And soon the willow blooms.....

March 3, 2020 just days away from the Willow flow!

Bloom Dates For Red Maple, Redbud, Huckelberries, and White Clover

Got some catching up on some bloom dates. Let's start with White Clover. It was the second Sunday in Jan when I first spotted White Clover in bloom. I did not see it on the farm as the clover I planted is not yet mature enough to bloom, but in Leesville at the Lowes in the parking lot. At that point I began seeing it more and more as the days went by.
It was also about that time that I saw Dandelions blooming in Rapides Parish, the neighboring Parish to the east of the farm. For some reason Dandelions have not naturalized here in Vernon Parish very well. My guess is because of the abundance of pine tree forests owned by timber companies who spray huge amounts of pesticides everywhere. However, I am growing some dandelions from seeds this winter and plan on planting them in my yard soon in Hope's that they will begin to naturalize here on the farm.
On Feb 1st I finally laid eyes on proof of what I had suspected for about a week. That is, i finally saw bees working some Red Maple blooms. I promptly went home, opened the hives, and viola my queens were all laying.
This past week, Feb 23-29, I noticed the Huckleberry bushes beginning to bloom and the blueberries looked to be days behind them. Also, just today I saw Redbud trees pushing out their red buds.
Spring is here and the forecast is warm weather (60+ days/40+ nights) for the next 2 weeks. So I'm thinking this weekend may be a good time to start making a few splits and putting on some hive top feeders.
Don't you just love this time of year!?

Mayhaws and Henbits are Blooming

Spring is creeping up on us here in the south really quick, if not a bit early. Like 2-3 weeks early. I guess it has to do with the lack of winter temps and good amounts of rain. Temps have been averaging in the upper 60's with only a few dips into the 30's, one good drop into the 20's back in November, but all in all there has not been a sustained cold spell for more than 3 or 4 days before it is back in the upper 60's and 70's. This has caused my bees to be actively bored. They are warm enough to be out flying everyday but nothing to really forage on. So what do they do? Well they constantly check every person on the farm for flowers (LOL).

Henbit that bloomed in my front yard today 1-18-2020

Until this week that is. This week I have seen a drop in that kind of activity around the farm. As a matter of fact, I noticed the last 10 days or so that the bees have been bringing in an increasing amount of pollen between rain showers. Actually today I saw a whole bunch of bees bringing in bright yellow, dark yellow, and even a grey looking pollen. I don't know where these different colors come from, but I do know that it means there are at least three different varieties blooming right now. Two things I noticed today that are blooming are shown here.

Mayhaw blooming at my grandparents 

 The henbit is not considered a honey plant by the LSU AgCenter, but it is considered very important here in Louisiana because it is one of the earliest heavy pollen and nectar producers. This is what is needed before the heavy nectar flows begin so that the queens can start producing brood and build up the colony numbers so that there are more workers to bring in nectar and pollen to store. So, although henbit is a great producer of nectar and pollen, it is not really considered a honey plant here due to the colony populations being too low this time of year to actually store a significant amount. Nevertheless it is VERY important to the bees.

The other bloom I saw today was the Mayhaw at my grandparents old home. This is roughly 2 weeks earlier than last year and it causes me to wonder what this means for the nectar flow this year. We still have a few months of probable frost days. If the Mayhaw is two weeks early I'm afraid that means that the other blooming trees may be at risk of frost causing a short lived early nectar flow. Only time will tell. As mild of a winter we have had so far it may not be much of an issue at all. 

Another bloom I have been seeing on the increase the last few weeks is everyone's favorite, White Dutch Clover. I have not seen it here on the farm as of yet, though I do have quite a bit planted and growing here, but as little as three miles away and beyond I have been seeing many blooms of the wonderful bee food. I am starting to believe that this hill I live on has its own weird micro-climate inside of USDA Zone 8b. Its hard to explain, but things in about a 3 mile radius are just different than the rest of the parish. 

Well, thats all I have time for right now. Thanks for stopping by!

First Light Frost On The Farm

 It appears that during the night winter weather made its entrance into the deep south. The goldenrod is still blooming here and this was a very light and spotty frost so maybe it wasn't enough to stop the blooms. We'll see.

 I'm not gonna call it the official end to the fall flow just yet, but it looks like the end is indeed near.

Just want to keep my fellow beekeepers aware that Spring is not that far away. At least not for those of us in the south. It's a really good time to start planning for Spring. Building boxes and swarm traps is what you should be starting to do. We are in the process of building and placing 30+ swarm traps throughout West Louisiana. It may seem too early to start putting traps out, but keep in mind that the holidays will be here soon and most of us are preoccupied with that until January. So get it done now. We'll be working straight through the holidays getting ready for a great 2020!
Bye for now. Be a blessing!

Here Come The Camellias

Just a quick note that here in Vernon Parish, Louisiana the very first Camellia has bloomed. Ok, it may not be the first in the parish, but it is definitely the first in my yard. It is also the only one, however the bush is full of buds.
Now I know that one camellia is not a big deal and even if everyone had a bush in their yard it still wouldn't qualify as a honey flow, but it is indeed a really good pollen source for this time of year. Last year this very bush bloomed right up to the first week in January. And the bees really worked the pollen on it every warm day they had a chance. This tells me that it might be good to plant more of these bushes. Maybe even gift a few to the neighbors. I don't know about whether it's a nectar producer. 
Anyway, its another addition to the bloom diary. Go plant some camellias!

Sea Myrtle is Blooming!

So I'm calling today the official opening day of the Sea Myrtle here at West LA Bee Farm. It's been threatening to bloom for awhile now, but today it looks workable by the bees. Of course as long as there is Goldenrod blooming the bees won't really get too excited about the Sea Myrtle. 

Speaking of bees, they have been incredibly busy. I can see why. There seems to be a really good flow going on here. The goldenrod has been in bloom here for three weeks and looks to have 7 to 10 days left. The coreopsis maybe even longer.

Here's a look at todays Goldenrod. You can see that much is played out. What you don't see in this pic is that there are as many new blooms today, and some that still haven't opened yet. 

Until next update, God bless!

Final Update On Goldenrod Until It Finishes

I am going to say that September 29 is the "official" start to the Goldenrod flow for this year. Yes it has been blooming in spots, and has been very limited at best. But today enough has emerged here on the farm for me to say the flow is officially on! 

These are photos from this morning. You can't really tell without zooming in that there is only about 10% bloom happening. The good news is some of it is two weeks behind those that bloomed today. Based on what I saw this morning, its gonna be a really good fall flow. 

Late Boneset Started Today 2019

Late Boneset started its show of affection towards my favorite pollinator today. This time of year everyone focuses on the goldenrod, but if you have enough bees in your area to cause the goldenrod nectar to dry up early in the day this is the next most abundant resource for them in our 5 acres of the universe. A quick walk around a fence row or clearing today and you will see this nectar spicket everywhere!

Purple False Foxglove Bloom 2019

Hello everybody welcome to the blog. This is what is called purple faults foxglove. It really seems to be a favorite to the bees right now. The bees are working it more than the freshly bloomed Goldenrod. 

By the way, this has not just started to bloom, it has been blooming here for weeks. It also looks like it'll be blooming for weeks to come. I'll keep an eye on it next year and give a better start date. Currently it appears to be the climax of the bloom. 

It was a good morning strolling my property lines taking pics of bee food. I have more pics of other species from this morning that I'll be posting about today as well. 

• Thanks for reading! 

Goldenrod 2019 Update

So on September 22, 2019 I wrote a post about how the Goldenrod had made its first appearance here on the West La Bee Farm, and it did. But now nearly a week later very little has bloomed. There is a ton of it around, and I'm sure the bees are finding spots nearby where it has bloomed, but on our little farm there are still no blooms.
Looking at it today it did appear to be ready to bust open. I even believe that in the morning when I wake up its gonna be like "honey bee black friday"! They are already bringing in nectar from somewhere and there is plenty of activity. Maybe tomorrow I'll make a video of some of the hive activity and post it on here along with a few Goldenrod pics.
Thats all for now!
Hey let me know what is happening with your Goldenrod. Is it still flowing in your area?

Goldenrod Blooms On The Bee Farm 2019

 Hello and welcome to West Louisiana Bee Farm's blog. Thank you for stopping by. You never know what bee-related stuff I may put up here. Some of it will be interesting to other beekeepers, but much of it will be info that I may need to save here like a journal of sorts for my reference. Which brings me to the purpose of this first blog post. THE GOLDENROD IS BLOOMING!!

As of this morning, September 22, 2019 the goldenrod is officially in bloom here on the farm. I have been anxiously watching it everyday for weeks now trying to time its arrival, and now it is here! Why is this such a big deal to me? Well, this is the last big chance for the bees to get easy nectar. The goldenrod flow is the official/unofficial name for this season, and it is what the bees use to build their stores back up for the cold months of winter when food is scarce for them and temperatures keep them in the hive so that they can keep the queen warm and fed. 

Why is it considered "easy nectar"? It is because of goldenrod's abundance. In this part of the country it is literally everywhere. It grows along fence rows, vacant lots, highway and dirt road right-of-ways, along creek and river banks, in your flowerbed that you neglected this year, you name it. Goldenrod comes up EVERYWHERE if you let it. Therefore I call it easy nectar. 

So if you have goldenrod growing on your property and you are tempted to cut it down, please leave it for the bees until the blooms die. They need it for their winter stores. Then, when the blooms turn brown, cut it down. They will be grateful.

Well, that's all for now. Here some flowers I picked for my wife while out looking around to see what my bees may be foraging on. There is actually quite a bit of wildflowers in bloom already. 

Stay tuned, more to come later!

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