Beemaster's International Beekeeping Forum
BEEKEEPING LEARNING CENTER => GENERAL BEEKEEPING - MAIN POSTING FORUM. => Topic started by: ooptec on November 13, 2007, 06:23:10 pm
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Hey,
Got eMail from North Dakota, actually not too far from me in Saskatchewan
They want to try and save them
I hope I can help and get a plan together that will. Just needed a little bit more info. from them to continue on.
Fascinating pics eh?? Industrious ladies
(http://img216.imageshack.us/img216/3049/bees4922ae3.th.jpg) (http://img216.imageshack.us/my.php?image=bees4922ae3.jpg)
(http://img118.imageshack.us/img118/6579/bees5922yb3.th.jpg) (http://img118.imageshack.us/my.php?image=bees5922yb3.jpg)
Cheers
peter
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Great pictures. I wish I could find somethinglike that.
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Is that two different colonies? How long they been there? I would leave them alone until spring time.
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You need to get thim in a box... Dont think they will make it through a North Dakota winter. Neat pics
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Why wouldn't they make it?
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I think they are in a place to open to stay out of the weather they get in the winter in north dakota. Snow , Ice , sleet, cold.. You think they could make it ?
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snow and rain cant get them and if they have the stores and not burn through them keeping warm they will be fine..... oh very nice pictures of a beautiful hive....
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Aren't bees Fantastic.I removed a hive just like that in Pasadena California a couple of years ago.
kirko
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I would be concerned also that the cold would get them. If they have a blanket of snow on them and they are not able to keep warm, how could they survive? I would leave them there but construct a box over the hive of course leaving an entrance. I would insulate the box. Come spring I would then do a transfer. My .02.
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I don't know why you could not get them in a box and they still make it.
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Something like JP suggested might work. Then hive them in the spring. I just dont think they will make it in the open area they are in. When I read all the posts about people in the north worrying about getting thier hives through the winter IN a hive It makes me wonder how they could possibly make it where they are hanging.BUT I've been wrong before. But dont tell anyone :-D
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They would make it because people haven't manipulated them.
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If they make it through winter like they are then their is no need to insulate, wrap, or wory about those other northern bees in the wooden hives.
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Contrary to what some might think, bees do not always choose perfectly. Sometimes they swarm too late for their own good and don't winter well and starve, and they don't always pick the best location to place their hive. Example, I have seen on several ocassions, hives set up on a side of a house that as summer progressed got increasingly warmer which made the combs melt, detach and fall, creating a mess of things, weakening the hive, inviting waxmoth thus leading to their demise.
Dallas, the two hives pictured have all the resources, most likely, to survive where they are to get them through winter, but they are exposed to the elements and this is why I would construct something over them to shield them, giving them the edge they just might need to weather winter, better. As for as removing them and doing a transfer, It is most likely too late for this as winter is coming very soon and doing this does not give them ample time to rebuild to the point of wintering strength.
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I think outdoor nests are usually not a plan but just what happened when they got stuck and couldn't find a suitable cavity. The bees, full of honey, start making wax, so they start drawing it so the queen starts laying in it and then they are stuck.
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Not to change the subject, but J.P., what is that icon? It reminds of me of something from Gumby.
But hey, freebies (or is that "freebees" :) )! How do you beat that?