Honey flow is a term used by

beekeepers A beekeeper is a person who keeps honey bees. Beekeepers are also called honey farmers, apiarists, or less commonly, apiculturists (both from the Latin '' apis'', bee; cf. apiary). The term beekeeper refers to a person who keeps honey bees i ...

indicating that one or more major

nectar source A nectar source is a flowering plant that produces nectar as part of its reproductive strategy. These plants create nectar, which attract pollinating insects and sometimes other animals such as birds. Nectar source plants are important for beekee ...

s are in bloom and the weather is favorable for bees to fly and collect the

nectar Nectar is a sugar-rich liquid produced by plants in glands called nectaries or nectarines, either within the flowers with which it attracts pollinating animals, or by extrafloral nectaries, which provide a nutrient source to animal mutualists ...

in abundance. The higher northern and southern latitudes with their longer summer day time hours can be of considerable benefit for honey production. Flowers bloom for longer hours and the time per day that bees can fly is extended, so the number of trips per day is higher. In addition, the higher latitudes do not have hot and dry periods in the summer where virtually all of the excess nectar flow dries up. Where there are a succession of

s throughout the summer season, a honeyflow may last for many weeks. In other areas significant honeyflows may only last two or three weeks per year from one or a limited number of nectar sources. The rest of the year is spent in just maintenance – a situation where the incoming nectar and pollen nearly match the needed food for the hive, or where sufficient reserve stores must be present for the hive to survive a winter season.

Speed of work

Honeybees visit up to about 40 flowers per minute depending on floral type, nectar availability and weather conditions. Floral visitation rate by honeybees of some important crops: The longer the time period, the greater the nectar availability. It takes twice as much time to collect a load of nectar compared with a load of

pollen Pollen is a powdery substance produced by seed plants. It consists of pollen grains (highly reduced microgametophytes), which produce male gametes (sperm cells). Pollen grains have a hard coat made of sporopollenin that protects the gametophyt ...

. A bee will visit 100–1000 flowers per trip from the hive. There is general agreement that a single bee will do an average of 10 trips per day (range 7–13). Large single loads of nectar may weigh 70 mg for

Italian bee ''Apis mellifera ligustica'' is the Italian bee which is a subspecies of the western honey bee (''Apis mellifera''). Origin The Italian honey bee is thought to originate from the continental part of Italy, south of the Alps, and north of Sicily ...

s. Sometimes a

hive A hive may refer to a beehive, an enclosed structure in which some honey bee species live and raise their young. Hive or hives may also refer to: Arts * ''Hive'' (game), an abstract-strategy board game published in 2001 * "Hive" (song), a 201 ...

may gain 4–10 kg in a single day. For a gain this means:

7000 \text \times  \frac  \times  \frac \times  \frac \approx 5 \text{ kg/day}

In two days a strong hive with more than 20,000 foragers may fill a

honey super A honey super is a part of a commercial or other managed (such as by a hobbyist) beehive that is used to collect honey. The most common variety is the "Illinois" or "medium" super with a depth of 6 inches, in the length and width dimensions of a ...

. This is for nectar, ripe honey has its water fraction reduced significantly.

Sources

* ''The hive and the honey bee'', Chapter VII by Norman E. Gary "Activities and behavior of honey bees", Dadant, Hamilton, IL 1975
Apiary Factsheet #111
Government of

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...

, Ministry of Agriculture and Lands, Feb 2003; accessed Mar 2006 Beekeeping

Speed of work

See also

Sources