Weather rules.

[Poly Hive]

Oh Aye,

while the hail stones rattle the windows just a wee heads up to the head strong who want to draw out foundation at this time of year and cause merry hell in the bees.

It's too bloody unpredictable. the weather that is.

Giving the bees too much space and work at this time is self defeating. On average that is. And if this is a strange concept the average is what you have to plan for, and just to prove it the weather is cold and wet.

On another forum there was a bit off a laugh at some comments on the weather causing spring dwindle. Oh aye?

PH

 

[jimbeekeeper]

spring dwindle. Oh aye?

PH

Is that like brewers droop?

 

[Poly Hive]

No Jim as the day after the droop the p*nis is still there.

Spring Dwindle leaves a dead colony.

I am surprised that this is such an unknown concept but perhaps it is more common in Scotland in the harder climates than here in the softer south.

PH

 

[Frisbee]

Hmmm - I came home last weekend after a weeks holiday to find glorious sunny weather and I read all the posts on here about what folks and their bes were up to, so I removed the insulation blocks in my hives and have now spent all week regretting it, but it's too cold and windy to put them back. I did leave the stuff in the roofs though and the temp is around the 9/10 mark, it's the wind which is so cold so they haven't been flying.

I hope I wasn't too premature.

Frisbee

 

[Poly Hive]

Leave insulation on all year please. it cools in summer and warms when needed. Which is to say most of the bloody summer.

PH

 

[Frisbee]

Leave insulation on all year please. it cools in summer and warms when needed. Which is to say most of the bloody summer.

PH

Are you serious? I made some frame size blocks from polystyrene with plywood on one side, keeping them in all year will reduce the brood box size of my already maybe too small Nationals, but I do see your point of view. Thee was only one hive where I actively reduced the interior dimensions as it was a late nuc. Are there good sound reasons for keeping the blocks in at each end of the hive, if I did it would I need to go to brood and a half or even 2 brood?

Or are you winding me up in despair of our dismal summers?

Frisbee

 

[OXFORDBEE]

It might be a dismal summer ..

However, the rape is really behind this year so there is hope yet!!

 

[Poly Hive]

Ah, I assumed you meant insulation ABOVE not dummies.

It might even be too early to take out dummies.

PH

 

[grizzly]

then how do you explain the fact that the undrawn, jumbo brood box i placed on a national two weeks ago is now drawn and full of brood ??
the same goes for the langstroth, that is also nearly entirely drawn and also contains brood in both boxes, top and bottom.

Sorry - its 3 weeks ago not 2.

 

[Poly Hive]

Very simple.

Hampshire.

Completely different climate. Try it here in the midlands or Aberdeenshire. I promise you utter failure.

PH

 

[Hivemaker.]

I would say that there are no fixed set of rules,there is great regional variation in climate,even from one year to the next. I have colonys down in the valley that are now double brood chambered,and some supered,yet only fifteen miles away out over them thar hills the colonys are far from ready for supers,few weeks behind the one's at lower levels,so is the amount of forage later. So you have to learn to judge these things to suit your area and strength of your bee's,and as i have said, this can vary in just fifteen miles. bee's i have near town are more advanced than the one's out in the sticks.

 

[Poly Hive]

Most striking example I saw was when my parents were away and I had colonies in their garden. Mine were idling one day and the next door neighbours hives were busy. Same strain of bee as mine but in a wee microclimate.

Amazing.

PH

 

[grizzly]

Thats what ive been saying for a long time, just because the weather is shite up north, and you are not able to do certain things yet, does not mean that a beekeeper in a wamer part of the country is wrong for moving ahead.

 

[Poly Hive]

Of course not but when generalising it pays to pay attention to location.

PH

 

[BKF Admin]

Theres a big difference today between my hives,although the WBC and Nats are about the same size the WBC bees are foraging 10-1 against the Nats.

I am sure its more to do with hive temperature rather than bee type.

 

[grizzly]

when i get bees onto my two other sites, it will be interesting to see the differences compared to my sheltered bunch.

 

[Poly Hive]

5 degrees C here at this post time.

PH

 

[jimbeekeeper]

it is O.7 deg c now and dropping, so 4.3 deg difference between my location and Poly's