Everywhere you hear talk of climate change. I agree that the Earth’s climate has changed over the years. However, I do not think that it is Mother Earth doing the changing.
A Beekeeper is always looking at the weather. Planting, bloom times, will it rain…are all reasons to be atuned to the weather.
There have been years that were very wet. There have been years that it was very dry. I have always questioned why the difference in the wet years and dry years, the cold years and the warm years.
I do not have solid answers to all of those questions yet, but I have my suspicions!!
A big nectar flow in my area is from the Tulip Poplar tree. I have written blogs about this tree before and it continues to be a wonderful source of nectar…..until it is not!!
This year, due to the very warm temps in February, the Tulip Poplar tree started to leaf out in very early March. The rule of thumb is that 21 days after the tree leafs out, you will have blooms.
I could see the buds on the trees. A frost was predicted for about 3 days. Digital thermometers said that there were temps of 29 and 30 degrees on a couple of mornings. Not sure that I trust the digital readings, but I prayed that the frost was patchy and that the buds on the Tulip Poplar would be spared.
Upon examining the trees again after the frost, I saw the buds at the tops of the trees, brown and destroyed. I am not sure if the entire tree and every tree was damaged by the frost, but that tree sure was. Maybe some buds were spared further down the tree. Maybe sheltered by the leaves or rest of the tree. Only time will tell.
Again, because the spring was so “up and down” with temperatures, Many of the trees that should be blooming in March and April, were blooming in early March. The Red Bud was one of those trees.
I have a lot of different forage planted for my bees, but not having the abundance of nectar from the Tulip Poplar could put a hurt on my bees and will definately put a hurt on my honey production. If there is NO Tulip Poplar nectar this year, I WILL NOT be taking any honey.
This does not mean that all areas were effected by this freeze, and hopefully further north, this did not occur.
The freeze also took out my Camilla blooms. Another food source for my bees.
This will put a hurt on the honey production in my Apriary. I pray that it does not hurt it state wide.
I do not think that Mother Earth is to blame for the event this spring, but I do believe that there are other factors as to why this happened this spring and that there are other factors involved for the entire “climate” story!!
Until next Month
Nameste’
From The Bee Lady
