Weather Affecting Bees and Honey
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West Tennessee has seen an unusually warm winter and spring this year, and it has not just caused flowering plants and trees to bloom early, but it has impacted bees as well. Local beekeepers said they have plenty of bees to work with this year. In fact, there are so many, some are giving away the ones they do not want. That is the case for Harold Puckett, who has been a beekeeper for more than 50 years. “I’d say it’s cheaper than fishing and hunting,” Puckett said. And this year, he is keeping just as busy as his bees due to the mild winter. He said he has about half a million bees – more than he had at this time last year – and he is taking two to three calls a week. “The latest one, I took a swarm of bees out of the garden center at Lowe’s south.” One of Puckett’s hives alone holds 60,000 bees, which can produce three gallons of honey in just 10 days. He said the bees got about a three-week head start this year. And right now is the best time for beekeepers to collect honey. If it is cold, “they have to block off the cold air, and consume a lot of what they’ve brought in just to keep the hive going, so that sets them back a little bit.” According to Puckett, because of the freeze earlier this week, it will take his bees about two weeks to get back to producing the amount of honey they had before. West Tennessee is also seeing a lot of pollen in the air right now, but Puckett said it has nothing to do with the bees. He said that pollen comes from trees. The kind bees collect, mostly comes from flowers.
