Most of my hives are set up in a rural location just outside St. John’s, Newfoundland, on the edge of a field that fills with a flowering plant called Comfrey in July.

I’m not around the bees much, so I never really see them in action, but apparently they were all over the Comfrey while it was in bloom.

For July, August and September, and sometimes as early as June, such a variety of flowering plants come into bloom around St. John’s that honey bees rarely experience any significant nectar death.

There might be a week or two in mid-August when the Fireweed becomes less abundant and there’s not much nectar for the bees to choose from, but even then, there’s always something around, and it’s not long before the Golden Rod comes into bloom everywhere you look. Honey bees are more defensive during nectar dearths, but my bees don’t seem to get grumpy until the last of the Japanese Knotweed dies off in late September. Considering that St. John’s has some of the dreariest weather in North America, the climate is remarkably hospitable for honey bees. Who’d have thunk it?