Beekeepers from Colorado, when do you usually harvest the honey for the last time. To me it looks like the flow seems to be slowing down. I was thinking of harvesting in the middle of the august. I called colorado beekeeper association, they told me at the end of august, but I want to make sure that my bees collect enough honey for themselves for the winter.
I have been harvesting in late august early sept. I don't think that it matters when because you are going to leave the bottom boxes (your 2 deeps or in my case the bottom three mediums) for them anyway and they are already full probably or close to full.
I also feed later if any hives feel light and I will feed in spring.
I just added a medium super to a hive that is coming on strong late in the season. I am about 35 minutes north of you in Longmont. Depending on where you are, I think there are still nectar sources available - clover and alfalfa to name a couple. Also some fall raspberries are still yet to bloom though I'm not sure how much of it is around. I have some on my property and I see blooms a coming.
Alfalfa is cut as late as the end of September. So I think we still have some flow coming. I will harvest and start feeding sometime in mid September. This is only my third year, so I am no expert, but this year things are looking good! :bee:
John
Someones honeybees are working my fall bearing raspberries pretty dang hard right now. Hopefully, next year it will be my bees.
Last year I waited until September and I think that was too long, too cold. I plan on taking the supers next weekend.
I'm down here in Texas and it was 106 today for me!!! When I lived up there I had allot of borage growing in my yard and it bloomed all the way up to the 2nd hard freeze there in Wheatridge. I agree it needs to be done when its warmere I waited till Oct. last year I was worried about my bee quick working but it did. and the girls made it through the winter. That's just my 2 cents I am already getting tired of people telling me about African bees like I don't know. I have been down here for 2 months now and the news has had 4 KILLER Bees reports with no follow up. Just the bad news... but that's for another thread. I just wanted to say that I harvested in OCT. and the girls made it. -
Colorado Beeks - how is the honey flow going for you? The medium super (foundationless) I put on my stronger hive two weeks ago is 70% drawn out and 60% filled with nectar. The weaker hive (swarm caught in May) has had a medium super on since Aug 1 with nothing drawn out. So win some some lose some. :-D The weaker hive has lots of brood, but not much stores so I will need to feed eventually, and I can supplement with some frames from the stronger hive if I need too.
The alfalfa is in bloom and I think this is providing the flow right now.
Cheers!
John
There is no flow here right now. I harvested the last two days and found they were cleaning out honey stores and making room for pollen and brood. I should have taken the supers a couple weeks ago :'(. Anyway I think I ended up with 150lbs out of two hives and one other deep from a hive that died out.
I'm just North of you folks in Idaho and thought I was late in harvesting last weekend, but when I put the supers back on for cleaning (above the inner cover), they filled back up with bees and are drawing more comb and packing away honey, so there must be something out there and my hives seem way too full of bees to be crammed down to double deeps at this point.
I think I will give them a couple more weeks before a second final harvest...I know it is getting down to the wire, but I am not sure what else to do with large bee populations and them still drawing comb and packing away nectar...