Weather Lottery

[rockdoc]

Well, there we were basking in a pleasant 16c yesterday, so on with the QX's and off with the mouse guards. Today just over 7c!! That's what you get for living on the south east fringe. Cold fog today and tomorrow by the looks of it,

 

[Erichalfbee]

QX on. Does that mean you've supered?
Ne'er cast a clout till the May is out .....works here.( change clout for super)
4 years ago we had snow at Easter.

 

[mexbigshow]

we've had dense fog all week late at night and all the way until about dinner time then its been hitting 16/17 degrees set to hit 19 tuesday

 

[chalkie]

22c yesterday day and 23c today here on the costa del wigan

 

[Finman]

.
I arm my hives according worst weathers in Spring when colonies are small.
In Summer hives are big and take care themselves.

.

 

[Hivemaker.]

QX on. Does that mean you've supered?
Ne'er cast a clout till the May is out .....works here.( change clout for super)
4 years ago we had snow at Easter.

So you won't be supering until the first of june.

 

[MuswellMetro]

So you won't be supering until the first of june.

can be near any oil seed rape, can he....it was over here by by the end of may

looks like the June gap will start mid May if the drought keeps up

 

[Hivemaker.]

can be near any oil seed rape, can he....it was over here by by the end of may

Can't be near anything much...and the rape will be over by the end of april here,flowering now.

 

[Erichalfbee]

So you won't be supering until the first of june.

The May refers to Hawthorn not the month of May.
Hereabouts the Hawthorn is out beginning of April.

 

[Hivemaker.]

The May refers to Hawthorn not the month of May.
Hereabouts the Hawthorn is out beginning of April.

Thank goodness for that,i was worried you may not have many bees left in your hives to super.

Seems it can mean either.

Q: An old English saying goes, "Never cast a clout until May is out." Does that refer to the month of May or to May blossoms?
A: "Ne'er cast a clout 'til May be out" refers to the month. Clout is from an Old English word for cloth or clothing, and the saying was a reminder not to be too quick to shuck the winter woollies(warm clothing) before the chilly days of May were over.

 

[Stiffy]

'out' means the flowering has finished in this part of the country.
S


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Erichalfbee]

Perhaps the Darling Buds of May should be April what with global warming and all that.

 

[Hivemaker.]

Perhaps the Darling Buds of May should be April what with global warming and all that.

Yes maybe,the forcast is for snow in Scotland next month.

 

[rockdoc]

I guess it is a salient lesson in jumping too soon. I, and I suspect others, may have begum to do things a little too early.
As per my OP, I had wintered on super+BB. All my colonies had started to lay in the super hence on with the QX after making sure HM was downstairs. Of course now she is in danger of being left in the cool as the workers seek to keep brood warm in the supers. At least there re stores spread between supers and BB.

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

QX on. Does that mean you've supered?
Ne'er cast a clout till the May is out .....works here.( change clout for super)
4 years ago we had snow at Easter.

The May refers to Hawthorn not the month of May.
Hereabouts the Hawthorn is out beginning of April.

The may has been out in his area for at least two weeks - just come back from there last Wednesday

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

I guess it is a salient lesson in jumping too soon. I, and I suspect others, may have begum to do things a little too early.
As per my OP, I had wintered on super+BB. All my colonies had started to lay in the super hence on with the QX after making sure HM was downstairs. Of course now she is in danger of being left in the cool as the workers seek to keep brood warm in the supers. At least there re stores spread between supers and BB.

Had this discussion yesterday in the convention - the consensus (SBI and RBI) was at the moment if you isolated the queen from the brood the nurse bees would cluster on the brood (as is their wont) in the super and the foragers would keep the queen warm in the brood box

 

[rockdoc]

Thank you for the peace of mind.

 

[Into the lions den]

Yes maybe,the forcast is for snow in Scotland next month.

Yes, and the March dates, despite some of the OSR coming into flower, and the thought of a typical April, is why we have done NONE of the following up here yet.

Broken comb
Checked brood
Marked queens
Spring fed
Moved bees
Supered bees

The deep foreboding (and near certainty) that its all about to go 'tits up' on us is a very cautionary instinct.

 

[itma]

...

The deep foreboding (and near certainty) that its all about to go 'tits up' on us is a very cautionary instinct.

"Doomed, we're all DOOMED, Captain Mannering"

Some national stereotyping can be both accurate and weather-related ...

 

[Into the lions den]

"Doomed, we're all DOOMED, Captain Mannering"

Some national stereotyping can be both accurate and weather-related ...

lol..............but for sure this is a false dawn, at least for the north, and too much interference, too much head space given, and there will be problems caused by it. Still best to hang off for a bit.

Having said that........on Saturday in Aberdeendshire (eat your heart out PH) near Inverurie, where I was guest speaker for the local BKA on Saturday, I spent the morning investigating our bees locally.........and found some with sealed brood in 8 bars. Poly langs. Brood in 8 is not the same as 8 of brood however, as the whole back half of each frame was still full of stores, and pollen bars being set up against the side walls, large tracts of new pollen, enough to last quite some time when the weather closes in again.