Are your bees snowed in?

[victor meldrew]

Still no snow in Wigan

John Wilkinson

 

[YorkshireBees]

-11.5 this morning!
No more snow foretasted so far.

Managed to get to my hives last night to check on them!

They look fine, wax capping debris on th floor under each hive.

 

[Gardenbees]

I think this is good winter weather for bees: quite dry and crisp, nice and cold, very few pests on the prowl, and a chance to do what they do best i.e. a tight cluster and steady honey-munching.

I'm more worried about the possible effect of a sudden change to unseasonably mild weather after this cold snap, esp. if it gets very wet as well.

Meanwhile, my stupid crocuses are all growing up and starting to develop buds. I hope this doesn't mean they're going to flower at Christmas and bypass my "early spring pollen" idea. Never tell your garden your plans.....

 

[blackbrood]

no snowing today. had a little rain though and generally been warmer than the last few days.

 

[Queens59]

All our snow has gone

 

[trapperman]

raining here for the last couple of hours.

 

[winmag270]

here in staff's the bees were flying this morning at the association apiary

one hive was "clearing out the dead" onto the snow, interesting to watch

 

[jezd]

A few of our hives in the white stuff..

 

[user 382]

A few of our hives in the white stuff..

Idea Christmas card pic you got there

 

[drstitson]

snow

and to think only 2-3 weeks ago we had blossom (ok a single flower) on a (confused) pear tree.

 

[Erichalfbee]

We have masses of Mahonia blooming which was being worked by the bees two weeks ago. Now the blue tits are eating the flowers

 

[madasafish]

Not snowed in but very cold

-11C last night again

 

[Erichalfbee]

Nice hives

 

[MuswellMetro]

SNOW at last

well, just been up to check the fondant and at last North london has had some proper SNOW

 

[Queens59]

At last so do we...somewhere in a very untidy fruit cage exists a wild WBC...

 

[blackbrood]

in Wakefield, Yorkshire we had 1/2 inch on Friday night and it has been freezing ever since.

 

[madasafish]

Above I said =11C overnight.
At 6pm tonight it's -9C with a lovely clear sky and a gibbous moon..

 

[MuswellMetro]

well same here,minus 10c and my italains girls are not used to it,

i have lost one hive and another beek on the site has lost one this week so in total 20% loss ,though the one i lost was expected as it got robbed out by hornets and demoralised too late to combine, the other beek's loss was starvation already

its always sad to see them all dead on the floor, i tried clear the entrance of the dead with a bent coat hanger and they just kept coming, bagged them up and binned them not wishing to attract Mr Woody with a feast of 10,000 bees

 

[Gardenbees]

Sorry to hear that, MM - not a good winter for vulnerable colonies.

My apiary thermometer was at -7C this morning, very low for Gloucestershire. There's only an inch or so of snow here (Stroud), although there's loads elsewhere in the county. A new scattering of dead bees were cleared out yesterday but not too many. I heard a fairly determined buzz from both hives when tapped, and there was a nice honey smell at the entrance. Hives are starting to feel light though: not good, before Xmas. I've never used fondant except once in a particularly bad Feb/March period, but this evening the fondant pan has been dusted off again.

I can't currently travel to my relatives' for Christmas, and haven't got all their pressies anyway, but at least the bees will have a visit from

 

[Rosti]

We thought about keeping all the snow for ourselves but uncharacteristically for Yorkshire folk we decided to share with you southerners - no honestly, don't mention it!

The snow has missed York this time but still very cold (circa -4'C). A enjoyable wander to the hives confirmed all is well, stethascope returned a comforting light buzz from all hives, no woody attacks, no evidence of mice. Lifted the entrance guards and cleared some dead bees from each OMFs to maintain ventillation. A post clear-out re-check confirmed the slightly more indignant buzz that you' expect!