The cold, wet winter and spring has many beekeepers in the box ironbark areas of Victoria saying that this is potentially the worst season for many years. The reason given is trees have put all of their energy into new leaf growth . Some trees will not flower for another twelve months and so there is little prospect for honey production. Yellow gum ( E.leucoxylon) only flowered sporadically in spring and Yellow Box(E.melliodora) did not flower at all. Red Gum(E.camulflowered is flowering in patches and may yield a little. The main hope may be Grey Box(E.microcarpa) in the autumn if it starts budding soon.