What did you do in the Apiary today?

[Beefriendly]

It's amazing how many people were caught out by normal seasonal weather last winter

The common denominator seemed to be hives that hadn't been properly treated for varroa the previous autumn. Meant winter bees where most likely compromised virally and parasitically so died prematurely.

 

[victor meldrew]

It was far from "normal seasonal weather", as most reasonable people would agree.

Clearly, you are one of those people who won't believe anything, even when you are presented with the evidence (as I have done repeatedly since I joined this forum), so I won't bother wasting my time trying to explain it to you.

Good luck with your bees. I wish you well.

I haven’t read all of your posts but those I have read don’t read as evidence but rather what you’d have us believe .
Evidence to me means peer read and approved !


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[B+.]

I haven’t read all of your posts but those I have read don’t read as evidence but rather what you’d have us believe .
Evidence to me means peer read and approved !

I'll give you the benefit of the doubt and not respond defensively. As you said: you haven't read all of my posts. If you had, you'd know that a summary of my data is published on www.beebreed.eu. It is reviewed by the supervisor of BeeBreed-NL (Prof E.W. Brascamp) as part of the authorization procedure.

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

It was far from "normal seasonal weather", as most reasonable people would agree.
Clearly, you are one of those people who won't believe anything, even when you are presented with the evidence (as I have done repeatedly since I joined this forum), so I won't bother wasting my time trying to explain it to you.
Good luck with your bees. I wish you well.

You seldom present evidence - just BS that suits your agenda.

Last winter was little different to any other winter.

 

[victor meldrew]

I'll give you the benefit of the doubt and not respond defensively. As you said: you haven't read all of my posts. If you had, you'd know that a summary of my data is published on www.beebreed.eu. It is reviewed by the supervisor of BeeBreed-NL (Prof E.W. Brascamp) as part of the authorization procedure.

I stopped at page one . Where every sub species of Honeybee has been hybridised almost out of existence !
Their words not mine .
Except of course Carnica [emoji848]


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[Beefriendly]

Except of course Carnica

Slovenia only legally allows Carnica bees to be kept, hence pure Carnica are the only legal bee in that country. Main bee type with designated isolated mating stations to maintain purity in many other countries including Germany.
....all other countries allow anything .....hence the potential hybridization and replacement warning for other sub species. Amm perhaps being one of the best know, for this country at least. Even the purest populations show introgression from other sub species.

 

[manek]

Re-united a nuc with the colony it swarmed from (hope they still recognise each other!), pulled the last of this year's crop and extracted it - it's draining now. Just five frames but all full and capped.

 

[B+.]

You seldom present evidence - just BS that suits your agenda.

I present lots of evidence but you need to understand its significance. Perhaps thats why you consider it BS.
In any case, the queens I mentioned were instrumentally inseminated as part of the Arista Bee Research VSH programme (NL-55-2-4-2017 x DE-6-198-35-2016) and are still undergoing initial testing. I'll repeat, and expand upon, that testing next year. A summary of the results will be presented in www.beebreed.eu

 

[Swarm]

It was far from "normal seasonal weather", as most reasonable people would agree.

In what respect? Temps were pretty average for most of last Winter, only really got cold in March and we've had snow in March before.

 

[Swarm]

I stopped at page one . Where every sub species of Honeybee has been hybridised almost out of existence !
Their words not mine .
Except of course Carnica [emoji848]


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To each their own agenda, VM.

 

[Zante]

Yay! I've now passed the rite of passage o be a proper beekeeper and hurt my back!

Seriously though, I was moving a full super and I must have lifted and twisted my back, and pulled a muscle or something.
In any case, the split hive is growing nicely. It has now completely filled the brood box (with bees) even if it appears that the queen isn't laying much. Pattern is nice though. I haven't been through all the frames, so there might be more brood than I've seen. The colony seems healthy, there is brood and they're nice and docile. That's good enough for me, they'll be left alone for a few weeks, until I need to check on them for winter preparations.

The other colony is nice and strong, but it seems to be foraging enough to feed itself and possibly a little more to put away, there isn't much of a flow, even with the recent couple of rainy days. Not entirely unexpected, and I'm happy enough they're not going through the stores. The flow will start again around September.

Looks like I will need to get that extractor I was eyeing...

 

[Stiffy]

In what respect? Temps were pretty average for most of last Winter, only really got cold in March and we've had snow in March before.

As has been said many many times on this forum, weather conditions vary considerably across the UK. You may well have had a ‘normal ‘ winter where you are but many had an exceptionaly cold one.
We ‘normally ‘ get half a days snow every 5-7 years but had snow on two occasions last year lasting days and unlike our ‘normal ‘ winters also had frosts which lasted more than the ‘normal ‘ few hours.
As normal my bees started brooding hard after the first snows and frost but many hives were caught out when the second unseasonably (for us) hard frost and snow took hold.
It was the fluctuation in temperatures that I believe caught some hives out, not the cold per se.
S

 

[Hivemaker.]

As has been said many many times on this forum, weather conditions vary considerably across the UK.

Yes, I agree. Spring here was about normal, which is windy, cold, rain,rain and more rain, snow over the hills and rain, it would be unusual to get anything different, like a nice warm dry spring.

Often over in the south east it is dry, warm and sunny in the spring, temperatures up in the high teens low twenties on days when here the temperature is down in single figures, but that is the normal for that area, so when there is a spell cold wet weather it takes that area by shock, nothing is prepared for it, hence the losses.

 

[Swarm]

We only seem to get extremes when it involves the south east. As Hivemaker said, 2013 following an awful 2012 was far worse.

 

[B+.]

We only seem to get extremes when it involves the south east. As Hivemaker said, 2013 following an awful 2012 was far worse.

My wife is a teacher. She was pulled out of a ditch by the police twice trying to get home from school and still didn't make it home. After 5 hours trying to get home she phoned me from a friends where she spent the night. At least she was safe there.
I'd say that was extreme.

 

[Hivemaker.]

I'd say that was extreme.

Extreme for your area, yes, but here, out over Exmoor that kind winter/spring is normal.

 

[Beefriendly]

Aye North York moors in winter is cannily similar. Here we have 4 wheel drive vehicles because they are a necessity most winters.
We often have inches of snow whereas you descent to the vale and it's rain. A bit of height makes an enormous difference.

 

[victor meldrew]

Extreme for your area, yes, but here, out over Exmoor that kind winter/spring is normal.

I had no water for 6 weeks after the birth of my second Child Jan 1963 ! Services frozen in the ground .
The winter carried on until June!
1947 was the year of the Snow!
Compared with these events , I consider most other years to have been average !


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[Angry_Mob]

Noticed the bees started working the heleniums, has a nice bright orange pollen which I see going into an odd hive.





Watering hole.



Borage.



HB looks to have slowed off a bit.

 

[Curly green fingers]

Aye North York moors in winter is cannily similar. Here we have 4 wheel drive vehicles because they are a necessity most winters.
We often have inches of snow whereas you descent to the vale and it's rain. A bit of height makes an enormous difference.

It's the same here it wouldn't be a winter without snow . Every 1000 ft you climb you lose 3 degrees in temp the temp can be 5 degrees in the valley and 0 at home .