Guilfordbeekeepers.org

I've got blackberry bushes littering the edges of my property. Most of the time these bushes bloom between April 10 and April 30. I just noticed yesterday the first swollen blackberry buds, almost a month later than they usually are. I know things got pushed back with the later cold freezes this year, but are we really that far behind? Or is it just the bushes around me?

I also haven't seen any tulip poplars blooming around me. Wondering if they will be a month late also. Or maybe we'll just skip that flow all together. Anyone else seeing tulip poplars blooming?

I'm seeing tulip poplar blooms around me--my neighbor sees them up in the trees. I can see the ones that the wind and rain have knocked down. My crimson clover was late blooming and stunted this year and my blackberries are budding and have not bloomed. In some areas, wild blackberries are in bloom. My guess is that the cooler weather has slowed things down and plant location/sunlight may have a lot to do with blooms of the same plant in one location versus another taking place on different schedules. My bees continue to be very active and coming back heavy. I imagine a lot of nectar got consumed over this last cool, rainy period instead of being processed into honey.

If large nectar producing plants are having bloom times extended and not being cooked or nectar power washed out, this still may be a good flow season.

My blackberry vines are just now blooming. They're in a gully that gets filtered sunlight, so they may be a little later this year. My raspberries are in full sun but haven't started blooming. Tulip poplars in our yard are just now blooming, too. I almost always have hybrid tea roses blooming for Mother's Day and this year they're still in tight buds (not that the honeybees will work them, anyway).

This "summer" of cool and rainy weather did not help the flow. Did anyone have a good honey production season in this area? If so, what plants do you think your bees got into?