Beekeeping under climate change

[Michael Bush]

https://co2coalition.org

[AustinB]

In VA you can shovel snow in November or get a sunburn, so yeah we have a lot of 'climate change' here.
I was able to do some ice fishing a couple years back on a lake that I have never seen freeze before.

[Terri Yaki]

If I'm wrong, let me know and I'll go back and spend a little more time but I have this feature where I get judgmental at first glance and that website that is all green and has all that peripheral garbage moving around makes me click the 'X' in the upper righthand corner tout de suite. I was reading yesterday or the day before that, that TX panhandle was gearing up for a freezing. Oh, and on last week's Gold Rush, someone unearthed a pretty well preserved wooly mammoth calf. How did that get down there?

[The15thMember]

Let's try and keep this thread bee-focused if possible, everyone.  I understand everyone has their opinions on climate change, and everyone is welcome to voice their opinions, but if it gets too far away from bees or too political, we're going to have to move it to the Coffee House. 

[Lesgold]

Thanks for getting the thread back on track Reagan. Please don?t send it to the Coffee House as there could be some interesting points raised that would be lost in that section of the forum. If we go back to what Max was asking initially, there could be clever ideas presented in relation to dealing with hotter days and less reliable rainfall. Some initial thoughts that come to mind would be tackling overheating hive issues, reliable water supplies for bees, examining bee food supplies in relation to nectar and pollen sources. I?m sure that some members would have thoughts on these areas as well as other aspects of bee life that could be discussed in this thread.

[Kathyp]

one of my boys lives in AZ.  It's very hot and dry and to my surprise, there are quite a few beekeepers.  Water is a big thing.  Like most critters, if bees have basics like food and water, they can regulate their environment pretty well.  The hives I saw were not even shaded, although I don't know what is done in the hottest part of summer. 
They get a big bloom with the monsoon rains, but that does not last long so everything that is gathered has to be done in a short period of time unless there are irrigated crops around.

[Michael Bush]

Dee Lusby's father-in-law was telling me that when his dad moved all of their hives out of the valley where Tuscon is and moved them up into the hills they never made honey unless there was an obvious water source within a quarter mile.

[NigelP]

A lot is being able to react to the new variables in the weather. It's not all heat.
Lsat year in North Yorkshire, UK we had heavy rain practically every day during July (usually a peak honey gathering month).
Bees weren't flying and got through their stores and pollen in no time. Had to feed and add previously collected frames of pollen back to hives to keep them alive
Never had to do that in July before, ever.
A lot of nearby keepers lost a lot of colonies to starvation as they weren't on the ball.

[AustinB]

What you describe is weather.
This is different:
https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-67861954

I was being entertaining  I'm well aware of the manufactured crisis of "climate change." After 3 generations of family beekeeping it hasn't changed anything for us.

[Bill Murray]

"Honey yields in the U.S. have been declining since the 1990s, with honey producers and scientists unsure why, but a new study by Penn State researchers has uncovered clues in the mystery of the missing honey."

"The eco-regional soil and climate conditions set the baseline levels of honey production, while changes in land use, herbicide use and weather influenced how much is produced in a given year, the researchers summarized."

Just my opinion: I lost 2 outstanding gallberry yards last year due to the land being cleared. one for housing the other for a solar farm. The bees had been producing well for years.

[max2]

It is hitting most countries now.
Extreme in Asia.
I was in cambodia and the heat extremes  are affecting crops
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-03-27/climate-change-forces-female-students-out-of-the-classroom/103614742