We had rain 21 out of 30 days in April. Not sure if May will be any better.
This past Friday, after several days of nice weather (finally), I had to graft based on a schedule. I got up, and it was gray, overcast, drizzle, and in the mid 50's. Of course it was.....I was planning on grafting. :roll:
I can deal with an afternoon spring thunderstorm or brief showers. You can plan around that. But we have had way too many days of complete washouts, with cool temps. Two weeks ago, I had three frame breeding nucs starving to death. Seemed for every one day they could fly, the next three were spent eating their already limited stores.
Working hives in rainy weather means all the field bees are at home. They are older bees, and are more defensive than the normal stay behind bees of the hive. Making working them much harder and slower. Putting in packages in the rain is no big deal. They are not usually any more ticked off than they already are. I would hold off for better weather for full size hives.
This year is screwed up. I have beekeepers calling asking where their nucs are (I am way behind in production), while I am still waiting for a package delivery for the local club from Georgia. Go figure! :roll: I guess those thinking they were getting nucs or packages early enough to harvest some idea of 100 pound honey crop this year, are quickly having those thoughts change.
While it seems everything keeps ticking along and the flowers are aging and dying, the bees have not been able to collect much after all the rain and limited flying time. So this may not be a good honey year without a good two or three week period real soon. The weather is calling for rain through Friday. Not good.
