Beemaster's International Beekeeping Forum
BEEKEEPING LEARNING CENTER => GENERAL BEEKEEPING - MAIN POSTING FORUM. => Topic started by: Beeboy01 on January 12, 2021, 10:02:10 pm
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Been keeping an eye on my hives by watching the incoming workers and over the last two weeks between the cool spells the girls have started to haul in pollen. Looking around I've spotted the maples budding out with some already starting to bloom. Yikes this is turning out to be an early start for the season. What's everybody's take on this year, is it time already for this season to start here in Florida? Checking my records I'm almost two weeks ahead of last year's maple bloom which caught me off guard.
Spent an afternoon in the shop over the weekend cleaning up and installing plastic foundation in four deeps of used frames. Planning to slowly move over to plastic foundation over the next two years. It was interesting to see the different ways I tried to assemble and nail the frames. Some were glued with Gorilla Glue and tacked with brads (didn't work) others nailed with different types of nails or stapled and glued, most needed to be re-nailed. Scraping and rebuilding old frames isn't one of those jobs I look forward to but it needs to get done. Still have to finish getting gear together for the new year but got a head start on it at least.
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Beeboy two weeks earlier for the maple bud is an eye opener. I can understand your surprise. I am not in Florida. 33 here at the present. So far I am not seeing a real difference in my area compared to last season. It will be interesting to see how the weather and nature reveals itself as time rolls along. With your heads up I will be looking for similar earlier signs.
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Beeboy,
I?m seeing the same thing. Bees bringing in maple pollen and ignoring sugar water.
Brood is building up.
Remember, December 22, winter solstice is the start of brood build up here in Florida.
Jim Altmiller
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I'v seen red maple bloom in late Dec. here in central Fl before
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Mine were bringing in pollen in central Florida. My supers got som wax moths this year so I did a lot of scrapping. Even froze them before storing them this year , what a mess
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You Florida beeks are killing me with envy. It?s like 25F in the morning with frost every day here in N Arkansas and you fellas, ya you Florida Beeks are talking about bees bringing in pollen. Don?t try to deny it, I read your post. Practically had tears of joy running down my checks until I look out my window and see frozen brown grass with barren trees everywhere.
So do an old fella, Me, a favor and post some pics of bees with pollen or pics of flowers. Any type of flower will enlighten me, put a smile on my face, until March when I see the real mc coy with my own eyes.
Thank you,
Van
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Mine were bringing in pollen in central Florida. My supers got som wax moths this year so I did a lot of scrapping. Even froze them before storing them this year , what a mess
What a mess is right! I had my first substantial encounter with wax moths past season. Had one stack of 4 clean supers filled with frames of good comb, which I was saving for the second flow. When I got ready to use these the top was stuck. Yes wax moths and a real mess. Even though I thought the frames were well sealed inside. Lesson learned....
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Starting to pickup here in Hawaii too. No flow yet, but pollen coming in in some hives. I've already been called out to remove two swarms since the New Year.
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We used to get two or three weeks of frosty and freezing weather which was great setting the blooms on a pear tree I have. The harvest has gone from three or four bucket of pears to just three or four pears each year. Seems like for this year I'm looking at a short cold period with a longer and cooler spring.
The only sure way I have found to keep wax moths out of stored supers is to use paramoth crystals every month or so and air them out before putting them on my hives. The boxes I had to clean up were from lost hives that got taken over by wax moths trashing the comb which isn't a fun job.
I'll try to get some pictures of the pollen coming in posted just to help all you northern beeks get through the winter.
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Starting to pickup here in Hawaii too. No flow yet, but pollen coming in in some hives. I've already been called out to remove two swarms since the New Year.
Two swarms already?!?! Good for you, I wanna work with my bees too, but I have to just sit and wait for warm winds: March or April for me. Until warmer weather? I?ll just keep reading about you beeks in warmer climates with my envy. Every year, about this time, reading post on BeeMaster, I experience Apis Empathic Syndrome or AES, I call it. Don?t worry, I?ll be fine in Spring. Keep posting: swarms, pollen, flowers, I adore the post. Yes, BEEBOY, post pics please.
Blessings
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It was January 15 last year when red maple bloomed in middle Georgia. I watch impatiently for what will happen this year.
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Van, I tried to get a couple of pictures of pollen coming in but the girls took offense to having a cell phone stuffed in the entrance of the hives and I had to make a hasty retreat. Need to break out a better camera over the weekend. Shop day today, need to paint wax on all the plastic foundation I worked on this week then on to repairing and painting some boxes and lids.
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How's this, Beeboy?
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The above photo was at 2pm today. I imagine it is dandelion pollen they are bringing in, although I see nothing blooming around my house.
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Nice picture Bob, lots of activity with that hive. :)
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Oh my, thanks for the pic Mr. Wilson, inspiring on this cold windy snowy day. BEEBOY, thanks, but don?t get stung.
Cheers
Add, I see about 8 bees with heavy pollen sacks, just beautiful.
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Bob, fantastic shot lots of pollen. I'm jealous have about 8 weeks before I see the bees active in this neck of the woods.
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Hi Bob
Dandelion in Australia is more orange than yellow, not sue about US dandelion.
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Hi Bob
Dandelion in Australia is more orange than yellow, not sue about US dandelion.
Hello Mr. Beavo. Same with the US; dandelion pollen is very orange colored. There is a blonde pollen in my area that produces the lightest, color 10 honey. I have yet to positively identify the source but I believe it is wild plumb.
Cheers
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Here in the South Plains of Texas we still have a lot of winter to go.
Hives ready for spring expansion, though. Can't wait!
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I?ve noticed pollen being brought in on days warm enough for bees to fly. I had a chance to get into my hives late last week on a warm day and all appeared to be doing fine. What really surprised me was seeing drones in one hive. I thought it was pretty early for them as winter isn?t over yet.
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I have capped drone cells in Middle Georgia.
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Calling for low 80's mid this week so I'm going for an inspection on all the hives. All the hives are bringing in pollen and cranking, ought to be fun.
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Lastfling
some of our hives that winter exceptionally will have drones in them, We consider the presence of drones as an indicator of a hive that never went into any stress running into winter, so they weren't thrown out.
We have also collected migrating drones at almonds (August) from hives that have come from warm areas that don't really have a cold winter. These are handy as they allow us to make early splits with confidence that the new queens will mate OK.
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My first blossom is usually my Winter Aconite at about St. Valentine's Day. It will even poke up through a light skiff of snow. Silver maple is usually only a couple weeks behind that, 1st week of March. Crocus comes soon after that.
https://www.bhg.com/gardening/plant-dictionary/bulb/winter-aconite/
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Hops, crocus is our first bloom, in February with frost, but not enough for the bees as I have about 10 plants. Winter Anconite??? I have to google that one.
Old Beavo, that is a good tip: drones represent a healthy, unstressed hive.
BEEBOY, Bob W. You fellas still are killing me with envy,,, capped drone brood, 80F,,, in my dreams. All I need is SawDust, Jim, to elicit a vocabulary of tropical weather like conditions and I moving. Say no more, I am cold and wearing a down jacket with net heavy cap while you southern beeks in short sleeve and tanning oil taking care for surplus frames of honey, pic enclosed, due to active honeybees, more pics, are most likely mowing your lawns then watering the garden. My bees are still clustered, not even warm enough for elimination flights. Not a crocus flower in sight, this end of January in N Arkansas.
OK, I ranted, thank you for putting up with me. Seriously, I adore reading about the warm weather, active bees, pollen, flowers...
Signed; Mr. Chilly.
Add. winter anconite: looks like a good low bush flower for bees. Hops, are all the blooms yellow?
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Old Beavo
Thanks for the insight regarding drones. Knowing I have at least one unstressed hive is good news !
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Van,
I spent the afternoon helping my brother pull 12 gauge power cable through 60? of conduit and hooking up power to a shed in his yard. We were all in T shirts and inside the shed with the door wide open, it was very hot.
😃
Jim Altmiller
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Of course, the flip side in middle Georgia is dearth and searing dry heat from June 1 onward.
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I went through and assessed 9 hives yesterday and yes I was sweaty when through. Some had an excellent textbook brood pattern, some mediocre and one definitely needs requeening. No drones.
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It's supposed to be 60F here today. It won't last though, it'll be cold again by the weekend.
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Got the inspection in this morning, the weather is cloudy and in the mid 70's with the girls flying a little. All the hives look good with two showing a lot of open honey coming in, maybe from the maples that are in full bloom. One hive was a little aggressive and had a good number of small hive beetles present so I added some traps. Started to move a 3 high nuc tower three feet at a time to it's permanent position before transferring it to a double deep. It was a late August nuc that looks like it's finally taking off and should be a good honey production hive this year. Only at four hives right now but hoping to expand to six. Here we go again !!!!
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Gonna go thru mine on wed I?ll let you know on the drones, we normally start splits on Valentine?s Day so will see what happening in my side of florida
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Hops, crocus is our first bloom, in February with frost, but not enough for the bees as I have about 10 plants. Winter Anconite??? I have to google that one.
Old Beavo, that is a good tip: drones represent a healthy, unstressed hive.
BEEBOY, Bob W. You fellas still are killing me with envy,,, capped drone brood, 80F,,, in my dreams. All I need is SawDust, Jim, to elicit a vocabulary of tropical weather like conditions and I moving. Say no more, I am cold and wearing a down jacket with net heavy cap while you southern beeks in short sleeve and tanning oil taking care for surplus frames of honey, pic enclosed, due to active honeybees, more pics, are most likely mowing your lawns then watering the garden. My bees are still clustered, not even warm enough for elimination flights. Not a crocus flower in sight, this end of January in N Arkansas.
OK, I ranted, thank you for putting up with me. Seriously, I adore reading about the warm weather, active bees, pollen, flowers...
Signed; Mr. Chilly.
Add. winter anconite: looks like a good low bush flower for bees. Hops, are all the blooms yellow?
Yes, they're all yellow. They will slowly propagate themselves by seed. I planted all mine as tubers. They ain't a bush, but individual plants that like to grow close together. I don't usually get more than a couple bees on them but last spring they were all over it.
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Gonna go thru mine on wed I?ll let you know on the drones, we normally start splits on Valentine?s Day so will see what happening in my side of florida
Well drones and capped drones in central Florida
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Gonna go thru mine on wed I?ll let you know on the drones, we normally start splits on Valentine?s Day so will see what happening in my side of florida
Well drones and capped drones in central Florida
Nice!!! What are your temperatures?
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Gonna go thru mine on wed I?ll let you know on the drones, we normally start splits on Valentine?s Day so will see what happening in my side of florida
Well drones and capped drones in central Florida
Gorgeous pics of capped brood. Enlightenment while I look outside at the pretty white stuff. Thank you for the pics,
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Hops, crocus is our first bloom, in February with frost, but not enough for the bees as I have about 10 plants. Winter Anconite??? I have to google that one.
Old Beavo, that is a good tip: drones represent a healthy, unstressed hive.
BEEBOY, Bob W. You fellas still are killing me with envy,,, capped drone brood, 80F,,, in my dreams. All I need is SawDust, Jim, to elicit a vocabulary of tropical weather like conditions and I moving. Say no more, I am cold and wearing a down jacket with net heavy cap while you southern beeks in short sleeve and tanning oil taking care for surplus frames of honey, pic enclosed, due to active honeybees, more pics, are most likely mowing your lawns then watering the garden. My bees are still clustered, not even warm enough for elimination flights. Not a crocus flower in sight, this end of January in N Arkansas.
OK, I ranted, thank you for putting up with me. Seriously, I adore reading about the warm weather, active bees, pollen, flowers...
Signed; Mr. Chilly.
Add. winter anconite: looks like a good low bush flower for bees. Hops, are all the blooms yellow?
Yes, they're all yellow. They will slowly propagate themselves by seed. I planted all mine as tubers. They ain't a bush, but individual plants that like to grow close together. I don't usually get more than a couple bees on them but last spring they were all over it.
👍
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Gonna go thru mine on wed I?ll let you know on the drones, we normally start splits on Valentine?s Day so will see what happening in my side of florida
Well drones and capped drones in central Florida
Nice!!! What are your temperatures?
been high 80, have a cold front tomorrow gonna be in 40 over night then back in to the 68-70 Thursday and friday
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Gonna go thru mine on wed I?ll let you know on the drones, we normally start splits on Valentine?s Day so will see what happening in my side of florida
Well drones and capped drones in central Florida
Gorgeous pics of capped brood. Enlightenment while I look outside at the pretty white stuff. Thank you for the pics,
Thank you this hive had 7 frames in multiple stages, really happy with the start of these queens, were my fall OTS queens,
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You Florida beeks are killing me with envy. It?s like 25F in the morning with frost every day here in N Arkansas and you fellas, ya you Florida Beeks are talking about bees bringing in pollen. Don?t try to deny it, I read your post. Practically had tears of joy running down my checks until I look out my window and see frozen brown grass with barren trees everywhere.
So do an old fella, Me, a favor and post some pics of bees with pollen or pics of flowers. Any type of flower will enlighten me, put a smile on my face, until March when I see the real mc coy with my own eyes.
Thank you,
Van
I hear you Van. We were in Ft Walton a couple of weeks ago and I've long thought about buying an acre of two somewhere in the state, and wondering how far down you have to be to start early. But even I didn't think they started this early. We will have another month of winter (TN mountains) then the valleys will typically break, then ~10 days later blooms will be out here. Chomping at the bit.......
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Got a surprise today, opened my hives and found that they are pretty much honey bound with some of the shallows loaded with capped frames. Ah heck, looks like I'm doing an early extraction tomorrow just to give the girls a little room, go figure. Never had to extract this early and am thinking the honey could be from Red Maple which has been in bloom for about three weeks.
Going to pull out my big old beast of a Kelly reversible extractor made in 1960's and spin what is capped. Probably will only get two or three gallons but it's the first time I've had a Red Maple honey crop so it's worth a try.
Yeah, It's time Already. :)
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> Going to pull out my big old beast of a Kelly reversible extractor made in 1960's and spin what is capped. Probably will only get two or three gallons but it's the first time I've had a Red Maple honey crop so it's worth a try.
>Yeah, It's time Already. :)
Wow! Yep in Port Orange FL. Congratulations .......
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Ben, On a regular year I'm not even scheduled to go into the hives till the end of the month. Got burned last year with the early warm weather and am trying to adapt. At last count I have about two dozen full sized Red Maples on my property and an easy twice that in the wooded lots within walking distance.
One of the local commercial guys who really knows his stuff said to keep an eye out for a Red Maple crop in mid February, guess he knew what he was talking about.
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Ben, On a regular year I'm not even scheduled to go into the hives till the end of the month. Got burned last year with the early warm weather and am trying to adapt. At last count I have about two dozen full sized Red Maples on my property and an easy twice that in the wooded lots within walking distance.
One of the local commercial guys who really knows his stuff said to keep an eye out for a Red Maple crop in mid February, guess he knew what he was talking about.
Yes he did. Those guys are well worth paying close attention too.
I was expecting a colder than usual winter here, so far so good. Still, nothing like what you are experiencing there. Time will tell. Wishing you continued success.
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I just saw my first pollen pants of the season! :happy:
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Had an interesting day in the yard or more like a good morning pulling a few frames and extracting them. Ended up with only eight shallow frames worth extracting but remember I was only working three hives today so it was worth it. The honey has a totally different flavor when compared to the usual wild flower or palmetto that comes as my first crop. It's thick, medium light in color and actually tastes like bubble gum, go figure. Not sure if I'm going to use it in my coffee, that might be pushing it too far but I'll add it to the unique flavors of honey I've been lucky enough to taste so far in my lifetime.
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You Florida beeks are killing me with envy. It?s like 25F in the morning with frost every day here in N Arkansas and you fellas, ya you Florida Beeks are talking about bees bringing in pollen. Don?t try to deny it, I read your post. Practically had tears of joy running down my checks until I look out my window and see frozen brown grass with barren trees everywhere.
So do an old fella, Me, a favor and post some pics of bees with pollen or pics of flowers. Any type of flower will enlighten me, put a smile on my face, until March when I see the real mc coy with my own eyes.
Thank you,
Van
I hear you Van. We were in Ft Walton a couple of weeks ago and I've long thought about buying an acre of two somewhere in the state, and wondering how far down you have to be to start early. But even I didn't think they started this early. We will have another month of winter (TN mountains) then the valleys will typically break, then ~10 days later blooms will be out here. Chomping at the bit.......
I know exactly what you mean by chomping at the bit... currently in my area, glazed icy roads m, schools closed, will not see above freezing temps for at least another week. Lows 4F with a high about 28F for a week, then hopefully this winter storm will pass and above freezing temps will prevail.
BTW, I looked at the world temp map: Florida from 70F to 65F for a mean temp. So, I am going to be experiencing 6F and sawdust, Jim is going to be 70F. Yep, you Florida beeks still have my envy for sure. Give me 8 more weeks and my bees a flying with pollen.
Member, thank you so much for the pic. Pics of flying bees are enlightening to me as I look outside to see ice everywhere. Watch your step.
Health to all.
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Looking for a little snow or ice here tomorrow nite.
This is a little more par for the course for those who aren?t in Florida.
(https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20210211/9eb6b3f6b2b9551c6cdc6ce63addf0f6.jpg)
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I miss a wood burning stove they make a house so nice when it's cold outside.
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Made 4 splits from my production Hives and did the OTS on them. Got 9 more to split but they are easy 5 over 5 nucs that I over wintered this year, also set up a new yard , knock on wood has been a great start.