and queen bee breeder Shannon Wooten of Palo Cedro said from here on out, it is all about timing when dealing with Mother Nature.
"Rain is essential to the health of the bees, but timing is also needed for it to all work," said Wooten, a CFBF director. "In 2006, we had 60 inches of rain and it looked like a very good year for honey, but temperatures reached as high as 117 degrees in June, and it was one of our worst honey-producing years. The health of the bees should be better this year, but we will not know until the end of the year."
(Christine Souza is an assistant editor of Ag Alert. She may be contacted at [email protected].)
Permission for use is granted, however, credit must be made to the California Farm Bureau Federation when reprinting this item.
Issue Date: April 28, 2010
By Christine Souza
Assistant Editor
https://www.cfbf.com/agalert/images/2010_apr_28.jpg
Orin Johnson of Johnson Apiaries in Hughson looks at sage that is in bloom in the rangeland west of Patterson. Bees are very active currently as they visit these blooms from wild sage plants and then return to their hives where they make sage honey.
After three consecutive years of struggling with a lack of natural forage sources for their honeybees, the tide may now be turning for California beekeepers. The moisture that has soaked much of California this spring is excellent news for beekeepers such as Orin Johnson of Johnson Apiaries in Hughson, who has been feeding bees costly sugar supplements to keep them healthy and active enough to produce a good honey crop.
"Everyone is excited. The rain should make for a good sage honey year, which we haven't had in awhile. It's also helping vetch and other floral sources," Johnson said. "Hopefully, we'll have a good citrus honey crop this year too. Now if it will just warm up and stay warm for a couple of weeks, I think we're going to see spring honey production just go off of the chart."
Eric Mussen, an extension apiculturist with the Department of Entomology at the University of California, Davis, said beekeepers are confident that things could turn around for the apiary sector this year due to the quality of bee forage.
"There are a bunch of beekeepers who think that the rains will help keep the spring flowers fresh a bit longer and then help summer and fall flowers get going," said Mussen, an academic liaison to the California Farm Bureau Federation Bee Advisory Committee. "It is possible that the seed bank is rather low after so many drought years, but if the flowers are there this year, the bees should set a good crop of seed."
Mace Vaughan, pollinator program director for the Xerces Society, a nonprofit organization that conducts pollinator-conservation work, said the increased precipitation is good for all bees.
https://www.cfbf.com/agalert/images/2010_apr_28_2.jpg
Beekeeper Orin Johnson checks one of his beehives on rangeland west of Patterson.
"When you've got good rains, you've got a more prolonged bloom, better germination of wildflowers and healthier plants that are going to result in a greater diversity and abundance of pollen and nectar. This is going to be a great year for both honeybees and native bees," Vaughan said.
In addition to moisture, the next step in creating an optimal honey year is for warm temperatures to remain long enough to make it worthwhile for the bees. Beekeeper Troy Bunch of Turlock said he plans to feed his bees a supplement until the temperature warms up for the bees to have some flying time. Honeybees typically exit the hive to collect pollen when temperatures reach about 50 degrees, although they don't start producing honey until close to 60 degrees, beekeepers say.
"Everybody is pretty optimistic the wild forage will be there. Once we go to the irrigated crops like alfalfa seed in June and July, the bees will feed themselves plus make some honey," Bunch said.
He added that an increased amount of natural forage will save beekeepers time and money.
"It takes a lot of work. We can only feed a couple hundred hives a day, so to get through 1,300 hives takes all week. And it is healthier for them to get the natural food rather than corn syrup," Bunch said. "Last May, I was probably feeding each hive at least a gallon per week so that is about $3 per hive per week. And we just received a load of corn syrup that was $10,000 for 3,500 gallons, so it is expensive."
Many beekeepers now focus on the spring honey crop. For Johnson, that means sage honey.
"Sage is one of the premium honeys of the world. We only get sage in extremely wet years," Johnson said. "Occasionally, we'll get a little 'micro' sage area that got extra rain, but the last major sage crop was in 2005."
For his sage honey crop, Johnson maintains hives near Patterson in Stanislaus County and Hollister in San Benito County.
"I hang onto all of the sage honey I make because I never have any problem moving it right out of the door," Johnson said. "Packers will not put sage honey on the shelf because it is one of the few honey varieties that does not crystallize, so they use it for blending."
While he cares for hives near the sage, he also has a few bee colonies that are placed in the orange bloom in Fresno County. For the summer honey crop, beekeepers will move bee colonies into irrigated crops including alfalfa, hay and cotton, as well as to other locations such as over to the eucalyptus growing along the coast.
"If the weather conditions are right, we can make a box of honey in a couple of weeks," Johnson said. "The amount of honey per hive for the spring crop is variable. If the conditions are ideal, I've seen them in the citrus and sage where one hive may make 70 to 80 pounds within a few weeks. Last year in the citrus it was the worst crop in 25 years. I made no honey. Most guys made a tenth of what they normally would make."
"Last year, the state average for honey production was only 33 pounds per colony. It is supposed to be up around 60 pounds per colony," Mussen said. "Only during the drought of 1976-77 was production that low previously."
U.S. Department of Agriculture National Agricultural Statistics Service reported that national honey production in 2009 totaled 144 million pounds, down 12 percent from 2008. Yield per colony averaged 58.5 pounds, down 16 percent from the 69.9 pounds in 2008 and was the lowest yield since 1989.
On average, beekeepers earned $1.45 per pound for honey in 2009, 3 cents higher than the previous year. Beekeepers said they expect to do much better this year, given the superior weather conditions for forage.
Beekeeper and queen bee breeder Shannon Wooten of Palo Cedro said from here on out, it is all about timing when dealing with Mother Nature.
"Rain is essential to the health of the bees, but timing is also needed for it to all work," said Wooten, a CFBF director. "In 2006, we had 60 inches of rain and it looked like a very good year for honey, but temperatures reached as high as 117 degrees in June, and it was one of our worst honey-producing years. The health of the bees should be better this year, but we will not know until the end of the year."
(Christine Souza is an assistant editor of Ag Alert. She may be contacted at [email protected].)
Permission for use is granted, however, credit must be made to the California Farm Bureau Federation when reprinting this item.