Year without a Summer?!?!

[TooBee...]

If you look at this Link on Wiki you will quickly learn what the "Year without a Summer" was, in 1816.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Year_Without_a_Summer

Basically a volcano erupted and Summer in Europe had freezing temperatures! Look at the map, if you don't want to read the article.

My question:
How many of the beehives wild and domestic (skeps) would have been able to survive as the beekeepers wouldn't have been able to feed them throughout this looong winter?

Basically, what happened to the bees?

 

[coffindodger]

Something I've wondered about. The year before had heavy rain across Europe so unlikely that there would have been vast reserves of stores if beekeeping was as in recent times. The only conclusion (IMHO) is that wild bees had built up very large stores over many years and were able to survive on those. It must have affected other pollinators too, but no record on fruit crops in years after.

 

[TooBee...]

...The year before had heavy rain across Europe...

Yes, I too have heard that the year in which a large eruption occurs can quickly cause extremes in weather across the world in a matter of weeks, with the full force (ie: no summer in this case) starting to occur in six months, none of which is good for the bees!

I've been told repeatedly that bees need at least 20 kilos of honey stores going into a normal mildish / wettish winter here in Ireland, to enable them to see through the 3 to 4 months, but if you go here
https://www.currentresults.com/Weather/Ireland/temperature-january.php
you will see that our average low temp. is not even in freezing territory! How much more would our bees need if we had day AND night with freezing temps.?

It would need to be a very large tree cavity, a very healthy colony and unknown to very hungry humans, very unlikely - remember it's going to take them a few years to build up the stores.

How much stores would they have needed, say 10 kilos per month; a very poor 1815 summer followed by winter starting in Nov. 1815 and lasts until Feb. 1817, that's 16 months, 160 kilos, is that possible for a wild hive to collect and store, did we have tree cavities in the country that big?

 

[Angry_Mob]

The map on the wikipedia suggests that "1816 summer temperature anomaly compared to average temperatures from 1971–2000"

So the average summer temp for the UK in 1816 was approximately -2.6°C to -1.4°C lower than our summers in 1971–2000.

 

[coffindodger]

Well, some very large nests have been found, but "and unknown to very hungry humans," is a factor I'd not taken into account - though I doubt people in 1816 were as slow as I am.

 

[Finman]

.
Now you only need so big colony, that it can store forage 160 kg honey into the hive ehich can have only 20 kg honey.
.
In those days colonies filled one skep and then they swarmed. They left behind 10 kg honey.

 

[REDWOOD]

I wonder if they had to pay volcanic tax on a bag of coal

 

[For want of a better word]

If you look at this Link on Wiki you will quickly learn what the "Year without a Summer" was, in 1816.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Year_Without_a_Summer

Basically a volcano erupted and Summer in Europe had freezing temperatures! Look at the map, if you don't want to read the article.

My question:
How many of the beehives wild and domestic (skeps) would have been able to survive as the beekeepers wouldn't have been able to feed them throughout this looong winter?

Basically, what happened to the bees?

BECAUSE.... In Northern Europe the endemic bee was Apis mellifera mellifera the Dark European honey bee... and they are frugal with their winter stores... and it seems volcano proof!

Guess it was warmer around the Mediterranean sea?

Yeghes da

 

[Finman]

BECAUSE.... In Northern Europe the endemic bee was Apis mellifera mellifera the Dark European honey bee... and they are frugal with their winter stores... and it seems volcano proof!

Guess it was warmer around the Mediterranean sea?

Yeghes da

That makes sense. And Napolen was sent to Saint Helena to cool down 1816.

Finland was taken away from Sweden and connected to Russian empire.

.

 

[Podilia]

That makes sense. And Napolen was sent to Saint Helena to cool down 1816.

Finland was taken away from Sweden and connected to Russian empire.

.

In 1708 Moscovia defeated Sweden and allies near Poltava after the severe arctic winter when Sweden army lost half of the soldiers. Very significant battle for the Moscovian history because there the Empire started its expansion.

Many slavic chroniclers wrote about unstable and extreme climate in the early mediaval era and later. Cold winters, summer droughts, floodings and pests caused famine, epidemics and many other unplesant things.
As for beekeeping we know that bees in cavities often had honey of previous seasons so they could survive during a bad year. It was feral bees in big trees. Apiaries - logs and "private" trees had less chances to survive. I have not read in any sources that beekeepers (better call them bee robbers) fed colonies. In the beginning of the 19 century Petro Prokopovich described his method of feeding with honey syrup. He even bought additional honey for this purpose. Many decided his was crazy to waste honey (money) for bees. But he saved hundreds of colonies when others lost all.

 

[Beefriendly]

It was colder than most British summers. Crops might not have matured and failed, but plants did flower and bees could fly . No doubt some perished, evidence suggests many survived.

 

[Ian123]

It was colder than most British summers. Crops might not have matured and failed, but plants did flower and bees could fly . No doubt some perished, evidence suggests many survived.

maybe they just imported a few more hives

 

[Beefriendly]

Alas, we didn't realise how crap our native bees were until about 150 years ago when we first imported bees to the UK. Previously to that, we exported them...we were the EMPIRE....

 

[Ian123]

and realising how wonderful our bees are they are in wide spread use across the new world to this very day

 

[Beefriendly]

lol...

 

[For want of a better word]

Alas, we didn't realise how crap our native bees were until about 150 years ago when we first imported bees to the UK. Previously to that, we exported them...we were the EMPIRE....

Not quite so... imported along with pineapples, etc etc as a curiosity by the landed few who had 99.9% of the wealth of the "Commonwealth" and could afford to keep exotics !!

Fortunately the poor cottagers who depended upon their skep colonies to bring a little sweetness into their own desperately miserable lives... hung onto the native bees!

Then BA stumbled upon hybrid vigour!

Nos da

 

[Beefriendly]

Fortunately the poor cottagers who depended upon their skep colonies to bring a little sweetness into their own desperately miserable lives... hung onto the native bees!
a

Not sure fortunate is the right word here...IDIOTS might be more correct.

 

[oliver90owner]

How much stores would they have needed, say 10 kilos per month; a very poor 1815 summer followed by winter starting in Nov. 1815 and lasts until Feb. 1817, that's 16 months, 160 kilos, is that possible for a wild hive to collect and store, did we have tree cavities in the country that big?

WHAT?! Completely WRONG! Our bees do not need more than 1-2kg per month in the winter months, while clustered. I don’t know where that ‘myth’ of 20kg comes from - or is it just exaggerated bovine excrement to try to make a point?.

True, we reckon to feed for around 20kg, but not for the time while clustered. At 10kg /month, very few of our colonies would survive until the new year, let alone the whole winter! Do give just a little sensible thought to your posts!

Who said the previous summer was a bad one? Who said that winter arrived then? Sub species of bee was much different, true. Much less human intensive farming then? Overnight frosts would not have killed off the hardy flora, unlike what we have left these days. No weedkillers to decimate flowering plants in large areas of arable crops like we have now. Low temperatures would have reduced spring build-up and colonies would have not been so big - but they did not require feeding for the winter, like keepered hives - they would ‘cut their coats according to the size of the cloth’ as the saying goes.

Yes, they would have taken a severe hit that summer and the following winter, but would have bounced back as soon as the weather improved, just as the flora would have done - with far fewer humans to disrupt them. I would expect them to have returned to reasonable levels within about 5 years, or so. It was the human population that starved by relying on a potato crop - a non-indigenous plant - that was not adapted for those conditions.

Think about it a bit more and do leave out the exaggereation.

 

[For want of a better word]

Not sure fortunate is the right word here...IDIOTS might be more correct.

I do not think our forefathers were idiots.

Poverty of the workers in the 17th 18th, 19th and right up to the 20th century among the farming population of the UK have been well documented.

Importation of exotics at that time was the domain of the rich few.... now any unthinking Tom **** or Harry Beekeeper can import should they wish to do so!

The loss of a species [ or potential loss] is not something to be celebrated.

Comment from the usual quarter is merely the usual trolling I suspect

 

[Ian123]

"Importation of exotics at that time was the domain of the rich few.... now any unthinking Tom **** or Harry Beekeeper can import should they wish to do so!"

so its ok for the rich to do it and you are calling the average working man unthinking....shame on you