Will someone tell the bees it's winter!

[Luminos]

Winter here, alright - minus 5C this morning

 

[Norton]

Here in Cyprus at 0800 it is just 3 C. In northeastern Greece it was -22 last night. And you thought it was all sea and sunshine in the eastern Mediterranean.

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

Well I think they might finally have taken the hint - high winds and rain yesterday and this morning wintry showers and sleet then snow this afternoon - freezing from about seven pm onwards - more wintry weather forecast for the next week - checked the hives at around midday when we had an hour of sun and only a few poked their noses out and went on an emtying flight, half an hour later, all quiet again.

 

[Chrisfnvs]

Bees very busy today taking in yellow pollen which i traced back to find them working the Camila`s which have been in flower for about two /three weeks now, all hives very heavy Chris

 

[Erichalfbee]

Read somewhere this morning that February is going to be cold with snow as far south as Devon possible............
The bullfinches are stripping the ornamental plum flower buds. They left the tree alone last year. Perhaps they know.

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

Sharp frost here this morning - sun nice and bright and shining on the hives but no sign of bee activity - they've obviously got more sense than me!
Met office very cagey about the outlook for the next few weeks but maintain it will be colder than average - we're not out of it yet.
Thirty years ago we had the heavy snows mid to late January - the year before it was February. in my recollection we've always had our severe cold weather in February or March (my mother remembers in the early sixties heavy snow mid April.)
Just thought I'd cheer everybody up!!

 

[oliver90owner]

JBM,

I remember in the early eighties, deep snow which hung around for the best part of a week. Roads blocked temporarily (snow plouhed) and it chopped my spuds off (some were over 200mm tall by then and it just killed the outside leaves of some - the stalks sprouted leaves again - and some at ground level) Mk IV Cortina days; they were not regarded as the best for traction, but we had to do a detour over the hills to get home (A47 - stationary traffic for miles). We got home OK, through some deep virgin snow, but, I recall, there were a lot that had a long night on the A47!

In the previous ten years, before the last two, we have had virtually no snow to speak of in our area (but we never get as much as elsewhere, in our neck of the woods.

Interestingly, it snowed (very, very briefly) in early June of '76 - the drought year - and then nothing until it flooded everywhere when it next rained.

In '63, snow lasted from December until April, but can't remember if it was 'topped up' in April, or not; a cold winter, that one.

RAB

 

[Monsieur Abeille]

JBM,


In '63, snow lasted from December until April, but can't remember if it was 'topped up' in April, or not; a cold winter, that one.

As I recall, it came quite late (London) - January perhaps? , and one lucky five year old had received a brilliant handmade sledge for Christmas which enjoyed extended outings on Hampstead Heath. Magic!

 

[The Cumbrian]

63 and 79 we had very heavy snow for a number of weeks (West Cumbria a couple of miles from the coast)

Late April 65 we had 18" in one afternoon the last few days of April (Still near Cumbrian Coast)

Then around 80/81 we had an 18" fall over here again the last few days of April

 

[Russel]

I don't know, what with sleet yesterday and white stuff visible on some of the surrounding hilltops, they're out and about again today?

 

[rink123]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winter_of_1962–1963_in_the_United_Kingdom

 

[Erichalfbee]

Oh I remember this. I was 12 and lived in Hertfordshire.
We woke one Sunday to find we couldn't open the front door and when my father finally managed it there was a wall of snow.

Sister and I played for days in it
There were stories and film of sheep being dug out of drifts,motorists buried and helicopters flying everywhere to rescue people and feed livestock.

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

Oh I remember this. I was 12 and lived in Hertfordshire.
We woke one Sunday to find we couldn't open the front door and when my father finally managed it there was a wall of snow.

Sister and I played for days in it
There were stories and film of sheep being dug out of drifts,motorists buried and helicopters flying everywhere to rescue people and feed livestock.

That would either be the 1981 or 1982 snows then i was about 13 - I remember my father and I walking from our house (in the middle of the village to our smallholding on the mountain to make sure the horses were all right. we called in our uncle's farm on the way for a warm and we looked like two walking snowmen. further on we were walking over a big bank of snow and i tripped - on the tip of a telegraph pole!

 

[Firefly]

Then around 80/81 we had an 18" fall over here again the last few days of April

Co-incidence! See my post #46: http://www.beekeepingforum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=15506&page=2&highlight=1981

 

[Erichalfbee]

That would either be the 1981 or 1982

Oh I wish .......alas the link is to "The Big Freeze" 1963

 

[protheroe]

i hope it stays cold for a couple of weeks,eight of my hives need moving to the top of my garden,but they have been active nearly every day for weeks,
i dont want to lose a large ammount of bees through flying back to the original site.the hives are directly in line with my neighbours gardens at the moment and a couple of people have been stung.giving honey keeps everyone
sweet,but i dont want to be in the same situation this year.i will place my hives out of sight and out of mind. flight path away from neighbours gardens

 

[MuswellMetro]

As I recall, it came quite late (London) - January perhaps? , and one lucky five year old had received a brilliant handmade sledge for Christmas which enjoyed extended outings on Hampstead Heath. Magic!

i lived in in a village just 5 miles from Luton, bedfordshire ,we were cut off for 10 days,....only problem was my mum was the school headmistress ,so i had lesson but no one else did

 

[rink123]

i hope it stays cold for a couple of weeks,eight of my hives need moving to the top of my garden,but they have been active nearly every day for weeks,
i dont want to lose a large ammount of bees through flying back to the original site.the hives are directly in line with my neighbours gardens at the moment and a couple of people have been stung.giving honey keeps everyone
sweet,but i dont want to be in the same situation this year.i will place my hives out of sight and out of mind. flight path away from neighbours gardens

Well I think we are in for at least a week or to of this cold spell , maybe more ? like I have said before winter is not over yet,a warm start a cold finish.
so You can leave them for a few days to get cold , then go for it move them

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

Oh I wish .......alas the link is to "The Big Freeze" 1963

That's why I have a piece of paper that says I'm an officer and a gentlemen

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

You should have just simpered and flashed your eyelashes!!!!!!!