The year 2019 was interesting. Although it is considered the warmest year in the history of measurements, and not only in Slovakia, in Orava it started with a mild winter and heavy snowfall. The last snow disappeared only at the end of March. All four colonies came through winter in good strength.
In April, nice weather prevailed, but it was still relatively cold, with ground frost almost every night. The first nectar appeared rather late. At the end of the month it looked promising, but May reshuffled the cards. On 14 May a few centimetres of snow fell. Fruit trees were in full bloom and most of them were ruined by frost.
This interruption is clearly visible in the graph. Hive weight kept falling until the beginning of June.
Drops in weight with a return to the original values show hive inspections and changes in the arrangement of supers, on 17 May, 3 June, 1 July and 29 August. Sharp drops without a return are honey extraction, on 7 July, 6 August and 18 August.
June was above average in temperature and dry, but the bees did well and brought almost 45 kg of honey in 25 days. July and August had balanced rainfall, fewer flowers, but humidity suited aphids. Fifteen kilograms of first-class honeydew in a month. The graph shows more, but it is necessary to take into account adding and removing supers.
In mid-August I started preparing for winter: reducing supers, the last extraction and feeding, 12 kg of sugar. What happened afterward is captured by the graph.
Related
Temperature development: A cold May with ground frost on 7 May and snow on 14 May. A hot and dry June, with temperature significantly above the local average at 20 °C. July and August were normal in both temperature and rainfall.