# Michigan drought causing problems?



## alleyyooper (Apr 22, 2005)

Got this E Mail this morning from a fellow member of SEMBA. Kare and I were discussing the Bass Wood blooms just yesterday. Doesn't appear we will have any this year around us.
Also the hives I've been inspectioning havn't had a drop of honey in the honey supers at all. Also my new queens have been driving me crazy, even some of the year old ones too.

*In SE Michigan the Basswood honey flow is the biggest honey flow of the year. But this year it might be different. With hardly any rain, the trees might be to dry to produce Nectar. I have been watching the sweet clover and I do not see any bees working it, which means there is no Nectar in the flowers.

The unusually hot beginning to spring with frost and cold after words left us without the fruit bloom or the Black Locust tree bloom. Without some rain the pickings are going to be slim.

I have been getting many requests for queens. Looks like another season of poor quee*


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## k9 (Feb 6, 2008)

It has been dry here too, the bees have been doing nothing. Doesn't look like it's going to get better anytime soon....


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## alleyyooper (Apr 22, 2005)

Is so dry here the land scape looks like the high desert in Washington in July.
Pickins for the bees is really slim. Kare and I have discussed taking off the honey supers and start feeding if we don't get rain really soon.
Chicory is in bloom already, normal bloom time end of July.

Yesterday at 6:00PM my weather station said 100F with a heat index of 143F.
I was wettting the pups down with cool water to help them with the heat. We don't have air in the house so we boiled too.

 Al


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## Elizabeth (Jun 4, 2002)

wow, I thought it was hot here. Actually, as hot as it is it is almost just as humid :sob:

I put entrance feeders with jars of water on my hives last week so the bees would not have to fly the 1/4 mile down to our creek to get it. 

I worked hives this morning and had to take a break 3 hives from the end of the job because I just got too hot. But, at least the basswood is blooming like crazy and the bees were all over it. We had just a tiny bit of rain last night and I hardly slept, worrying that it would interrupt the flow. All was well this morning, however, and the bees are back at work.

Hope the rest of the country gets some relief.


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## Kazahleenah (Nov 3, 2004)

It's been hot and humid here to, we had a bit of rain this morning, but not as long as we needed to really really soak things down.


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## alleyyooper (Apr 22, 2005)

Got 7 tenths inches of rain yesterday morning. Creek has been dry for some time. Bees collect water from the pets water dishes here at home. One yard owner puts dishes of water out in spunges.

Not going to risk heat stroke by working the bees in 90F temps and high heat indexes, mostly in the 100s as of late.

 Al


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## AverageJo (Sep 24, 2010)

I also don't want to go out and get the girls all riled up. I have honey that should be harvested as I'm out, but I'm going to wait until it cools off a bit. Upper 90's until Tuesday when it's supposed to cool off to mid 80s. Guess we won't be having any pancakes or french toast until after that...


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## alleyyooper (Apr 22, 2005)

Got another 6 tenths this morning.

 Al


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