Nectar flow forecast

[VermontHoneyBee]

Hi

Is there a way to get nectar flow forecasts?.  Actual live forecast I mean.  I want to find out how the nectar and pollen is running today in my area.  Thanks

[moebees]

Yes.  Got out to your hives and ask a bee.   

[VermontHoneyBee]

Yes I know that.  I was not asking that at all.  However, going to see the hives is reactive and not proactive.  I am trying to find out if there are proactive services that can help a beekeeper be ahead of the curb.

Thanks

[Dustymunky]

The best info is probably from local beekeeping meeting. Lots of old timer beekeepers that know from experience better than anyone.

[VermontHoneyBee]

What I am talking about are things like BeeCloud.  I think they provide something like what I am asking but their software is Beta.  I tried defining a apiary and hive there but it did not give me a forage map.

I would think that this data is tracked somewhere since weather services already track pollen count and the type of pollen.  It would be nice if there was something out there that can give us a head start.

[LizzieBee]

I?ve been keeping track of what is blooming and what month, and where it is on the property on a chart. You could do the same so next year you?ll know what to expect to be in bloom.

Lizzie

[moebees]

Yes I know that.  I was not asking that at all.  However, going to see the hives is reactive and not proactive.  I am trying to find out if there are proactive services that can help a beekeeper be ahead of the curb.

Thanks

So what you want is someone to figure out what will be blooming in your particular area in advance and that honey bees will prefer and broadcast or publish this information so that you can access it.  Because if it isn't specific to a couple of miles around your hives and doesn't include the honey bees preferences at the time it is pretty much useless.  Good luck with that idea.

[VermontHoneyBee]

  Good luck with that idea.

Wow, and I thought this board was kind to new beekeepers.

What I am asking is actually available today with paid services.  You may now have read my comment above that said BeeCloud already does this.  I just wanted to ask this forum what other options are.  And btw, if I am asking a question is because I don't know the answer but not to be insulted with what I don't know or perhaps that I may have an idea different than yours.  These comments offer no value but how closed you are to help a fellow beekeeper.

[bwallace23350]

  Good luck with that idea.

Wow, and I thought this board was kind to new beekeepers.

What I am asking is actually available today with paid services.  You may now have read my comment above that said BeeCloud already does this.  I just wanted to ask this forum what other options are.  And btw, if I am asking a question is because I don't know the answer but not to be insulted with what I don't know or perhaps that I may have an idea different than yours.  These comments offer no value but how closed you are to help a fellow beekeeper.

Sorry for the harsh responses you got. it was uncalled for. What you are asking for is good information. It is always helpful to know what could be blooming in your area, when it blooms, and typically do bees like it. With the kind of information you could plant to fill in your area for dearths that you might have specific to your apiary. If you do that though you will have to plants lots of it for them to make a surplus but I am of the mind that even small amounts help.

[VermontHoneyBee]

  Good luck with that idea.

Sorry for the harsh responses you got. it was uncalled for. What you are asking for is good information. It is always helpful to know what could be blooming in your area, when it blooms, and typically do bees like it. With the kind of information you could plant to fill in your area for dearths that you might have specific to your apiary. If you do that though you will have to plants lots of it for them to make a surplus but I am of the mind that even small amounts help.

Thank you very much.  That is exactly what I am trying to figure out.  I do inspect the hives, I am very committed to this hobby, and every single one of my hives is doing great.  Even the one that was came from a queenless nuc is doing phenomenal.  I have 6 hives and all will need to have a new brood box added Wednesday.  Every single frame is drawn and there are a lot of bees.  Every queen is laying like crazy (Buckfast hybrids) and there is no sign of decease.

I am feeding each hive even though I know they may be bringing nectar and Pollen.  I am doing this because I am trying to encourage them to draw as much comb as possible.  So far, they are doing really great.  I just want to be a great beekeeper to match my great bees 

[Acebird]

These comments offer no value but how closed you are to help a fellow beekeeper.

I don't think moebees was trying to insult you.  I think he was trying to give you a realistic opinion.  Think about the millions of dollars involved in equipment needed to forecast weather.  Think about the accuracy of those forecasts.  Just because someone claims they have an app to forecast nectar flow doesn't mean it is useful.  Nectar sources change by hours not by days or weeks.  Forecasting blooms is a small bit of information for forecasting nectar.  I think there are very few people on this forum that are not trying to help.  I can point you to another forum that doesn't have such high percentages.

[VermontHoneyBee]

I was not the only one that read it as an insult.  We don't all share the same opinion and we don't need to be condescending and I felt both responses (ask the bees and good luck with that) is condescending at best.  I call it as I see it.  Yes, many people here have already helped me and I have ripped benefits from all that help. 

I am moving on from this topic.  I think I am not able to explain what I was looking for.  Perhaps if I had said current nectar/pollen conditions maybe it would have sounded better.

Thanks

[jalentour]

In Ohio and the border areas we can refer to The Ohio State Phenology Calendar.  The GDD Calendar.  It is useful for may in agriculture.  the link is:  https://www.oardc.ohio-state.edu/gdd/CalendarView.asp

I realize you are not near Ohio, but a state college specializing in ag might have the same info.  I live in Ohio but my hives are in Indiana, so I use a zip close to the hives but in Ohio. 

Another source I fond useful is the wiki site.  It's not regional specific but I do find it useful.  The link is:  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_pollen_sources

Good luck with your bees.

[beepro]

Some time they are joking but their jokes are not that funny ended up hurting other's feeling if you're the sensitive type.  Very often it is not helpful at all.  I try not to let their little comment bother me anymore.   But if it is a direct personal comment then I will respond to it.

There are many here who still like to help out new beekeepers.  I was once a newbie too.  I will never use these little comments to put down someone because it will hurt this forum's reputation and fellow beekeepers here.  Got beat up pretty badly before on the other bee forum.  If I'm the moderator here I would delete or make correction on any comment that hurt other's feelings.   I remember that there is a site online that monitor the blooms by zip code or by the city name.  Maybe a search under pollen count/bloom might help you find something.  For me to get an accurate nectar flow situation, every year I will look at certain blooming trees around my bee yard that produce nectar and pollen.   Then match it to the month that they should be blooming because every year they bloom at different time because of the weather change.  Warmer month they will bloom earlier.  An example would be the wild mustard plants that bloomed in the early Spring time and now the privet and bee-bee tree blooms around June.   This is a more accurate nectar flow forecast than anything that can provide the information.  So start paying attention to the trees and flowers that produce the flow from month to month around your yard.  Take notes if you cannot remember them all.  Ask question to id the plants if you don't know what it is with pics here.  I started this plants id process 6 seasons ago so have a very accurate of the flow for maximum honey collection in my local area. 

[VermontHoneyBee]

Thank you both beepro and jvalentour.  This is exactly what I was looking for.  It will help me be a better beekeeper at least until I have a few years under my belt.

Thanks

[BeeMaster2]

Vermont,
I apologize for the insult. It should have been worded a lot different to get the same point across.
Your state inspector or entomologist should be able to give you guidelines.
This past spring I had a speaker give a talk on this very subject to our club. I took notes and then followed the blooms. The speaker was very knowledgeable. Problem is he forgot to have Mother Nature sit in on his lesson. This years blooms were much earlier than normal.
The commercial beekeepers usually leave their hives in this area until the end of June. Last week they pulled the supers and put feeders on. I expect the hives will be removed this week.
Jim

[VermontHoneyBee]

Great advice.  I will follow through

[sc-bee]

  I am trying to find out if there are proactive services that can help a beekeeper be ahead of the curb.

I will admit I whizzed over some of the comments but have you tried pollen.com Also our state had some hives on scales on-line but I think the software became outdated and kept crashing. Maybe your state runs some hives with scales???

https://www.pollen.com/

[Bush_84]

Honestly you just have to do the footwork. You can find websites that will give you information but it?s never accurate. The issue is that even within my own state the flow is different and can vary by weeks. You just cannot document that much difference. What I would do is find a beekeeper close to you in a bka. Find out what specific flows are big in your area and watch for those things to blossom.

[bobsim]

  If there's an arboretum near you it may be worth a visit. Your local trees, plants and flowers would be there. The staff would be expert and I would think happy to see a beekeeper.