The honey flow is the short period when nectar runs strongly. Most of the year's yield is determined in those few weeks, and very little can be done during them — the real work is done beforehand.

The five-week calculation

A worker needs about three weeks from egg to emergence, then another week or two to become a forager.

The bees that will work the main flow were therefore laid as eggs roughly five weeks before it.

This single calculation governs the whole logic of spring management. A beekeeper who acts on seeing the flow is already late.

Knowing the flow

• Write your own calendar. Record year by year when each plant flowers in your area
• Use a scale. Seeing flowers does not mean there is a flow; an increase in weight does
• Note the weather. The same plant yields differently in different years

Before the flow

• The colony must be populous and healthy
• The queen must be young and laying well
• The mite level must be low
• Enough drawn comb must be ready
• The colony must not have swarmed

The last point is critical: a colony that swarms before the flow loses half its foraging force.

During the flow

• Give space. When there is nowhere to store, the bees slow down
• Do not open too often. Every inspection interrupts the work
• Use drawn comb. Ready comb is filled directly; foundation costs energy
• Watch the weight. The scale tells you when it will end

The value of drawn comb

During a flow the most valuable asset is ready drawn comb. Producing wax takes energy, and that energy comes from honey.

After the flow

The picture changes the moment the flow ends. Weight begins to fall and the risk of robbing appears.

• Harvest in good time
• Reduce the entrance
• Leave no comb in the open
• Leave the colony sufficient stores

More than one flow

Where there is more than one flow in a season the colony must be kept strong through the gaps and prepared separately for each.

Migratory beekeeping is an extension of this logic: moving colonies to forages as they open in turn.