Two lessons from beekeeping experience, worth a beekeeper's reference

For beekeepers in the south, autumn tea is also a major flowering period, with a long flowering season and abundant pollen. Foraging tea flowers requires preparing several tons of white sugar for incentive feeding, which at the same time neutralises the tea flower nectar. This allows pollen to be trapped and royal jelly produced in exchange for profit (main pollen-trapping areas do not produce royal jelly). When the tea flowers bloom, sugar syrup must be fed every day without interruption: first, to alleviate the problem of rotting brood; second, to boost pollen-foraging enthusiasm; third, because tea flower nectar is too alkaline, and without neutralising it with large amounts of syrup, the colonies will die in large numbers mysteriously during the winter.

So during the tea pollen stage, especially at peak bloom, you must not begrudge the cost; you must keep feeding syrup every day, and only stop when the late tea flowering period is about to end. By then the winter feed is already sufficient, and the colony can safely enter the overwintering period. If during the tea flower stage you feed sugar at the right time and in sufficient quantity, the bees' high sugar consumption foretells strong colonies and a guaranteed high-yield harvest the following year.

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This year the Chinese sumac (gallnut) flow was delayed by about ten days compared with previous years. Because the weather has been consistently good, although no honey could be extracted, the scattered nectar was still enough to build up sufficient stores, which by rights should be a good thing. But recently, after arriving at the tea plantation, whether sunny or rainy, the bees have been very industrious. No bees were seen flying at the neighbouring apiary, yet my bees were buzzing and flying busily just the same. It really seemed as if they were flying regardless of wind and rain, as if during a major nectar flow.

I discussed this with others, and they said that in the past they also had bees forage on Chinese sumac (gallnut) without extracting honey, and the bees were very excited too, because this honey has a very strong aroma. The honey combs inside must be removed, otherwise the bees, smelling this odour, cannot settle down. Even if they are killed by rain, they still fly out. So honey with a strong odour must never be left in the hive over autumn. Otherwise it really will drive the bees frantic to death!