“The month of December was quite good at the beginning with moderate cold between -5 and 0 to 5 ° C”, replaces Frédéric Perchat, beekeeper in Villette-lès-Dole.
But since Tuesday, the thermometer panics with more than 11 ° C in the department, constantly rising, the sweetness has even reached the mountain this weekend.
“From 0 to 10 ° C the bees do not move, they remain grouped in the hive, continues the honey producer. Unfortunately with the warming of temperatures, they came out. I even saw the first bees come home with hazelnut pollen, which normally happens from February. Of course it was just a little bit, but that means the hazelnut trees are budding and it’s not very good. “
“I saw bees outside, it is not possible, it is not the normal weather, laments Julien Guyon, beekeeper in Bréry. With 12-13 ° C, they come out, whereas it is not before the beginning of March usually. “
2021, annus horribilis for honey
The two beekeepers recall that this sweetness comes at the end of a year already catastrophic for their activity. “We feared for the colonies because they permanently lacked food”, replaces Frédéric Perchat. “I hope not to relive this year 2021 when the bees were completely crazy, they did not know where to go,” describes Julien Guyon. I have collected honey once in the whole year, whereas usually it is 5 or 6 times. “
Small production also for Frédéric Perchat, in the northern Jura: “Around 1.5 to 2 kg per hive, whereas last year it was over 40 kg. This new activity in December is not reassuring either. “The bees are active in the hive, whereas they should be kept around the colony without moving, unrolls the North Jura beekeeper. We have to watch because they need calories. As far as I’m concerned, the food is sufficient, but if it lasts, they will run out. “
After a devastated year, Frédéric Perchat underlines that “the bees did not arrive in great shape in winter, we have small colonies. The risk is that they no longer have enough energy to keep the temperature high in the hive in order to keep the queen warm ”. He therefore plans to intervene in the apiary in the near future: “We are going to start putting candy for bees, a soft sugar that they will draw on according to their needs. “
The two professionals want a return to normal in 2022. “In 2021, France was hit with a production of 7,000 tonnes against 20,000 tonnes usually. “While at the same time” the consumption of honey remains strong “.
Heat record broken in Dole
It’s a heat record half a century old that was broken this Thursday in Dole. The thermometers showed 15.5 ° C at the best of the day against 15 ° C on December 30, 1961. Still far from the absolute heat record for a month of December (17 ° C on December 5, 2006).
“Thursday was the hottest day of the month,” confirms Stéphane Nedeljkovic, forecaster at Meteonews. It is part of the warmth observed for a good week. It is the high pressure which channeled a flow of hot air from the Maghreb to France and it does not move much. This mildness should however cease from Wednesday with a return to a scenario more in line with the season: morning frosts and no more than 5 ° C for the maximum in the plains.