Winter losses

[hardwood]

leandrogcard, Keep in mind that the USA is a big place with different climates. Here in Florida our weather is much like yours.

Scott

[leandrogcard]

I understand that Scott.

In fact I was imagining the possibility of keeping some species of Brazilian stingless bees in the US, mainly for hobbyists, but this topic about winter conditions conviced me there are not much places in your country where such bees could survive. Florida is one of them, along with Lousiana, South Texas and maybe Mississipi, Alabama, and Georgia.


Regards

[splitrock]

"I would be tempted to have a second home there....truly beautiful country!  Of course, I'm sure in the middle of winter, I may feel differently!  grin"

From Louisiana to sub-zero North Country???? I guarantee you would be feeling differently come winter. Snow and cold can grow old real quick.  We had a high of -6 today and are looking at minus 12 tonight.

Losses in my yard are looking like they are going to be fairly heavy this winter. As always, time will tell.

Joel

[Vance G]

Moots don't tell people!  It is too crowded here already.  Yellowstone is an interesting spectacle of sorts.  Glacier is so very much better and unworldly beautiful.  I started winter with some real cripples that I just put mountain camp on when I wrapped.  Only one dead so far and my production hives were all ticking along a couple weeks ago.  It is still two months til first reliable pollen.

[MTWIBadger]

Moots
Glad to hear you enjoyed Yellowstone/Montana on your vacation.  Next time head over to western Montana where I live (no reason to visit Great Falls where Vance lives) and visit Flathead Lake and Glacier Nat'l Park.  Glacier Nat'l park is even more impressive than Yellowstone!  Here in SW MT, we have had only 2-3 nights below 0 so far this winter and it was 45 today.  Finding a paying job in MT can be difficult so work on that second home option!

[BeeMaster2]

Moots/Vance/Badger,
My wife and I will be going to Yellowstone the first week of July. We have reserved a house in the middle of the forest near Wilson. We had planned on going there last year but the company I work for was prepping for a strike and if it did happen all vacations would have been cancelled. I have been wanting to go there for a long time, it's on my bucket list.  :-D
Jim

[Finski]

New beek here in Ontario ... 4 hives ... fed heavy in the fall ... went into winter with one weaker hive.  Though it was gone a few weeks back, not a sound from it where as the other three were quite noisy.  Have been doing the Mountain Camp feeding to that one, tomorrow our temp goes to 10 celius and will be placing some fondant cakes on all the hives.  We just went through one of the coldest weeks on record here, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed.  

Bees should be in winter very calm and not noisy.
Now it is not time to feed hives in Ottawa.
You should look first, do they have food there, and if they have, let them be in peace.

To disturb bees during winter rest is not good at all.


Keep your fingers crossed but don't touch hives.

Forecast of Ottawa promises -6C - -15C next two week. You cannot do nothing to hives. We have here same temps.

.Do you have given Oxalic acid syrup to hives?

.
Hives cannot use fondant because they do not get water from outside.
.

[Finski]

I'm down 5 of 41 hives so far.

Condensation issues are biting me in the butt,

Everybody speak about condensation but no one speak about varroa.

Condensation is nothing problem when  you know few principles. And further more, there are some concensation in hived and it does not harm bees.

[Moots]

"I would be tempted to have a second home there....truly beautiful country!  Of course, I'm sure in the middle of winter, I may feel differently!  grin"

From Louisiana to sub-zero North Country???? I guarantee you would be feeling differently come winter. Snow and cold can grow old real quick.  We had a high of -6 today and are looking at minus 12 tonight.

Losses in my yard are looking like they are going to be fairly heavy this winter. As always, time will tell.

Joel

Splitrock,
LOL! Yeah I think you're right. those temps sound brutal. That's mainly why it would have to be a second home and not a relocation.  Thinking I'm made for wintering down South.  :)

[Moots]

Moots
Glad to hear you enjoyed Yellowstone/Montana on your vacation.  Next time head over to western Montana where I live (no reason to visit Great Falls where Vance lives) and visit Flathead Lake and Glacier Nat'l Park.  Glacier Nat'l park is even more impressive than Yellowstone!  Here in SW MT, we have had only 2-3 nights below 0 so far this winter and it was 45 today.  Finding a paying job in MT can be difficult so work on that second home option!

Badger,
A couple of weeks ago I bumped into a good friend who unfortunately, with both of our busy lives, I don't get to see that much.  I knew he had done both Yellowstone and the Grand Tetons, so I was telling him how much I had enjoyed my trip.  He could appreciate everything I was saying, but followed up everything I said with how unbelievably beautiful and impressive Glacier Nat'l Park is...Hadn't told the wife yet because she'll want to go tomorrow, but it's now on my short list.  :)

[Moots]

Moots/Vance/Badger,
My wife and I will be going to Yellowstone the first week of July. We have reserved a house in the middle of the forest near Wilson. We had planned on going there last year but the company I work for was prepping for a strike and if it did happen all vacations would have been cancelled. I have been wanting to go there for a long time, it's on my bucket list.  :-D
Jim

Jim,
Not sure what your itinerary looks and it's tough because there's A LOT to see at Yellowstone...But if you can squeeze in a couple days for the Grand Tetons, I'd highly recommend it.

We did a Saturday to Saturday, flying in and out of Jackson Hole.
That gave us two full days of hiking in the Grand Tetons, Sunday and Monday.
Tuesday we drove to Yellowstone with plenty of sightseeing and a few stops along the way.
That gave us most of Tuesday and three FULL days in Yellowstone...Wednesday, Thursday and Friday.  We hit it hard everyday, out the room before sun up, back in the room after dark, which is pretty late at that time of year.   We managed to do both the lower and upper loops of Yellowstone, but time was tight.

We headed back towards Jackson Hole Saturday Morning, caught a Horseback riding trip in the Grand Tetons, then straight to the airport to fly out. Whew....A very full week, but one I will never forget!

You and your wife are in for a treat!  Have fun and let us know how it went when you get back.

My apologies to everyone for drifting off topic. However, it does emphasize the wide variety of climates that our little flying friends can survive in, or unfortunately, in some cases...Not survive.  :(

Hoping for the best for everyone, and their bees coming out of winter.

[BeeMaster2]

Moots,
Thanks for the update. I don't think we will be doing as much walking as you did, My wife has had Knee surgery twice now and cannot walk that far. We do want to see as much as possible. I get up early, but I doubt if she will.
Thanks,
Jim