California’s particularly rainy winter made for a bloom of rare intensity, but since spring was still gray, the bees couldn’t take advantage of it.
“Bees don’t like to fly when it’s cold and wet,” says Jay Weiss, a beekeeper in Pasadena, near Los Angeles, as he opens one of his hives. If the sun doesn’t shine, the honey harvest will be poor.
Temperatures have been hovering in the 20s for days and California skies – although notoriously blue – are inevitably overcast, making it impossible for the bees that could have foraged in those vast flower patches.
While a few cloudy weeks in May and June are not uncommon, the weather in the United States’ most populous state has never really recovered from the repeated flooding that hit there.
A series of atmospheric rivers, carrying vast amounts of water out of the Pacific, has ravaged the American west, which has been drought for years. Gargoyles are welcome to lakes and rivers that are afloat again, and to an entire region at risk of losing its water supply.
But because of the rain, the bees had to stay in the hive.
If Mr. Weiss’ swarms were doing very well during the winter, “the bees would die of starvation in the hive two months later,” he says. He also lost five hives.
“Beekeepers in Southern California aren’t used to really bad weather,” says Jay Weiss.
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When the April rains finally stopped, the California reliefs were adorned with fields of yellow, orange, purple and white flowers… A multicolored carpet visible from space.
It should have been a godsend for the bees, an endless supply of nectar and pollen to the delight of these insects and a very good vintage for honey lovers – but cells may remain empty this year.
However, meteorologist Joe Sirard would like to point out that cloudy weather is normal at this time of year – except there are usually sunny interludes.
“These are the two months that are the rainiest in Southern California from a climate perspective, which keeps temperatures mild,” he told AFP.
- Listen to the interview with Pierre Giovenazzo, Professor of Beekeeping at Université Laval, on Mario Dumont’s broadcast QUB radio :
An oceanic weather phenomenon “usually” brings clouds to the coast at night, which usually clear in the morning (and early afternoon), but sometimes they can remain throughout the day.
If this gray weather is forecast for the next few days, July and August should be sunny, the American Weather Service (NWS) expert assures.
Good weather awaits the bees, which can finally go in search of food. Jay Weiss, who fell into hives 20 years ago, hopes to recover nearly 45kg of honey per hive. He also plans to make soap, lip balm and other wax-based products with their signature scent.
The “super bloom” could “double our honey production this year,” he assures, if his little insects can use the ideal conditions: neither too hot nor too cold.
“In July, the temperatures could rise too much and (the bees) could not produce honey then,” explains Mr. Weiss. “I would say we have about six weeks until it works. »
“But, he continues, once they start producing honey, it’s at an incredible rate. »