Bees in an almond orchard at sunset. Photo credit: Ben Sallmann
If there has been a lot of rain, then some orchards will be too muddy to move bees in or out. Beekeepers don’t get a break though, there is always work around the shop to do, like assembling nucs, making up split boxes, fixing woodenware, preparing treatments, getting totes filled with syrup, cleaning totes and pumps after use, going to the hardware store to get that one specific machine bolt so your syrup pump won’t rattle its way off the truck every time you feed and so on and so forth. Shortly before last petal fall, when pollinating services are no longer needed, the bees are ‘released’ by the growers. Beekeepers and their crews can then start moving them out. Moving out of almonds can be even more hectic than moving in. Most bees are released around the same time and beekeepers want them out as soon as possible. After almond bloom there are not enough resources to support
the density of bees, so time is of the essence once more for beekeepers who start their season’s ‘Great Bee Marathon’ ( see Almond Facts March/April 2021 Bee Box ).
Matt Hoepfinger, CA Tech Transfer Team Field Specialist
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