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Offline neillsayers

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Hoping for an early spring
« on: February 14, 2019, 02:29:35 pm »
It was unseasonably warm yesterday and it allowed me to check my hives out. All six still have bees. One is really wimpy and I didn't see any brood,(possibly queenless), while all the rest have all phases of brood present. I gave them pollen sub and will be checking again in two weeks. :)
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Neill Sayers
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Online Bakersdozen

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Re: Hoping for an early spring
« Reply #1 on: February 14, 2019, 03:41:14 pm »
It was nice here yesterday and this morning.  The temperatures are supposed to drop tonight with snow moving in tomorrow.  I check 6 of my hives yesterday and added sugar bricks to 5 of them.  One of them wouldn't have made it another week with their existing food.  I have had to feed all of my hives all winter.  But, they are still here.
My records show that the silver maples started blooming on Valentine's day 2018.  The buds look like they are ready to pop, but it won't happen yet.
I am winter weary.
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Offline iddee

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Re: Hoping for an early spring
« Reply #2 on: February 14, 2019, 08:56:00 pm »
We have crocus blooming and red maple beginning to bloom. It's too early, tho. They will freeze. Our largest snows are in March.
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“Listen to the mustn'ts, child. Listen to the don'ts. Listen to the shouldn'ts, the impossibles, the won'ts. Listen to the never haves, then listen close to me... Anything can happen, child. Anything can be.”
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Offline neillsayers

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Re: Hoping for an early spring
« Reply #3 on: February 14, 2019, 09:48:01 pm »
Weather man is calling for some rough weather starting tomorrow. :sad:
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Neill Sayers
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Offline tecumseh

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Re: Hoping for an early spring
« Reply #4 on: February 15, 2019, 05:18:40 am »
we are  on to a warming and drying spell.  got to check 3 yards yesterday... fed all and collected up the dead equipment.  still most survive even with little to no beekeeper attention.  ever fill like a spare tire?

meanwhile in North California my wife tell me they got a 3 inch rain which means someone got flooded.  potential mud slides in any place that got burned last year.
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Offline Sour Kraut

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Re: Hoping for an early spring
« Reply #5 on: February 15, 2019, 04:48:05 pm »
55 here yesterday in the Flatlands of western IL ( 90 miles N of St. Louis MO)

checked the 6 that have made it so far here at home, all are OK, put Sugar Boards on all

Then out to the two east of town, sugar boards there too

Have one about 15 miles N, put new board on that about two weeks ago, even tho the old one hadn't been touched yet

about 20 degrees today and not much improvement til about the 25th, 'they' say  (who are the 'they' that always 'say', anyway ???)

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Offline Jacobs

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Re: Hoping for an early spring
« Reply #6 on: February 16, 2019, 07:57:15 am »
Red maple has bloomed here-our first major pollen producer and a trigger for brood build up.  I have had heavy losses this winter.  The survivors have been bringing in pollen at a steady pace.  One hive that is far stronger/more active than the others has some drones flying.  This is early and unexpected.  I don't know if it overwintered a few drones or if it is that much ahead of other colonies.  If we get a warm enough day in the near future, I would like to make sure that the queen is still producing worker brood and has not become a drone layer.
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Offline Mikey N.C.

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Re: Hoping for an early spring
« Reply #7 on: February 16, 2019, 08:51:39 am »
Helped a friend go into his 3 hives (lost 2)
Bee's were bringing in pollen like crazy, almost 70°f yesterday. Queen's in all 3 were up in second brood box laying really good patterns.  All 3 had hatched drones and capped drone cells on the bottom of frames. Question when in N.C. should we start making Queen's.  Sorry neil should have started new post.
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Offline Jacobs

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Re: Hoping for an early spring
« Reply #8 on: February 16, 2019, 09:48:53 am »
If you have drones available, the question becomes when are you going to have good stretches of sunny, 70+ degree F days for queen mating flights?  You may get some mated with cooler temperatures, but I think it would be iffy at best.
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Offline apisbees

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Re: Hoping for an early spring
« Reply #9 on: February 16, 2019, 12:11:15 pm »
We didn't get any winter weather till 2 weeks ago. down to -20C and more snow now on the ground maybe 6 inches built up over the last 2 weeks. I have noticed from year to year the average temp for the year will only fluctuate a couple of degrees. So if we don't get the winter weather when we should during the winter, them we end up with a long cold wet spring.
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Offline Lburou

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Re: Hoping for an early spring
« Reply #10 on: February 16, 2019, 01:50:30 pm »
Quote from: Mikey N.C. on February 16, 2019, 08:51:39 am
... Question when in N.C. should we start making Queen's.  Sorry neil should have started new post.
Sorry Neil, I'll take a stab at the answer here before we get back to the OP.

Not sure whether your question is 'when will drones be mature enough for mating' or 'when local queen mating weather will arrive in your area'?  If you are asking about drone maturity, Tecumseh showed me how to touch the thorax of a drone and lightly push it down to the comb...If he buzzes, he is mature enough to mate.  I believe queens prefer to fly in temperatures between 70-90 F. 

Of course, there are mating flights outside that range, but that range is optimal.  We had queen cells hatching in a NUC on 7 JAN this year, no brood or eggs or queen visible...yet on 23 JAN, there was a laying queen with a small circle of capped worker brood present.  We have had a mild winter, so, you never know.  :)
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Offline neillsayers

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Re: Hoping for an early spring
« Reply #11 on: February 16, 2019, 08:34:01 pm »
Don't worry about veering off subject as long as it all ties in to beekeeping in spring. I generally look for capped drone brood before I think about rearing queens. I realize they likely won't breed to my drones, it is just an indicator that drones will soon be available in the area. :)
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Neill Sayers
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Offline Lburou

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Re: Hoping for an early spring
« Reply #12 on: February 16, 2019, 10:37:49 pm »
Quote from: neillsayers on February 16, 2019, 08:34:01 pm
...I generally look for capped drone brood before I think about rearing queens...
If you have capped drone brood with purple eyes under the caps, (you may have to look early in spring), those drones will be mature by the time the larva you graft today is hatched and ready to mate.  If your drones are ready to mate, other drones in your area are probably ready to mate.  :)
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Lee_Burough

Offline Sour Kraut

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Re: Hoping for an early spring
« Reply #13 on: February 17, 2019, 10:19:37 am »
MORE freezing rain / snow etc here overnight (16th)..good butt-busting weather if you don't watch your step

There's NO traffic moving here this morning, guess the City Fathers figure 'it will be 35 this afternoon, why pay overtime?'

Supposed to gradually warm up to about 50 by Sat the 23rd, and mid 50's by Wed the 27th

Hope so, this winter has been one-after-the-other cycle of rain-freezing rain-snow

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Offline tecumseh

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Re: Hoping for an early spring
« Reply #14 on: February 17, 2019, 05:18:47 pm »
a Lee snip..
If you have capped drone brood with purple eyes under the caps, (you may have to look early in spring), those drones will be mature by the time the larva you graft today is hatched and ready to mate.

From work we have done at the TAMU lab we now believe it may take longer for drones to reach sexual maturity than we use to think..  I personally wait until I see a good population of drones in a good number of hives.  I have reached out to the local (basically much of central Texas) and the reports of live drones in hives is pretty spotty at this time.  The small number of hives I do see I suspect are not the kind I would want* for producing queens.  Consequently myself and the young lady (Liz Walsh who rears queens at the lab) will both put off queen rearing for about another week to 10 days.

*meaning I suspect those hives either have health issue or queen viability issues.

Gene in Central Texas...

 
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Offline Lburou

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Re: Hoping for an early spring
« Reply #15 on: February 17, 2019, 07:33:11 pm »
Quote from: tecumseh on February 17, 2019, 05:18:47 pm
...From work we have done at the TAMU lab we now believe it may take longer for drones to reach sexual maturity than we use to think.
  41-45 days from egg to maturity is commonly held, are you adjusting from those numbers Gene?
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Lee_Burough

Offline tecumseh

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Re: Hoping for an early spring
« Reply #16 on: February 18, 2019, 04:49:38 am »
Lee... how people count always makes me take off my hat and scratch the top of my head.  We use to think two weeks post emergence was enough time for a drone to feed up and gain sexual maturity.  We now seem to think that 3 weeks may be better and even this number becomes suspect if you have had poor nutrition or poor weather.  Likely other things effect sexual maturity...
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Offline Jen

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Re: Hoping for an early spring
« Reply #17 on: February 18, 2019, 03:02:44 pm »
I agree Tech, all that math puts bees in my head. So here is a very cool vid on how I check the drones for sexual maturity. And I did this myself last year. I have to admit I was a little embarrassed for the poor buzzing guy  :laugh:

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Offline tecumseh

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Re: Hoping for an early spring
« Reply #18 on: February 19, 2019, 06:49:04 am »
I am getting reports from the bird watching folks of species of birds showing up here 2 weeks early.  Saw an eagle at the lab two days ago.
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Offline iddee

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Re: Hoping for an early spring
« Reply #19 on: February 19, 2019, 07:11:50 am »
Crocus, yellow bell and bradford pear blooming here. Red maple has turned red. My eyes can't tell large buds or blooms.
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“Listen to the mustn'ts, child. Listen to the don'ts. Listen to the shouldn'ts, the impossibles, the won'ts. Listen to the never haves, then listen close to me... Anything can happen, child. Anything can be.”
― Shel Silverstein
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