The place did all of it move flawed?

Synopsis : Why used to be the summer time 2023 honey crop so deficient (a minimum of right here in Scotland) after a bumper Spring harvest, and what may or will have to I’ve achieved as a substitute? The place did all of it move flawed?

Creation

Remaining weekend successfully marked the tip of the worst summer time I’ve ever had since beginning beekeeping.

A minimum of when measured by way of honey yield.

A lot of different issues went OK and a few issues went really well, however one of the most causes I stay bees is for honey manufacturing and that’s been an abject failure this summer time.

I’ve but to extract – and in brief regarded as leaving it fascinated about the bees – however am lovely assured that it’s ~25 kg lower than 2022.

That’s consistent with hive 🙁 .

That’s a shortfall of over 200 kg from about the similar collection of manufacturing colonies.

I’ve ended up with simply part a dozen supers, and no longer they all are complete.

I’m lovely sure I were given extra complete supers in my first actual yr after I had simply two hives … although this used to be helped by way of 30 acres of box beans simply over the apiary fence.

Location, location, location 😉 .

So what went flawed?

How did this season fluctuate from remaining season?

And, ahead of I get started, it’s no longer that 2023 used to be moderate and 2022 used to be freakishly excellent. Since returning to Scotland in 2015 the spring and summer time honey vegetation had been fairly constant … and usually lovely excellent.

2022 used to be just a little higher than moderate and 2019 used to be appreciably worse, however they all produced sufficient honey to make extracting (and the interminable cleansing up, jarring, labelling and many others. afterwards) very profitable.

2023 is the outlier.

Why didn’t I go away the honey for the bees? As a result of I deal with with Apivar and I’d want to not have to soften out the tremendous frames that had been uncovered to miticide.

So, evaluating this yr with 2022 (and a few previous years), the place did all of it move flawed?

What hasn’t modified

Something that hasn’t modified is the location, location, location.

The bees are in the similar apiaries, unfold throughout 10-15 miles of japanese Fife. The entire apiaries had been deficient this summer time, so I’m lovely sure it’s no longer an overly localised exchange to the to be had forage.

My summer time honey is what I’d describe as ‘combined floral’ or ‘hedgerow’ honey. It’s a transparent, runny honey which – in excellent years – has a particular zingy flavour from the lime. Alternatively, it’s the rest however monofloral, and comprises all forms of stuff to be had within the surroundings.

What it most probably isn’t – a minimum of to any vital level – depends on native agriculture. One farmer every so often grows some box beans however they’re in most cases on the higher restrict of foraging vary. I’ve no longer observed any since 2020 or 2021.

The apiaries are located in combined farmland with quite a lot of box margins, small copses, scrubby grazing and – in a single example – suburban gardens inside vary. The latter apiary has a tendency to perform a little higher maximum years.

The entire apiaries have get admission to to grease seed rape early within the season. This offers the colonies a really perfect spice up and makes next swarming rather predictable.

The 2023 spring honey crop used to be exceptional.

Ultimately 😉 .

Spring used to be overdue and it used to be handiest within the remaining couple of weeks of the OSR that it used to be heat sufficient for an actual foraging bonanza. Alternatively, all of it got here excellent on the finish and I stopped with a report harvest which used to be taken off within the first week of June.

So, if the forage hasn’t modified then it should be the elements … proper?

Native climate stories

My reference a few weeks in the past to climate forecasting – and the next useful observe up feedback from readers – used to be caused by way of a necessity for correct native predictions.

Native, as a result of climate is native.

Right here at the west coast the hills are low. Moisture-laden air bowling in from the Atlantic regularly blows over us, will get compelled up by way of the majority of Grampians, cools after which falls as rain.

A lot of it.

At the east coast, a couple of occasions a yr, the haar drifts in off the North Sea. My coastal apiary is usually a shivery 12°C when, only a few miles inland, it’s a balmy 20°C.

So, if native climate forecasts are wanted, then a retrospective evaluate of the have an effect on of climate on honey yields wishes native climate data. The gold same old are most probably the HadUK datasets to be had for the United Kingdom below an Open Executive Licence. They comprise interpolated information on day-to-day rainfall, temperatures, sunshine, humidity and many others at a 1 km grid solution .

Common readers will (even if they may not realise it) be acquainted with those datasets. Those are those used to generate the Met Place of business UK precise and anomaly climate maps which steadily seem right here. The map above displays Might 2023’s rainfall anomaly; North Wales and the West coast of Scotland ‘loved’ ~70% much less rain than the 30 yr moderate.

However there’s an issue with the HadUK datasets … they don’t seem to be publicly to be had for the present yr .

Private climate stations

However, all isn’t misplaced.

There are a rash of private climate stations within the gardens and at the roofs of climate fans, techie geeks, balloonists, surfers, kite flyers, gardeners … and beekeepers.

A few of these are remoted, stand-alone, gadgets. They’re no longer a lot use to any individual however the proprietor/operator .

Alternatively, others proportion the information on-line, both at once by the use of a internet server or not directly after importing it to an web climate provider equivalent to Wunderground or Windy.

From those you’ll be able to get fancy graphical outputs for present or historic climate … or, by way of burrowing round just a little at the web page, turgid tables of smartly aligned numbers that may be downloaded for research.

In case you to find one who’s native in your apiary perform a little sanity-checking of the figures. Be certain the station is mechanically on-line, that the information updates steadily and that the numbers appear logical (e.g. no -3°C in June). Until the station is terribly neatly located the windspeed and course will likely be flawed , however rainfall, temperature and probably sunshine (radiation) will have to be dependable.

I’ve this kind of climate stations on my shed for my ”Do queens actually want calm, sunny days and temperatures over 20°C for mating?” challenge . Alternatively, it’s 150 miles from my Fife apiaries, so rarely native.

Thankfully, in Fife there’s one within the subsequent village that, except the summer time of 2021, has been operating for years and turns out very loyal. All next graphs are in response to information from there.

Highs and lows

Comparability of the temperature most and minimal over the ~3.5 months from the beginning of Might till the 3rd week in August when the summer time honey used to be taken off displays no primary variation.

The graph above displays the utmost (thick strains) and minimal (skinny strains) temperatures in 2022 (blue) and 2023 (purple). Might and July are shaded so you’ll be able to figure out the place you might be within the season. I’ve used a equivalent format for next graphs.

It indubitably doesn’t glance as although 2023 used to be unseasonably cool or – possibly with that week in mid-June – specifically scorching.

However simply having a look on the highs and lows may lead to lacking vital variation within the moderate day-to-day temperatures … so I plotted that in conjunction with the rainfall over the similar duration.

Reasonable temperatures and day-to-day rainfall

I’ve separated the 2022 and 2023 graphs this time to forestall them getting too busy. Once more the duration displayed is identical. I’ve additionally marked – with arrows – the dates on which the spring and summer time honey had been taken off.

Take into accout, the spring harvest in 2023 used to be my perfect from Scotland, about 10% greater than 2022 from somewhat fewer colonies.

I don’t suppose there’s a lot to infer from the temperatures (the road graphs). You’ll see the cool first week of Might (which I used to be complaining about on the time), but it surely picked up by way of concerning the heart of the month. June used to be just a little hotter this yr, however July used to be appreciably cooler than 2022.

Alternatively, the hanging function might not be the temperature, it’s the rainfall (proven within the bar graph, plotted towards the suitable hand vertical axis).

In 2023 there used to be virtually no rain from concerning the 8^th of Might till the nineteen^th of June. On the time I used to be extra nervous concerning the burn that provides our water drying up, however on reflection this 5 week duration could have had a profound impact at the moisture to be had within the soil for plant expansion.

The adaptation between the 2 years is much more obvious in a graph of cumulative rainfall over the duration. Even though the general overall is widely equivalent (differing by way of handiest ~20%) 2023 necessarily flatlines till mid-June after which rises a lot more steeply than 2022 till mid-July, from which level the slopes are equivalent.

5 weeks of drought in 2023 had been adopted by way of a month of rainy climate, as a result additionally suppressing the common temperature.

Extra years, extra information

How do 2022 and 2023 evaluate with previous years for which I’ve summer time honey data?

Rather then 2021 (the place the elements station had a significant hiccup) there are excellent datasets for yearly since 2013.

I’ve plotted the remaining 5 years as that’s way back to I will be able to to find the cumulative honey yields . Of those, 2019 used to be deficient, each for spring and summer time honey.

Right here’s the cumulative rainfall for each and every of the ones seasons (Might to mid-August, as ahead of).

Even though it takes just a little teasing aside, 2023 is obviously ordinary within the protracted drought in overdue Spring/early summer time. Even 2018 (yellow), the driest yr general, is handiest fractionally at the back of 2023 on the finish of June (and finishes the duration with 30% much less rain by way of August).

The opposite factor this is hanging is solely how rainy 2023 used to be from mid-June till mid-July. 150 mm of rain fell within the 4 weeks from 17/6/23. The purple line rises extra steeply over this era than any of the former years, and on the finish of this 4 week deluge is in truth the wettest yr of the 5 plotted.

Alternatively, rain on my own isn’t essentially an issue.

Lots of the summer time nectar waft most probably happens from mid-July till early/mid-August. All through this era each 2019 (a deficient yr general, however no longer catastrophic ) and 2020 had extra rainfall, and 2020 a minimum of produced numerous summer time honey.

No longer sufficient bees?

The vast majority of my colonies had been requeened in 2023. Even though the full collection of colonies are too small to attract any conclusions it used to be notable that the hive that produced the maximum honey nonetheless has the queen from remaining yr and confirmed no tendency to swarm.

Requeening colonies, the use of commonplace swarm keep an eye on methods, enforces a spoil in brood rearing.

I subsequently checked again via my hive data to peer if colonies had longer broodless classes in 2023 than 2022. All different issues being equivalent e.g. prior power or the next laying price of the brand new queen, a colony which studies an extended brood spoil might be weaker.

If the colony is wanting staff right through the principle nectar waft it’s prone to acquire much less honey.

Hive data

That is an much more approximate process than having a look on the climate data. My hive data are lovely excellent, however they’re (clearly) handiest at weekly periods. Moreover, after I know a colony comprises a brand new queen I generally tend to not rummage throughout the brood field until actually essential (and if there’s a brand new queen in there it isn’t … so don’t 😉 ). In consequence, even if I will be able to determine broodless classes from my data, the appropriate length (and subsequently doable have an effect on on colony power) is, at perfect, obscure.

Alternatively, if the rest, queen mating used to be each extra loyal and sooner in 2023 than remaining yr. Maximum queens had been mated and laying by way of early/mid-June. I respect that it nonetheless takes ~6 weeks from the queen beginning laying till her foragers are flying, however the velocity with which queens had been mated intended that employee numbers will have to no longer have grow to be too depleted.

I’m going to spend just a little extra time in this within the wintry weather aided by way of espresso or purple wine to peer if I’m lacking one thing, however I lately suppose there have been greater than sufficient bees within the honey (non)manufacturing hives.

Nectar manufacturing and rainfall

I don’t have a definitive resolution to the name of this publish (The place did all of it move flawed?) however it sort of feels most probably it’s because of a number of of the next causes:

• protracted (~5 weeks) drought in overdue Might and early/mid June. This didn’t it sounds as if have an effect on the nectar yields from the OSR, however will have had long-term penalties for the summer time flowering forage.
• surprisingly rainy climate from mid June to mid July
• diminished temperatures right through July (negatively influencing both or each the bees and the forage) the place the common, high and low temperatures for 2022 had been 17°C, 7.4°C and 33.2°C, and for 2023 had been 15°C, 5.7°C and 24.3°C

The July rainfall could have suppressed the temperature, however the second one part of the month used to be additionally cooler than commonplace.

I’ve achieved some studying at the have an effect on of moisture on nectar manufacturing. There’s rather just a little at the affect of humidity on each nectar manufacturing and the sugar focus of the nectar, however those are all quick time period results.

Fresh rainfall is understood to stimulate nectar manufacturing in crops equivalent to rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis; Keasar et al., 2008) however I’ve but to search out a lot on stimulatory results of rainfall over an extended duration.

In case your bees have completed for the yr and you need some wintry weather studying possibly take a look at Lawson and Rands’ (2019) evaluate of rainfall on plant-pollinator interactions. Particularly they spotlight that rainfall can dilute nectar, making it much less rewarding for (a minimum of some) pollinators. Rainfall, and decrease temperatures, additionally considerably scale back foraging process (and, to my wonder, nurse bee process inside the hive; Riessberger and Crailsheim, 1997).

I feel it is a matter I’ll have to go back to …

Does any of this lend a hand?

Most likely no longer.

Rather then the pleasure of figuring out having a obscure thought what went flawed, because it used to be most probably deficient climate there’s no longer so much that may be achieved to steer clear of the placement, instead of transferring to every other county … or nation … or continent.

However, assuming it used to be the elements and if there used to be dependable long-range (i.e. ~2 months or extra) climate forecasting I will be able to call to mind alternative ways to productively ‘rescue’ the latter part of the season.

It’s essential – as urged above – transfer your bees.

That’s more straightforward stated than achieved, comes to quite a lot of paintings/trip and most probably additionally calls for dependable long-range native climate forecasts … however howdy, “in case you’re gonna dream, dream large” 😉 .

On the other hand, that you must make bees, no longer honey.

Had I recognized that the second one part of this season used to be going to be ‘overall pants’ I’d have utterly deserted honey manufacturing and as a substitute cut up the colonies to supply many extra nucs for overwintering.

With a concerted effort right through the nice climate in Might/June it could had been rather simple to get enough queens mated. The soon-to-be-unemployed honey manufacturing colonies might be cut up, each and every generating a number of nucs.

Inevitably this may then contain just a little of body juggling to make sure the nucs didn’t get ‘overcooked’ ahead of the onset of autumn, that further paintings being compensated by way of the facility to supply extra nucs from more difficult preliminary splits of the colonies.

Or that you must do one thing for the bees, equivalent to the use of queen trapping to put into effect a brood spoil, observe a midseason miticide remedy and feature the pleasure of them going into autumn with very low mite and virus ranges.

The similar factor might be completed, coupled with a complete field of recent comb, by way of combining a shook swarm and miticide remedy.

The tip is nigh

The elimination of the summer time honey marks the tip of the sensible beekeeping season for me. Having cleared the supers I checked the frames. There used to be a small quantity of unpolluted nectar in a couple of of them, although not anything like sufficient to justify leaving them for every other week or two.

No longer such a lot a nectar waft as a pathetic dribble.

Brood containers had been having a look very ‘finish of season’. Nearly no drone brood and lots of the drone comb used to be backfilled with nectar or sealed retail outlets.

I failed to search out the only queen I had but to mark so she and I can have that to look ahead to subsequent April.

I didn’t check out the colonies however I did pull a couple of frames to figure out the place the threshold of the brood nest used to be so I may position the Apivar strips accurately.

Then all that used to be left to do used to be to exchange the queen excluder and upload a cut up block of fondant, with both an empty tremendous (Of which I’ve a surfeit 🙁 ) or an eke and an inverted perspex crownboard to offer ‘headspace’ for the block.

Adios bees … I’ll be again in a couple of weeks to reposition the Apivar 🙂 .

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Notes

This isn’t where for an extended dialogue concerning the economics of beekeeping right here. In the case of gross sales, one tremendous (suppose ~10 kg of extracted honey) is price about the similar as an overwintered nuc. My recommendation to ‘make bees’ as a substitute of honey achieves 3 issues:

• offset ‘losses’ from honey gross sales by way of promoting nucs
• repopulate (and/or amplify) your individual apiaries with robust nucs subsequent spring
• supply native bees for beekeepers, quite than them depending on imports

With a conservative 3- and even 4-way cut up of a midsummer manufacturing colony all of the above will have to be achievable … if you understand how to rear queens and feature sufficient nuc containers 😉 .

References

Keasar, T., Sadeh, A., and Shmida, A. (2008) Variability in nectar manufacturing and status crop, and their relation to pollinator visits in a Mediterranean shrub. Arthropod-Plant Interactions 2: 117–123 https://doi.org/10.1007/s11829-008-9040-9.

Lawson, D.A., and Rands, S.A. (2019) The results of rainfall on plant–pollinator interactions. Arthropod-Plant Interactions 13: 561–569 https://doi.org/10.1007/s11829-019-09686-z.

Riessberger, U., and Crailsheim, Okay. (1997) Brief-term impact of various climate stipulations upon the behaviour of forager and nurse honey bees (Apis mellifera carnica Pollmann). Apidologie 28: 411–426 http://dx.doi.org/10.1051/apido:19970608.