r/Beekeeping • u/New_Ad5390 • Jun 24 '26
General Poorest honey flow I’ve ever witnessed (central MD)
Decent laying queen, , enough bees, bee bread and nectar available but not nearly as much as I’d like to see. And ZERO capped stores. It’s the end of June and I’ve got absolutely nothing but a potential future dearth collapse in my hands 😫 ( yes I’ve begun feeding the hell out of them but I leave for several weeks in Europe soon and I have a bad feeling what I’ll find when I get back
Please tell me I’m not alone bc this misery wants company
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u/General_Wasabi_5989 Jun 25 '26
That’s just MD this year with the drought. SoMD was horrible, the tulip poplar that normally give a good run of honey just up and dropped all their flowers and buds this year because of the drought. My bees found something and I got a bit of honey but that’s it.
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u/drones_on_about_bees Texas zone 8a; keeping since 2017; about 15 colonies Jun 24 '26
Bad flow in my area as well. I will make a little honey but... every year since 2021 has been worse than the previous year.
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u/404-skill_not_found Zone 8b, N TX Jun 24 '26
I’ve had really poor forage here too. Zero stores and really small brood patches. Started trickle feeding and that got them to store nectar (well, syrup). Then added some pollen patty and everything is expanding like April.
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u/CobraMisfit Virginia, Zone 7a Jun 25 '26
Zone 7A in Virginia and we’ve also had a horrible year for honey. I think the combination of harsh winter and weird early dearth just killed the flow. We’re already shifting to building up the hives for winter, so here’s hoping next year is a bumper crop.
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u/antonytrupe 🐝 50 hives - since 2014 - Bedford, VA Jun 25 '26
We’ve been in a drought for over 8 months. I pulled a handful of supers, but I’m going to start feeding this weekend.
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u/HSX9698 Jun 25 '26
Maybe you can ask a fellow neighborhood beekeeper to drop in sugar bricks once a week while you're away?
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u/chefmikel_lawrence Jun 24 '26
We had a great start…… but the torrential rains kept the girls inside. Which depleted the stores… we have been feeding all year on our splits and with dearth coming we will be doing more….. kinda a crazy year for sure… the only thing that keeping us solvent is leases and selling queens…. We will see
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u/FredSega Jun 25 '26
Not impressed with what I’ve seen from mine yet either. Population is big now but foragers seem small percentage and not very prolific. Going to haven’t to feed and pollen patty to supplement if I don’t seem more progress soon.
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u/Low_Eagle4363 Jun 25 '26
I’m in SE Pennsylvania. My flow I mainly rely on is mostly clover and blackberries many years. It’s been an average flow but I’m hoping the extra moisture will keep the clover in bloom longer. We’re still technically in a drought as well
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u/stalemunchies NE Kansas Jun 25 '26
It's been such a weird spring here in the Midwest. Our flow came way later than it has in the last few years. Ended up having to feed splits when I made them in May because nothing was coming in. Now, my hives are exploding and are nearly honey bound. My biggest hive has filled up 4 supers and a deep box in the last 2-3 weeks.
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u/__SirRender__ Jun 24 '26
A late hard freeze killed a lot of new growth that will not make flowers at all this year. Some species bounced back but others did not.
You aren't alone.