Nectar flows

Gerald in Ga · July 30, 2007, 12:09:17 PM

Howdy,
I was wondering if there was a site listing flowering and nectar flow times for the different plants in GA. I am in the Augusta area. The bees have a lot of traffic in and out carring pollen, but does this also mean they are collecting nectar too?

mgmoore7 · July 30, 2007, 04:59:38 PM

A google search revealed this site. Scroll toward the bottom.

http://www.gabeekeeping.com/beekeeping_101.htm

Gerald in Ga · July 30, 2007, 06:26:49 PM

mgmoore7,
Thank you. I've already been there. I was looking for something more extensive than that list. I'll keep looking.

TwT · July 30, 2007, 06:28:26 PM

Gerald, I'm in Lincoln county, right now there is hit an miss on flows, they aren't getting hardly any but fall is coming and we might get a good fall flow this year as long as the rain keeps coming.

TwT · July 30, 2007, 06:30:34 PM

weather has alot to do with flows, also seasons, but we need both to be good to have a good flow, this spring wasn't to good, maybe we will do good this fall...

Gerald in Ga · July 30, 2007, 07:41:24 PM

TwT,
Thank you sir. I'm just trying to find out what plants in this area are supposed to be working during the year so I can keep an eye out for the action. Right now the bees are pulling in a lot of pollen. Does that mean they are also pulling in nectar? If so, which plants should I be looking at?
The bees are NWC and I've had them for 2 weeks tomorrow. One set was from a 5 frame nuk and the other was from a 10 frame deep. I'm only a 2 week old bee helper and have read everything I could find about beekeeping.
That makes me dangerously confused and I don't want to make a mistake. Like whem to feed or leave them alone.
Since I have had them there have been several orientation flights from both hives. They are in 10 frame deeps by the way.
I have sbb and slatted racks on the bottom and a queen excluder with window screen stapled to it in place of the inner cover for ventilation. They were outside the hive at night so I thought that would work better than the inner cover. Since I added the excluder they have stopped crowding the landing board.

Bennettoid · July 30, 2007, 07:46:38 PM

I'm lucky that I have so much pasture here. The Clover is still blooming.

Other than that, we're waiting for goldenrod.

doak · July 30, 2007, 09:00:07 PM

Just above Macon Ga. the Kudzu is just coming into bloom.
I have a big patch just over a mile from me.
doak

Moonshae · July 30, 2007, 09:10:13 PM

I appear to be in a dearth, my bees were pretty pissy when I inspected on Friday, and there was no honey to be found in either hive, so I started feeding. They're taking ¹/₂ gallon each day. I know some people here aren't fans of feeding, but I'd rather feed my bees than watch them starve. Maybe if I lived in the country with acres and acres of forage around, I'd let them fend for themselves, but with suburban lawns around and very small gardens, I'd rather feed. It's easy for people with acres to decry feeding, but there isn't much wild/farm within a 2 mile radius of here.

Gerald in Ga · July 30, 2007, 09:21:08 PM

Thanks doak,
I'm trying to find out all I can about GA. I'm close to the line next to North Augusta, SC.

Moonshae,
I would feed them too. Good luck. I'm in a city location too.

rdrcl · July 31, 2007, 01:54:35 PM

not sure if this will help but the USDA has a fairly extensive site on plants that is searchable by state region and plant type that I just found its at plants.usda.gov. I just discovered it after I read your topic so am going to go play with it and see what it says for missouri.

Gerald in Ga · July 31, 2007, 05:24:40 PM

Thanks rdrcl,
I'll check it out.