135,000 Round Trips in One Day

3Despite the unseasonably cold Spring we've had here in DC, the hive I have sitting on a postal scale is off to a strong start. The scale shows the live weight of the bees plus the nectar they collect.  I make a note of the scale weight each morning and before bed each night. On April 12th the bees brought back over 5.4 kilos (12 pounds) of nectar! Considering the fact that each bee's honey stomach only holds 30mg of nectar that means the bees made more than 135,000 trips that day to bring back nectar.

Nectar is 80% water. The bees use this to feed themselves and they will also dry down the nectar to convert it to honey to eat later in the year. Honey is less than 18% water content. The bees fan their wings to evaporate the moisture and dry the nectar down. The sawtooth pattern in the plot of the line is a result of the bees drying off the moisture in the nectar overnight. This pattern will continue as long as the flowers and trees are blooming and continue to give nectar.

Last year the nectar flow began at the end of March and continued through mid-June, an unexpectedly long bloom period for Washington, DC. My four hives were so strong and the nectar flow went on for so long that I had to have two harvests - one in June and the second in July. I've only got one hive that is likely to make a honey crop this year so my fingers are crossed we get a nice long bloom!