Here in the plain of Kagamino, when the milk vetch flowers season comes to an end, it quickly becomes summer-like around the bee farm. Because of the exceptional mild winter, the advent of summer this year is earlier and it is very difficult to predict how the flowers of nectar source plants such as Kuroganemochi (Ilex rotunda), Soyogo (Ilex pendunculosa), and Haze (Japanese wax trees) are going to bloom. The number of worker bees has been increasing at a satisfactory rate since early spring and we are now in the peak of the honey collection period, which is the busiest time of the year for us.
We have been trying our best to increase the number of milk vetch fields by asking the farmers around the bee farm to sow more milk vetch seeds. However, we will probably never return to those days when we could see a landscape filled with "milk vetch fields stretching in all directions," a phenomenon which once brought us the real feeling of spring, for the following reasons:
With agriculture having become more efficient, they are no longer used as green-manure crop or as feed for feed. |
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The rice-planting season comes earlier due to the breed of rice. |
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Due to the fact that fields are now used to cultivate different crops, the fields are tilled for the new crop during the holiday season in early May when the milk vetch flowers have not yet come into full bloom. |
As a beekeeper, I'm very disappointed. Moreover, recently, we have come face to face with another significant problem.
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That's the harmful insect called Hypera postica, which is said to have spread from the imported feed hay. The insect eats the young leaves of milk vetch and is rumored to be spreading throughout Japan. Since this insect eats leaves before flowers bloom completely excluding the core, milk vetches in the fields are being wiped out. Beekeepers throughout Japan are worried that little progress is being achieved with measures to deal with the insect.
By the way, I sometimes get asked "Can't bees fly over to other flowers that are blooming during the same period?"
Surely, when milk vetch flowers bloom, dandelion and wild cherry blossoms bloom and even onion heads may bloom. However, here bees apply the principle of efficiency. It starts with the selection of flowers that bloom closest to the beehive. This is quite natural. Then, they give greater priority to flowers that bloom all around the hive like milk vetch flowers, than they do to flowers that are fewer in number. In addition, they select flowers with a higher sugar content, from among the different varieties of flower in the field. (The sugar content in the nectar differs with the flower type.) When making honey, honeybees have to boost the concentration of nectar with a low sugar content to about 80% by fluttering their wings to evaporate the water. Thus, they naturally select nectar with a higher sugar content to reduce the required work. When honeybees return to their beehive, they perform the 8-form dance to show other bees the location of the flowers. In this manner, they store honey made using the same type of flower.
Therefore, beekeepers place the beehives as close as possible to the flowers from which nectar should be collected. Still, it is not possible to completely prevent other types of nectar from being mixed in because it is a natural product, in contrast to industrial products. After all, the quality of the products is guaranteed based the judgment of the experienced beekeeper, who makes his or her evaluation by taste testing the honey from each of the collected cans.
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