Bee health

[Mikey N.C.]

Found this interesting.
 https://www.ecowatch.com/honeybees-good-bacteria-2561242307.html

[LazyBkpr]

I always get nervous when I read;

   we therefore believe    AND   Donkersley further theorized


    Gardens and flower beds in cities can often outnumber the native plants. 60% of the houses in my small town have flowers of one type or another, and nearly 40% of those houses maintain a garden...   The biodiversity found in TOWN is WAY higher than the biodiversity found in the corn and bean fields that surround the town...
   However, thre is also the question of what types of chemicals have been used on the flowers and gardens....    catch 22...

[Mikey N.C.]

I basically live in a forage desert,  early necter and pollen flow , from hardwoods. 
After mid June there isn't much as I'm learning.  Soybean an corn doesn't help.
Just makes me wonder if spray and nics. drift to wood lines,  on the hardwoods ?

[LazyBkpr]

Yep, anything sprayed is bound to drift. Roundup, 24-D etc, etc... Nics don't drift too much. Bees get some from the blooms... Almost none at all from beans, but I have seen the bees gathering corn pollen from the fields, which i am sure puts a percent of those nics into the hives. 

[neillsayers]

I enjoyed that article, Mikey. Thanks. It was encouraging to me since I live surrounded by thousands of acres of hardwoods.

[Jen]

interesting article Mikey. We live on the edge of urban, so we get city plants and trees in addition to the back hills of hardwood trees and manzanita and buck brush. Pretty diverse.

However, a couple of weeks ago I was helping a fellow new beek with her overwintered hive. She lives in a forest of oak trees. When we opened the lid there was an overpowering odor of fresh wet bee poop. Turns out that it could very well be that the bees got into what is called 'Oak Honeydew', which contains ash, which give honeybees the runs.. And boy did it! Tons of poop everywhere. I don't know what this mean to beeks in the oaks, like should they expect bouts of diahhrea? Beats me ~ shrug. What a shame if you live amongst the oaks, and love bees, but they will get sick.

[Riverrat]

interesting article Mikey. We live on the edge of urban, so we get city plants and trees in addition to the back hills of hardwood trees and manzanita and buck brush. Pretty diverse.

However, a couple of weeks ago I was helping a fellow new beek with her overwintered hive. She lives in a forest of oak trees. When we opened the lid there was an overpowering odor of fresh wet bee poop. Turns out that it could very well be that the bees got into what is called 'Oak Honeydew', which contains ash, which give honeybees the runs.. And boy did it! Tons of poop everywhere. I don't know what this mean to beeks in the oaks, like should they expect bouts of diahhrea? Beats me ~ shrug. What a shame if you live amongst the oaks, and love bees, but they will get sick.

 honey dew is secreted by a aphids not produced by the trees.  Aphids will feed on the tree and secrete a wet sticky sweet substance that attracts honey bees in the same manner nectar does

[CBT]

This may be a reason for the improvement of hives when probiotics are given to restore gut health. It works.

[Bakersdozen]

Diversity in diet is key.  A beekeeper can't always control what goes on in someone else's property, but if there is a diverse source of food available for our honey bees, the odds are in the honey bee's favor.  Also, better quality nutrition, as not all pollen sources are created equal.
Mikey, I don't know your situation, but if you are surrounded by hardwood trees and can plant a tree or two on your own property I would do it.  A tree is an very efficient source of nectar.   Another consideration would be providing nectar sources in the fall.  Asters, golden rod, sunflowers, etc are less efficient but will give your bees nectar for winter stores. Many shrubs provide summer blooms.
Les posted a great video here. https://worldwidebeekeeping.com/forum/index.php?topic=7514.0  It a video of a beekeeping arborist and he talks about trees.