This year Wisconsin was faced with some unusual weather having an extremely wet spring, and transferring into a drought. One aspect of this many would not think about is how did it affect the bees and their honey production? Nick Thill the President of the Wisconsin Honey Producer Association says that it ended up being a good year for the most part.
“With a real wet start to June and cooler temperatures, the bees took a lot longer to build up,” explains Thill. “Once we got into July, and got some sunshine and less rain, the bees really started producing good amounts of honey.”
As the year moved on the weather got very dry very quickly. This caused a decrease in production in the Wisconsin honey industry because the bees had no sources to get nectar. This led to the bees starting to starve since they lost their food source. This led them to feeding the bees earlier than usual so that the bees would not crash before fall. Some keepers were not prepared and lost lots of bees.
“The rain provides the nectar bearing plants with water that they absorb and turn into liquid nectar that the bees then collect,” says Thill. “The bees need the rain so they can collect the nectar and turn it into honey. When there is no precipitation there is nothing for the bees to collect and make into honey.”
Wintering Bees
With an adverse year in beekeeping Thill wants to make sure that people properly prepare their hives for the winter. He says while the temperatures are still warmer to continue giving them liquid feed as they are probably still feeding. He also wants to remind Wisconsin beekeepers to insulate their hives to make sure it stays warm enough inside. As well as put up wind blocks on the north and west sides. Thill says throughout the winter check on the bees to see how they are doing and make sure they still have food storage.
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