# No Honey in the hive



## mommagoose_99 (Jan 25, 2005)

We have a small produce farm and rent two hives of bees to polinate our crops. This years hives were newly started colonies with new Russian Queens. There seemed to be a lot of activity in both hives , crops were polinated and the propulations have grown. The hives owner checked on the conditions of the hives last night and was alarmed because there is no honey in either hive. Furthermore, he said, that he has two other hives in another location with the same problem. Why didn't the hives make honey for the winter?
Linda


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## indypartridge (Oct 26, 2004)

Not being there, I can only speculate, but if the hives are otherwise healthy, my first guess would be "weather". Too much rain, too little rain, all sorts of factors can impact honey production. I've had years when I fed my bees all summer while my mentor, about 50 miles away, was having a banner year for honey. Another year the summer began good, the bees were putting up plenty of honey, then we had a dry spell and before I knew it they had consumed everything. Fortuntately we had a nice fall flow and they were able to store enough for winter.


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## stranger (Feb 24, 2008)

it's too late to think about it now, unless the owner lived a few hundred miles away, he should have been making an inspection a couple times thru the summer.


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## beehoppers (Jun 3, 2008)

It can be stranger than just weather. Some years a plant will bloom and not produce nectar. Sourwood is a good example.


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## Durandal (Aug 19, 2007)

Not too sure where you are in New York, but a friend of mine who farms up there says they have ahd poor rainfall and are under for the year in total inches.

Sounds like a drought.

Right now we are in the tail end of our dearth and nectar is starting to flow again for the the late season run.

In the end this can be chalked up to not inspecting.

As soon as saw less laying and a perceived drop in stored honey I put on syrup in small quantities.

The answer to your question though is...if there is not enough nectar coming in to properly feed the colony then they bees feed on the stores regardless of what time of year.


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## alleyyooper (Apr 22, 2005)

:grump:Not inspecting is a bunch of crap. (1, the person did inspect to find the hives empty of honey and now must act to save the colonies. Don't know why ya'll want to throw rocks when information about inspecting times were noty given.

A couple of years ago we checked some honey supers and found them to only be about 60% capped. Figured they would be ready to pull in two weeks. In two weeks there was not a drop of honey in any of the supers. We were in the middle of a 3 month drought and a hive, mid summer full of bees wil use a lot of honey in no time at all even when they have cut back on brood rearing.

Not knowing what the weather has been like in NY I would guess either a drought. Or what we have been having is rain nearly every day and the nectar being washed from the plants. Many of our honey supers remain empty still Yesterday after 2 1/2 months on the colonies. Sept. 1st. we will start pulling supers and feeding.

 Al


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## Durandal (Aug 19, 2007)

alleyyooper said:


> :grump:Not inspecting is a bunch of crap. (1, the person did inspect to find the hives empty of honey and now must act to save the colonies. Don't know why ya'll want to throw rocks when information about inspecting times were noty given.
> 
> Al


Too true. My apologies.


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## rainesridgefarm (Dec 1, 2002)

I have tried different russians from different breeders and they all proved to me the same thing. NO OR VERY LITTLE HONEY. I have requeened all the russians I had..


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## anniew (Dec 12, 2002)

robber bees?
colony collapse disorder?
hard to tell without a lot more info.


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## Mike in Ohio (Oct 29, 2002)

I have to agree with Al. 

It has been real dry in our area and we are not seeing the honey production we would prefer.

If things don't change we will be feeding heavy in the fall.

Mike


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## stranger (Feb 24, 2008)

alleyyooper said:


> :grump:Not inspecting is a bunch of crap. (1, the person did inspect to find the hives empty of honey and now must act to save the colonies. Don't know why ya'll want to throw rocks when information about inspecting times were noty given.
> *If a good inspection was done, the trounle may have been spotted*
> 
> A couple of years ago we checked some honey supers and found them to only be about 60% capped. Figured they would be ready to pull in two weeks. In two weeks there was not a drop of honey in any of the supers. We were in the middle of a 3 month drought and a hive, mid summer full of bees wil use a lot of honey in no time at all even when they have cut back on brood rearing.
> ...


 A beek should always be paying attention to the weather, I fed all of July because of the weather.


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## mommagoose_99 (Jan 25, 2005)

Wow there are several cranky people at this forum. Will not bother you again just had a question.
Linda


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## Bill W. (Aug 2, 2008)

mommagoose_99 said:


> Wow there are several cranky people at this forum. Will not bother you again just had a question.
> Linda


You never know what kind of response you are going to get on the Internet - frequently the response has nothing to do with you at all. It is best to decide not to take anything personally. 

As for your bees, the main reasons a hive would be light on stores:

1. The weather was too wet during the main period of nectar flow. Bees don't fly in the rain.

2. The weather was too dry. If you are in a drought, plants don't produce as much nectar and the bees work hard but store little.

3. The weather was too cold. Much below 65*F, flowers don't produce much nectar. Much below 55*F, bees don't fly very far.

4. The hive swarmed or had a queen problem earlier this year. Once the queen goes, it is several weeks before the hive gets back into gear. If this happens early in the season when worker numbers are low, the hive can remain weak all year. You need a lot of bees to make a lot of honey.

5. The forage was insufficient. You don't say what your crops are, but it is possible they are not good nectar crops and the bees are working, but not bringing much back.

6. They are new hives and spent a lot of their time and energy drawing comb and building numbers. If the hives were new and the owner did not give them previously drawn comb and also did not feed them while they were drawing new comb, they sunk a lot of energy into that.

7. They were weak and other bees or wasps in the area forced their way into the hive and stole the stores (robbing).

Usually, the problem is a combination of these factors.

In addition to all of that, Russians are conservative bees. They don't draw comb as fast or build an army the way Italians do. They often seem to be poor producers the first year, but tend to survive winters better.

The big question is whether the owner was surprised because the stores suddenly disappeared or surprised because he hadn't inspected them for quite a while. When you don't keep a close eye on the bees, it is swarming and queen problems that cause the most problems.


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## cathleenc (Aug 16, 2007)

mommagoose_99 said:


> Wow there are several cranky people at this forum. Will not bother you again just had a question.
> Linda



Linda, please don't let the bullies win. I agree that your question was harshly treated. Every question should be an opportunity to learn - rather than an opportunity to show how superior others can be.

Keep posting. Keep complaining when bullied. Perhaps etiquette can be found and up held.
Cathy


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## beehoppers (Jun 3, 2008)

We keep Russians and from the 2nd year on average 110# per hive. Tough bees and fun to keep...


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