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Message: <blockquote data-quote="markypoo" data-source="post: 13535" data-attributes="member: 36"><p>Hi all. We puchased an 8ha block of land in Springvale, Central Otago several years ago. We have built and I am developing a small orchard. We moved down from Timaru and I transferred my hives down several years ago. Conditions down here are a little more extreme than South Canterbury, but I was familiar with dry summers and cold winters. We get a very good spring flush of clover and thyme. But when the norwesters start in early december, it can be like a blowtorch and the paddocks can go from lush green clover to brown and dessicated in a few days. We then get a very good viper's bugloss flow over summer.  I border a very large vineyard (MCArthur Ridge)This past season was extreme, with an exceptionally dry, windy late spring and  a hot dry summer. Rainfall much lower than the normally low levels. I did not bother to harvest much honey, taking only about 10kg and leaving the rest for the girls. Lucky I did as they have required a lot of feeding in autumn. I want to catch the clover flow early this year, and want to stimulate my bees with syrup in order to have them near full strength say mid October. I am uncertain of the timing of when to start this. Can anybody help me with how soon I would need to start and what sort of amounts I would be looking at using? I am not worried about the potential hassle of hives wanting to swarm as I am more than happy to split strong ones and build up my hive numbers. I treat with OA staples, and have never used synthetic miticides in the 8 years I have been owned by bees.</p></blockquote><p></p>

Verification: What type of honey is New Zealand famous for?

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