Almost two weeks ago, most of the mesquite trees in my area were completely bare, or nearly so. Today I took another close look after I noticed that all the mesquite trees were covered with fresh green growth. On close examination the mesquite trees were putting out new leaves and their version of inflorescence (flowers). My estimation is that they will begin blooming by 15 April 2008, or a little sooner.
In years past I noticed several things about my mesquite flow --
1) No matter what the weather history, rain or drought, the mesquite always blooms, almost always provides a strong honey flow.
2) The mesquite trees, so far, have begun blooming in the middle of April and they continue until late June or early July -- if there is lots of rain during the Summer, they sometimes bloom again in early Autumn.
3) Even if I don't see the flowers on the trees, or hear the loud humm that surrounds the trees, I can tell the mesquite flow is on, because the bees will ignore combs of honey that are left out.