Honey Harvest Postponed

The bees have been busy but they haven’t been making honey—at least not fast enough or in large enough quantities for us to harvest honey as planned for late September. Our beekeeper, Liam Goble, explained that dry weather makes it difficult for bees to make honey and we’ve been very dry in Centre County this past summer. The weather pattern has changed in the past few weeks. Rain, rain and more rain. Liam believes that we could try to harvest honey later in October once the colonies have taken full advantage of the moisture and the prolific golden rod crop that is bursting out all around us. The main concern is that the bees have enough honey to get themselves through the winter months. The farmer’s almanac is predicting a colder winter so we have to be cautious. It is possible to supplement the bees with a sugar solution, but they do best with their own honey which contains an untold host of nutrients vital to their survival. So, honey lovers and hive owners will need to be patient with our experimental apiary and we’ll keep our eyes on the prize: seeing most if not all of our resident bee colonies make it through the winter. Next year our patience could pay off with stronger colonies and a bumper crop of honey. Thanks for your involvement in the apiary. If you have any questions about the hives, please contact Liam at 814-574-2273 or half-acrefarm@hotmail.com