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Author Topic: Yet another newbie arrives  (Read 3068 times)

Offline TimLa

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Yet another newbie arrives
« on: April 17, 2008, 10:59:36 pm »
Hive is assembled and painted, picking up 4# and a queen tomorrow.

This site is a life saver (bees' lives), fascinating resource.  As with a lot of stuff I've been doing lately, this is something I've always been interested in since I was 10 years old and a neighbor kept bees.  We'd inspect the hive in t-shirts, shorts and tenns shoes, never got stung.

We live on 30 acres, about 1,000 feet up in the cascade foothills east of Seattle, WA.

Latest worry:  Snow in the forecast for the next few days, lows into the mid-20's Sat and Sun.  Lots and lots of sugar water, and I plan to keep them in one deep until the temps come up next week...


-T
Some days you just want to line them all up and start asking questions.

Offline JP

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Re: Yet another newbie arrives
« Reply #1 on: April 17, 2008, 11:17:14 pm »
Welcome to the forums!!! If your temps are going to be that cold, if you have a shed or a room you can keep the bees in, that's heated to say 60f or greater I would do this until it warms. You don't want to install them and feed sugar water in those temps, they can freeze to death.

If you have to install them, feed them candy or fondant: http://www.bushfarms.com/beesfeeding.htm#feeding


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Offline Brian D. Bray

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Re: Yet another newbie arrives
« Reply #2 on: April 18, 2008, 12:45:19 am »
Must be in North Bend.  I'm having a BBQ for all forum members here in the PNW from Ashland to Whistler and Ocean Shores to Boise so consider yourself invited for the Sunday of Labor Day weekend.
Life is a school.  What have you learned?   :brian:      The greatest danger to our society is apathy, vote in every election!

Offline TimLa

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Re: Yet another newbie arrives
« Reply #3 on: April 18, 2008, 03:28:24 am »
Good guess - I'm 5 miles NE of Duvall, smack in the middle of the Convergeance Zone (for non-locals, it's a localized bad weather area).  BBQ sounds great!   Count me in - let me know what to bring.

Temperatures are forecast to be highs of 45-49 and lows of 32 through Monday... I wonder how long I can keep a package alive in the guest bathroom.  They were available for local pickup in Snohomish on Wednesday afternoon, and were trucked up from northern california or oregon.

Blooms are taking off, it's just the crazy weather....

-T
Some days you just want to line them all up and start asking questions.

Offline reinbeau

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Re: Yet another newbie arrives
« Reply #4 on: April 18, 2008, 07:31:27 am »
Welcome to the forums!!! If your temps are going to be that cold, if you have a shed or a room you can keep the bees in, that's heated to say 60f or greater I would do this until it warms. You don't want to install them and feed sugar water in those temps, they can freeze to death.

If you have to install them, feed them candy or fondant: http://www.bushfarms.com/beesfeeding.htm#feeding


...JP
Depends on how cold 'cold' is.  We install all the time in the 40's, we have to, if we waited for warm weather we'd be waiting til mid-May some years!  :shock:  It was around 45 on Sunday when we installed, it was a quick, fairly calm install, the bees were too cold to get too riled up.  We sprayed them with sugar water and poured them in!

Obviously if it were colder than 40, or windy and rainy, we'd hold them for a few days.

Offline Cindi

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Re: Yet another newbie arrives
« Reply #5 on: April 18, 2008, 10:51:31 am »
TimLa.  Welcome to our forum, it is great to have new members.  Good luck with hiving your package, you can keep them for a few days in a dark room, that won't hurt them one little bit, just spray the screen with sugar water to ensure that they have some food.

You have found the right place to spend some wonderful time.  If you have questions they will be answered, and always remember, when you have a question, ask it, never concern yourself with any thoughts that it may be a dumb question, there is no such thing.  We were all once beginning beekeepers, and we asked questions too.  Have the best of this wonderful day, love our life we live.  Cindi
There are strange things done in the midnight sun by the men who moil for gold.  The Arctic trails have their secret tales that would make your blood run cold.  The Northern Lights have seen queer sights, but the queerest they ever did see, what the night on the marge of Lake Lebarge, I cremated Sam McGee.  Robert Service

Offline DennisB

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Re: Yet another newbie arrives
« Reply #6 on: April 18, 2008, 10:55:48 am »
Welcome Tim. Good luck with your new package. There are a ton of very experienced keepers here that can help you with your questions.

DennisB

Offline TimLa

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Re: Yet another newbie arrives
« Reply #7 on: April 18, 2008, 04:32:16 pm »
I'll continue the cold weather install thread in the general beekeeping forum.  Thanks for the warm welcome!

PS:  The ladies have arrived!
 :-D
-T
Some days you just want to line them all up and start asking questions.

 

anything