Fields of OSR but no nectar?

[straightman21]

I put three hives in the middle of about 100 acres of OSR that has been in flower for the last three weeks. Plenty of stores put in the brood boxes but nothing put in the supers.
I've tried supers with new foundation, supers with drawn comb, tried putting a couple of frames of uncapped OSR in the supers to encourage them, all to no avail. There are no QE's inserted.
We don't get much OSR in these parts so no past experience to go by. A friend has a similar set up about 20 miles away and is knee deep in honey.
Views would be welcome.

 

[oliver90owner]

Temperature, strain and soil type could affect the amount of nectar produced, I would think, but the main difference might be strength of your colonies compared to those of your friend.

 

[johncorne]

I had 4 hives (to start with) on 200 acres of OSR last year - but the flowers came out as the weather changed....took hardly anything from the rape! Talking to a farmer, he said that the yeild was very low, and also that the plants had never stayed in flower so long!

Jc