Making Use of the Honey Flow

A honey flow (nectar flow, main flow) is the period when the honey plants in an area yield abundant nectar or honeydew and hives gain weight quickly. The year's honey crop is often decided in these few weeks, and there is little you can do during the flow itself; the real work begins 5–6 weeks beforehand. This page explains how to recognise a flow, how to prepare the colony, and what to do during and after it.

What is a honey flow?

In beekeeping, a "forage source" is a plant or group of plants that bees use to make honey. The main forage source is the one that provides the bulk of an area's honey crop in a given year (e.g. black locust, lime, chestnut, sunflower, cotton, citrus or pine honeydew). The period when this source yields abundant nectar or honeydew is called the honey flow.

The length and strength of a flow vary from year to year. Depending on temperature, soil moisture and rainfall, the same plant may yield plenty of nectar one year and little the next. That is why observation and measurement matter more than the calendar.

Why prepare 5–6 weeks in advance?

A worker bee emerges about 21 days after the egg is laid, then spends two to three weeks on nursing and building tasks inside the hive before becoming a forager. In other words, the bees that will carry nectar from the main source must have been laid as eggs about 5–6 weeks before the flow.

This single calculation shapes the whole logic of spring management: every measure that speeds up colony build-up (feeding, giving space, varroa control, swarm prevention) is planned by counting backwards from the flow. A beekeeper who waits to see the flowers before acting is already too late.

How can you tell a honey flow is on?

• Hive scale: The most reliable indicator. Seeing flowers does not prove there is a flow; daily weight gain does. Keeping even a single hive on a scale gives an idea for the whole apiary.
• White wax: Fresh, white wax built on the top bars and along the comb edges shows the flow has started.
• Entrance: Heavy, fast and steady traffic; foragers returning with swollen abdomens.
• Nectar in the comb: Fresh nectar glistening in the cells; liquid dripping when a frame is tilted.
• Evening smell and hum: At night bees fan their wings to evaporate water from the nectar; a distinct hum and smell of honey come from the hive.

Record your own area's forage calendar every year: which plant flowered when, when the scale started rising and when it stopped. A few years of records are the best tool for timing your preparation correctly.

Main forage sources and their seasons in Türkiye

The table below is only a rough guide; dates may shift by weeks depending on altitude, latitude and how the year unfolds.

How do you prepare a colony before the flow?

• Strong colony: When the flow starts, the brood box should be packed with bees and have plenty of capped brood.
• Young queen: A young, well-laying queen speeds up spring build-up.
• Low varroa: Treatment must be finished before the flow and before supers go on.
• Enough drawn comb: Supers and drawn combs are prepared in advance.
• Swarm prevention: A colony that swarms before the flow loses a large part of its foraging force; give space in time and split if necessary.
• Feeding: If there is a dearth, stimulative feeding is given before the flow, and syrup is stopped the moment supers go on.

What should you do during the flow?

1. Give space: When storage room runs out, bees slow down foraging and the urge to swarm increases. Add a second super when the first is three-quarters full.
2. Use drawn comb: Bees consume honey to draw out foundation; ready comb is filled straight away.
3. Inspect less: Every opening interrupts foraging; do not open hives unless necessary and keep checks quick.
4. Watch the scale: A falling daily gain signals the end of the flow.
5. Beware of crop spraying: During the flow, keep in touch with farmers and local authorities about spraying in the area.

The value of drawn comb

During a honey flow the most valuable asset is ready drawn comb. Producing wax takes energy, and that energy comes from honey; in short, strong flows (e.g. black locust) every day spent drawing foundation is honey lost. That is why experienced beekeepers store extracted super combs protected against wax moth and keep them ready for the next flow. If new comb has to be drawn, the best time for it is again at the start of a flow.

After the flow ends

As soon as the flow ends the picture changes: hive weight starts to fall, bees become defensive and a risk of robbing arises.

• Harvest: Ripe honey is taken off in good time; after the flow the bees may start consuming the supers.
• Entrance: Reduce it, especially on weak colonies.
• Exposed honey and comb: Never leave them lying around the apiary; work quickly.
• Stores: Leave the colony enough honey for the next dearth and for winter.
• Varroa: After the last super is removed, plan a mite count and, if necessary, treatment.

Multiple flows and migratory beekeeping

In some regions several flows follow one another in a season. The colony then has to be kept strong in the gaps between flows, prepared separately for each flow and harvested separately. Migratory beekeeping extends this logic: moving colonies to sources as they come into bloom in turn. Before moving, hives are securely strapped, entrances are closed in the evening, and at the new site the colony is given water and ventilation.