Disappointing honey yield this year

[CBEE]

Southern KY may have done well but we have had no rain here in northern KY since june and I am feeding just to keep them alive. You get some strainge looks going thru the check out line with a cart load of sugar. :)

[bassman1977]

Dane's bottles look just great, don't they!?

I bought a bottle of Dane's blackberry.  It is good stuff.  I would love to do a honey swap also.

[Brian D. Bray]

My maternal grandfather (born 1873) used to say that a drought lasted 3 years.  Very dry weather the first year when things could literally turn to dust or burn up, very low crop yield the 2nd year (low nectar/pollen?), better in year 3 if year one was not repeated.  The 4th year things were pretty much back to normal cropwise.

My paternal grandfather (born 1900 in Pawnee City, Nebraska) said pretty much the same thing.

[annette]

I am pretty happy this year considering all the problems I had with my hives this summer (swarming, lost queen, severe robbing, deformed wing virus, having to split the original hive)

Now I have what appears to be 2 happy healthy hives. They have made enough honey for themselves and I have been able to pull 1 medium super for me just from this fall flow we are having, and still are having.(I froze all these frames until I am ready to extract)They are still filling up the combs and capping them weekly and I think I should be able to get another medium super in a couple of weeks (they are almost finished capping this super) We have rosemary bushes and they are all over them right now.

This summer I extracted about 20 lbs, so I feel pretty good with the outcome. This fall honey is unbelievable, really dark and much flavor. I still hope for a better year next year, but hope they just make it through the winter.

Thanks to all you wonderful beekeepers
Annette from absolutely perfect Placerville, California  (days high 80's, nights high 50's)

[ooptec]

Well,

Reading posts feel somewhat better as not much production but as first year wasn't sure what outcome should bee and did have learn the hard way as one of 2 hives swarmed and the other was a chimney capture and just happy it looks like should have enuf stores to see itself thru winter tho have been feeding both hard to make sure.

I just bought a styrofoan BeeMax lang. hive for spring w/gift $$ to compare w/the 2 TBH's from this year.

Onwards and upwards

cheers

peter

would have posted pic of almost clear colored honey, but that server seems to be down, try later

[Michael Bush]

>My paternal grandfather (born 1900 in Pawnee City, Nebraska) said pretty much the same thing.

The Lakota say it's seven year cycles within 49 year cycles, so lasting about half of that (3 1/2 years) before cycling back the other way would make sense.