Honey yields below average this year

The 2021 bee season is over.

Time for the Erding Beekeeping Association to take stock.

And that turns out to be rather meager: Overall, the beekeepers could not be satisfied with the below-average yields from this year.

Erding

- According to a press release, the wintering of the bee colonies in the district in 2020/21 was largely satisfactory, so that vital colonies were available in spring. They were stressed by a cold and wet April, which slowed the upward development of the peoples. May was also much too cold and wet, so that only three good collection days could be achieved here. “In many beekeepers, additional feeding had to be carried out in May in order to ensure the survival of the colonies or to guarantee the development for a future harvest,” write the beekeepers. As a result, it was almost impossible to harvest blossom honey.

June brought a significant shift, warm and dry conditions made it possible to harvest summer costume and, in some cases, forest honey.

Linden honey could also be harvested.

July was again closer to May, "so it was good to leave food supplies in the colonies".

After the weather did not improve by mid-July, the bee season was basically over and the first beekeepers had started to throw away.

Silphie as an important pollen donor

"Hard to imagine, since this year large white clover areas in the meadows seemed to secure the nectar supply for the colonies, but the frequent rainfall made them unusable," said the beekeepers.

Provided that the weather is better again in August, the upcoming entries of white clover and balsam belonged to the bees as autumn and winter fodder and would no longer be touched by the beekeepers.

There are now a few fields in the district with Silphie, which is a valuable pollen donor.

This guarantees a good pollen supply for the rearing of the young bees.

Some sunflower fields would also make a valuable contribution, not forgetting the many flower strips.

Most of the colonies are currently undergoing varroa treatment, which will last until September.

Beekeepers are dependent on fair honey prices

Overall, beekeepers could not be satisfied with the below-average yields this year.

Every beekeeper has to compensate for good and bad honey years himself.

Since there is no direct state aid for beekeeping, beekeeping is dependent on a fair honey price.

Due to the cold May, there was hardly any swarming tendency this year.

Queen breeding and the mating of queens at the Sauschütt mating station of the Erding Beekeeping Association also started late because of the cold.

June made it possible for the queens to be reared well and for stable copulation, so that all breeders were satisfied here.

In the meantime, feeding has started and the colonies are already being prepared for the new bee season in 2022.  

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