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BEEKEEPING LEARNING CENTER => GENERAL BEEKEEPING - MAIN POSTING FORUM. => Topic started by: Moots on January 25, 2014, 01:41:13 am

Title: A chilly day down south!
Post by: Moots on January 25, 2014, 01:41:13 am
Ok....I know for you Northern folks this is laughable...but in Southern Louisiana, this is a rare event!

This cold snap closed schools today as well as shutting down interstate 10 and countless bridges!

Hoping my little ladies are staying warm tucked away inside their hives.   :)

(http://i1311.photobucket.com/albums/s664/jeffrobert41183/Bees/bb9085e7-0fa1-4ac2-8d4a-5bd55ca0a76b_zps1f4a52e7.jpg)
Title: Re: A chilly day down south!
Post by: BeeMaster2 on January 25, 2014, 06:23:37 am
Wow. I have never seen an icicle on my hives.
Jim
Title: Re: A chilly day down south!
Post by: GSF on January 25, 2014, 07:10:32 am
I've seen them on the inside walls around the entrance.
Title: Re: A chilly day down south!
Post by: Dr. B in Wisconsin on January 25, 2014, 09:56:10 am
Up here in the real icebox in Wisconsin we dont call them an icicle untill they are the size of a baseball bat, I have seen them 5 to 10 feet long on houses. Time to man up down there LOL. Next week down to minus 22 F without the wind chill. Why do I live here ???
Title: Re: A chilly day down south!
Post by: Joe D on January 25, 2014, 10:12:41 am
One of the reasons they closed I-10 was there was a 27 car pile up because of ice.
Dr. B, I have wondered that myself. ha ha
It will bee over in a few weeks and spring will come again.



Joe
Title: Re: A chilly day down south!
Post by: bud1 on January 25, 2014, 10:22:10 am
dr,b them some tough little old sawed off suckers; try liviing in a 100+ temp wid 98 humidy and a cloud of nats you can hardly see out of with the mosqutos doing the dive bomming  that's south louisiana
Title: Re: A chilly day down south!
Post by: PLAN-B on January 26, 2014, 02:49:31 pm
speaking of the cold from two days ago--- today is 61 degrees and then its supposed to be cold again this up coming week... today the girls are bringing in tons of pollen, but does this hurt them as far as burning energy to soon and running through stores? I have made a decision to feed today and am not sure that is the proper thing i should be doing. Have never fed them before although this is my first winter. What is the general consensus with this.... Sry for hijacking your thread moots.
Title: Re: A chilly day down south!
Post by: Moots on January 26, 2014, 09:49:36 pm
speaking of the cold from two days ago--- today is 61 degrees and then its supposed to be cold again this up coming week... today the girls are bringing in tons of pollen, but does this hurt them as far as burning energy to soon and running through stores? I have made a decision to feed today and am not sure that is the proper thing i should be doing. Have never fed them before although this is my first winter. What is the general consensus with this.... Sry for hijacking your thread moots.

B,
Hijack away... :-D Glad to see you spending some time on the forum.  

I have no idea what's the "right answer', but my game plan is to not feed...Unless I see something that makes me think its absolutely necessary.  I was getting a little panicked a couple weeks ago thinking they were low on resources and took a peek in a few of my hives. I was pleasantly surprised, they had plenty of honey...and as you said, they're bringing in pollen.  So, for now, I'm letting them do their own thing....We'll see what happens! Fingers crossed!  :laugh:
Title: Re: A chilly day down south!
Post by: PLAN-B on January 27, 2014, 12:01:19 pm
Thanks moots... I did put a couple of feeders out, but they wouldnt touch it. Guess they had to much pollen to bring in and could care less about the feeders. If they are bringing in plenty pollen, should i also assume they're also bringing in nectar or is there nothing producing nectar yet? sorry if that seems like a silly question...
Title: Re: A chilly day down south!
Post by: BeeMaster2 on January 27, 2014, 12:16:43 pm
B,
I weighed (lifted up the back side of the hive) all of my hives yesterday. One was real light. I placed a medium super of capped honey just above the brood chamber and moved the 95% empty that was above it, on top of full one. It was too cold to mess with the bees. Opened it, switched them around and closed it up. Next cold day I will remove the empty super. If I didn't have that full super I would have to feed that hive real soon. That is something I try to avoid. Adds too much moisture. If I have to I will probably use dry sugar above the brood box. That way they are only using it for food and not storing it.
Jim
Title: Re: A chilly day down south!
Post by: Bush_84 on January 27, 2014, 12:18:34 pm
My thermometer read -23 this am.  Not sure what the wind chill was. 
Title: Re: A chilly day down south!
Post by: Moots on January 27, 2014, 12:37:00 pm
My thermometer read -23 this am.  Not sure what the wind chill was. 

Yeah...I want no part of that! :lau:

They're saying we'll get down to 28° tonight and 24° tomorrow with a wintry mix and possibly some snow.  My guess is we'll have another day or two of school and road closures.  :)
Title: Re: A chilly day down south!
Post by: Dr. Cricket on January 27, 2014, 04:25:28 pm
You don't have to tell me about the cold. We're feeling it here in South Florida as well. I almost thought about covering up my screen bottom boards when the temperature hit a blisteringly cold temperature of 39 a few days ago. Brrrrrrr!

:)

Title: Re: A chilly day down south!
Post by: S.M.N.Bee on January 27, 2014, 07:53:05 pm
My wife tried to talk me into moving to northern Minnesota once. I told here it was too cold there. It was only -14 degrees here this morning.

John
Title: Re: A chilly day down south!
Post by: PLAN-B on January 28, 2014, 01:27:31 pm
John it looks like you might have lost that argument.... :lau:
Title: Re: A chilly day down south!
Post by: sc-bee on January 28, 2014, 06:50:10 pm
Sleeting here.... snow on way 2-4 inches. Hopefully it will hold the bloom back that will be a good thing.
Title: Re: A chilly day down south!
Post by: buzzbee on January 28, 2014, 07:01:55 pm
To all you southern folk, a hat like this helps:    :-D :-D :-D


(http://imageshack.com/a/img802/1339/h2vu.gif) (https://imageshack.com/i/mah2vug)
Title: Re: A chilly day down south!
Post by: Joe D on January 29, 2014, 12:10:21 am
WE got mostly sleet today, an inch or so and then some snow on top.  On I 59 there is a pile up with 9 -18 wheelers and a few cars.  another on hiway 49 with 18 wheeler and cars.



Joe
Title: Re: A chilly day down south!
Post by: rjmeyer on January 29, 2014, 07:29:54 am
Moots...you would look good in a hat like that..probably be the envy of the neighborhood..lol
Title: Re: A chilly day down south!
Post by: AllenF on January 29, 2014, 09:49:45 am
Atlanta is closed from snow and ice today.  Had a friend yesterday was to my house to borrow my 4 wheeler just to go 20 miles and get his woman.   Then about dark I took the RZR out to go get my wife.   Georgia got hit hard.   The weatherman blew this one as the snow was suppose to be way south of us.  I just feel for the hundreds of kids that had to sleep at their schools last night. 

Title: Re: A chilly day down south!
Post by: Moots on January 29, 2014, 11:48:25 am
Moots...you would look good in a hat like that..probably be the envy of the neighborhood..lol

hey rj,
I'm thinking I could pull off the look...  :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: It does look WARM!  :)

Schools and most businesses were closed yesterday and today...I'm not sure we're going to reach high enough temps long enough today for the roads to deice, looking like the region might go for the hat trick and keep things shutdown through tomorrow....We'll see! 

As I said, this isn't the norm for us and the area just isn't equipped to deal with it.  Hope my southern bees in their hive are dealing with it better than the general public!  :laugh:
Title: Re: A chilly day down south!
Post by: sc-bee on January 29, 2014, 12:18:09 pm
Yea with the liability I don't look for schools to open tomorrow, already on a delay. It ain't the snow it's the black ice.
Title: Re: A chilly day down south!
Post by: 10framer on January 29, 2014, 12:31:29 pm
i just walked my hunting dog and the roads are still iced here.  i talked to a neighbor out in butler last night and it hadn't done that much out that way at about 9 last night.  i'd like to go out there today but i'm not about to drive 60 miles one way in this.  hope everybody stays warm.
Title: Re: A chilly day down south!
Post by: Variable on January 29, 2014, 03:55:10 pm
I feel for you all on the East coast. It is a balmy 54F with heavy rain here today. Has been cold in the mornings at just below freezing with fog most of last week but has been in the mid to upper 40s throughout the day. Hope everyone stays safe and their bees stay warm enough in their cluster.

Maybe we should talk again about heating hives in the winter.......   ;) That is always a lively conversation  :evil: ..... lol.

I was just kidding about having a conversation on heating hives... lets keep it civil.
Title: Re: A chilly day down south!
Post by: 10framer on January 29, 2014, 05:49:34 pm
I feel for you all on the East coast. It is a balmy 54F with heavy rain here today. Has been cold in the mornings at just below freezing with fog most of last week but has been in the mid to upper 40s throughout the day. Hope everyone stays safe and their bees stay warm enough in their cluster.

Maybe we should talk again about heating hives in the winter.......   ;) That is always a lively conversation  :evil: ..... lol.

I was just kidding about having a conversation on heating hives... lets keep it civil.


forecast calls for a high of 70 here next tuesday.
Title: Re: A chilly day down south!
Post by: Variable on January 29, 2014, 05:56:25 pm
10framer,
Now you are making me jealous. We have snow forecast for next Tuesday...  It is about time, we only had snow for a day or two back in late November or early December and it melted quick. Kids did not even get to build a snowman.

I am a little worried about the weather in Georgia... that is where I am planning on getting my package from this Spring and I may not get them as early as I was hopping because of this cold weather.... Hope the bee build up fast for me!!!
Title: Re: A chilly day down south!
Post by: Moots on January 29, 2014, 06:24:55 pm
Yesterday, High of 40°, Low of 25°
Today, High of 35°, Low of 23°..........Forecast for this Saturday, High of 71°, Low of 62°... GO FIGURE!  :-D
Title: Re: A chilly day down south!
Post by: Joe D on January 29, 2014, 06:41:05 pm
Moots, yesterday our high was 31, low was 17.   Today high 30  low tonite 10 to 15   tomorrow high of mid to upper 40's    low in upper 20's         Saturday  high mid 60's  low upper 50's with 50% chance of rain.

My steps, yard and road have from 1/2 to 1 1/2 inches of ice on them now. 
Several roads are closed in Jones and Forrest county and surrounding area.  Saw a truck go by today with chains, didn't know anyone down here had any.



Joe
Title: Re: A chilly day down south!
Post by: Clem on January 29, 2014, 07:31:35 pm
Drove half way to work this morning at 6:30 before they called it off. I've lived and driven in Ohio so I'm comfortable on snow and ice but most of the others I saw were crawling along at 15-20 mph, including law enforcement.
Title: Re: A chilly day down south!
Post by: 10framer on January 29, 2014, 10:09:36 pm
variable, i wouldn't worry just yet.  as long as we don't have a cold march followed by a stormy april like last year i expect the packages will get out fine.  it's getting the queens mated that messes things up down here.  my bees were bringing in pollen last week so i expect the queens are going to be kicking into gear pretty fast.  remember it's still january.
Title: Re: A chilly day down south!
Post by: GSF on January 30, 2014, 07:08:23 am
10framer; I was watching "The Farm Report" or "The Ag Report" on RFDTV. The Weather man on there said we had at least three good cold snaps coming in February but not the prolonged version.

I could be an excellent weather man.

"What's the chance of rain today?"

50/50.

50/50?

Yep, maybe it will, maybe it won't. ;)
Title: Re: A chilly day down south!
Post by: GSF on January 30, 2014, 09:54:14 am
Here's some pictures of the mess created by the snow storm that was supposed to hit way south of there (Birmingham, Alabama). Everybody went to work at different times, and then everybody went home at the same time. Some of the other stuff I read said that some folks walked 10 miles to get home. There were so many wrecks that folks just left their vehicles there after hours of waiting.


http://blog.al.com/spotnews/2014/01/rescuers_along_us_highway_280.html (http://blog.al.com/spotnews/2014/01/rescuers_along_us_highway_280.html)
Title: Re: A chilly day down south!
Post by: 10framer on January 30, 2014, 11:01:07 am
gary, i've changed my definition of a cold snap this winter.  lows in the upper 20's and highs around 40 don't make the cut anymore.  if i can find some i'll be putting tomato plants in the ground by march 15.  i'm sure we'll have several more hard frosts but i'm hoping this is the last big one for us down here.  that being said the biggest ice storms i remember have all been in march and what we just had was a joke compared to them.  i hope this cold has at least thinned out the gnats and rattlesnakes in middle georgia.  i'm going to roll the dice on the roads being ok in an hour or so and go check things out at the farm.
Title: Re: A chilly day down south!
Post by: Joe D on January 30, 2014, 11:50:08 am
You may have to go ahead and plant some seed, inside, to have plants to plant in March. 




Joe
Title: Re: A chilly day down south!
Post by: 10framer on January 30, 2014, 12:12:24 pm
joe, you're probably right. 
Title: Re: A chilly day down south!
Post by: divemaster1963 on January 30, 2014, 08:03:45 pm
here in Gray,Ga. We ended up with 2 3/4 inch snow over 1/8 inch ice. had a call out at 6 am yesterday morning with a fire truck stuck. they stopped at a light on a slight uphill and could not move. had to back it down about 100 yards to get a running start. when driving in that morning passed a state trooper that was going 10 mph and sliding off to the right. I was at 45 dead center of the road ( drive the crown when you cant see the lines old school driving lesson from overseas. ) He quickly got behind me and when we got to town I stoped at a gas station that stayed open all night to get a cup of coffee before going to the fire truck. (they were not going anywhere). he was shocked that I didn't have chains and was not sliding around.

John
Title: Re: A chilly day down south!
Post by: jayj200 on February 16, 2014, 12:52:55 pm
What's ice?
think I know thats what goes in my southern iced tea
jay
Title: Re: A chilly day down south!
Post by: BeeMaster2 on February 19, 2014, 12:17:31 pm
 :-D