Friday, February 17, 2012
Monday, February 13, 2012
Better Weather Ahead?
So we have finally gotten some cold weather, actually we even got some snow! I went east this weekend to my parents house in New Kent and noticed the maples seem to be about a week ahead of my house in Buckingham… Not unusual, they seem to be a week ahead of me anyway with the blooms…
Looking forward I noticed the temps are pretty stable around 30’s at night and 50’s in the day over the next 2 weeks. That’s not bad, especially when you look at the average temperature being 42 deg over that 2 week period and the fact that bees are at their most efficient between about 40-45 deg F. So that means (or should mean) that my bees should stay pretty efficient during the majority of the 24 hours , but have the ability when temps reach near or above 50 for those few hours in the day to move around and shift food around as needed…
Of course this all assumes the bees don’t have too much brood and freeze themselves to death trying to keep the brood warm…
So in the end, things seem on track this year, maple bloom around mid February, mild near seasonal temps, and hives so far still living…
Could things change? Yes, of course its mother nature and VA Feb/March anything is possible. But IMO if we get through the end of Feb with mild/good temps and I keep an eye on the feed in the hives everything should be just fine.
I have already placed pollen patties on the hives to help feed brood and most still have (or did have) fondant on them. Honestly they could use another 5 lb round of fondant, but instead of ordering that I believe I am going to open feed with buckets using a new method a friend of mine in Mass. shared with me. OPEN FEEDING VIDEO
Many folks are against open feeding, for good reasons. For example, fighting can occur, drowning, transfer of disease (another argument sometime), and could start robbing.
I have open fed before but not to my satisfaction due to high levels (maybe not that high) of dead bees. But this is all putting a “float” in an open bucket… I also was over crowding the feeding space. Allen Dick in Alberta once told me 10 hives per 55 gallon drum, what your looking for is the feeding area. So I figured it up to be 2.5 hives per 5 gallon bucket… I like the idea and it would mimic the foraging for nectar just fine. But I would need 24 buckets to feed my 60 hives… Maybe it would be easier to feed individually? Maybe not? I haven’t decided yet…
So anyway, keep checking those hives and feeding them if needed, in my case I am feeding to stimulate growth, health, as well as keep them alive just in case they run out. Remember Late Feb and March is when most beehives starve!!!
Looking forward I noticed the temps are pretty stable around 30’s at night and 50’s in the day over the next 2 weeks. That’s not bad, especially when you look at the average temperature being 42 deg over that 2 week period and the fact that bees are at their most efficient between about 40-45 deg F. So that means (or should mean) that my bees should stay pretty efficient during the majority of the 24 hours , but have the ability when temps reach near or above 50 for those few hours in the day to move around and shift food around as needed…
Of course this all assumes the bees don’t have too much brood and freeze themselves to death trying to keep the brood warm…
So in the end, things seem on track this year, maple bloom around mid February, mild near seasonal temps, and hives so far still living…
Could things change? Yes, of course its mother nature and VA Feb/March anything is possible. But IMO if we get through the end of Feb with mild/good temps and I keep an eye on the feed in the hives everything should be just fine.
I have already placed pollen patties on the hives to help feed brood and most still have (or did have) fondant on them. Honestly they could use another 5 lb round of fondant, but instead of ordering that I believe I am going to open feed with buckets using a new method a friend of mine in Mass. shared with me. OPEN FEEDING VIDEO
Many folks are against open feeding, for good reasons. For example, fighting can occur, drowning, transfer of disease (another argument sometime), and could start robbing.
I have open fed before but not to my satisfaction due to high levels (maybe not that high) of dead bees. But this is all putting a “float” in an open bucket… I also was over crowding the feeding space. Allen Dick in Alberta once told me 10 hives per 55 gallon drum, what your looking for is the feeding area. So I figured it up to be 2.5 hives per 5 gallon bucket… I like the idea and it would mimic the foraging for nectar just fine. But I would need 24 buckets to feed my 60 hives… Maybe it would be easier to feed individually? Maybe not? I haven’t decided yet…
So anyway, keep checking those hives and feeding them if needed, in my case I am feeding to stimulate growth, health, as well as keep them alive just in case they run out. Remember Late Feb and March is when most beehives starve!!!
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