Dearth

Definition

The midsummer gap in northern Europe and the dry season elsewhere. Colonies become defensive and robbing risk rises sharply, which is why beekeepers work quickly and keep honey covered during one. A landscape with one enormous flow and a long dearth after it can starve colonies that looked strong a fortnight earlier.

Honey records that discuss this

• Samar honeyStrong and resinous with a warm caramelised depth and a distinct dry-country character — more assertive than sidr and less floral.

Plant records that discuss this

• Cabbage palmA good summer nectar and pollen source, and a useful bridge across the southeastern dearth.

Bee records that discuss this

• Italian honey beeThe most widely kept honey bee subspecies in the world, and the golden-banded bee most people picture when they think of one. Italian bees were exported from the Ligurian valleys from the mid nineteenth century and now underpin commercial beekeeping across the Americas, Australasia and much of Europe — chosen for gentleness, prolific brood rearing and a strong disinclination to swarm.
• Carniolan honey beeThe second most widely kept honey bee subspecies, and the one most European beekeepers choose over Italian stock. Carniolans come from the eastern Alps and the Balkans, and they are adapted to a short intense season: explosive spring build-up, rapid contraction in a dearth, frugal winter consumption — and a swarming instinct that gives beekeepers more work than any other trait.

Guide records that discuss this

• Pollen plants explainedPollen is protein and it is what bee larvae are made of. A garden with abundant nectar and no pollen supports adult bees and produces no new ones.
• The bee year: three timetables running at onceA honey bee colony, a bumblebee colony and a solitary bee are on three completely different annual schedules, and advice written for one is frequently wrong for the other two.