Good Morning!
I've been following a few threads and it seems that "Flow" is a good thing! But my question is how do you know whats in flow? From what I've been reading, flow apparently happens in Spring as everything is coming back to life and blooming. I get that; but what about the rest of the year? Someone in another section mention that I have "Sourwood" in my parts ( Dahlonega, GA ). I dont have a clue about Sourwood, and what it's all about.
In fact, how do I get my ladies to target Sourwood, Clover, etc. to have a certain type of Honey?
Can ya tell i'm just a wee bit new?
Thanks so much in advance!
Jim
Hey Jim, I'm only slightly less wet behind the ears than you, but I really, really want to get on the good side of any beek in sourwood territory!! I still have fantasies about those jars of sourwood honey I bought about 3 years ago down in TN/KY. Wow!
I believe sourwood is a tree. When it blooms, the bees make honey from it. Honey that comes predominantly from a certain type of flower (sourwood, clover, buckwheat, etc.) has distinct flavors that certain people prefer.
You can't "make" bees go anywhere. What you can do is put their hives in the middle of great habitat. I happen to have mine at the edge of a woods, prairie, near a creek and swampish area, and close to huge organic gardens. They will choose what they most like in that range of 2-3 miles radius around their hives. If you want sourwood honey, your hives need to be in the middle (or within 2 miles of) of great sourwood (trees?) habitat.
Flow is nectar flow. When plants are blooming and have enough warmth and moisture, the nectar is good for the getting, and the bees get it. One way to see if the flow is on is to watch your bees. If they are busily entering and exiting the hive, they are busy collecting. Those without obvious pollen have nectar. You can also watch your comb. If the combs are filling up with shiny liquid, that's the nectar, soon to be evaporated down into honey.
Best of luck, and let us know if you need help eating up sourwood honey :D
Sourwood is definitely a tree. Wish I could get some to grow around here. Besides being a great nectar source the tree is attractive with nice fall color. About all you can do to get a certain type of honey is have your bees near the source and put new supers on when the plant you want honey from starts to bloom. Then hope your bees harvest it.
JC
One of the fun things about beekeeping is that you'll become very aware of what is blooming and when. You'll learn as much about plants and trees as you will bees. Over time you'll notice if a particular type of tree or plant blooms "early" or "late" compared to "usual".
Likewise, when a "flow" is on, you'll notice a difference in the way your bees behave: they go into overdrive and you'll see them shooting like bullets in and out of the hive.