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Author Topic: Need Help, Very cold, snow, bees dying...  (Read 3820 times)

Offline Utah

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Need Help, Very cold, snow, bees dying...
« on: January 24, 2007, 09:09:00 pm »
Yes, I am still learning. My hive is very light in weight, I assume the stores are past gone. There are hundreds of bees in the snow today and I have very cold days. I peeked inside and there are still lots of bees near the top. Temperatures are not even getting above freezing yet. Why are the bees flying in this very cold weather? I would guess no food or water?

So, what do I do for food with this cold? I can add syrup or honey if needed. Is there a better way? Or a better substitute? I assume I should not wait another day.

Please help, I need to do it tomorrow in the cold.

Utah

Offline Michael Bush

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Re: Need Help, Very cold, snow, bees dying...
« Reply #1 on: January 24, 2007, 10:08:59 pm »
They usually won't take syrup if it's cold.  You could put a jar of warm syrup with small holes in the lid upside down over the cluster and a box to make room for it and a lid on top of that.  When the jar is right on the cluster, and the syrup is warm, they will take it.  You could warm the jar up every day for a while.  Another solution would be newspaper with dry sugar on it.

The right thing, of course, is to make sure they have sufficient stores back in the fall.
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Offline pdmattox

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Re: Need Help, Very cold, snow, bees dying...
« Reply #2 on: January 24, 2007, 10:09:22 pm »
sugarboard?

I dont have experince with the sugar board method but there are others here that may be helpful.

Offline Kathyp

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Re: Need Help, Very cold, snow, bees dying...
« Reply #3 on: January 24, 2007, 10:15:48 pm »
you can put dry sugar on the inner cover if you have one.   you can wet it with a spray bottle of water.  you'll have to check back and make sure it doesn't mold, but in the cold it shouldn't.  don't make it soupy,   or it'll end up running down on them.  put as much water on it as it will take without it getting runny.

and....lots of dead bees are normal.  mine just cleaned out after a cold snap and there are 100's dead.  many 1000's still in hive.
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Offline TwT

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Re: Need Help, Very cold, snow, bees dying...
« Reply #4 on: January 24, 2007, 10:27:20 pm »
if you have a shallow super and use a baggie feeder, you can set it on the top of the frames and the bees warmth should keep it at a decent temp, i would think, i have tried them and it took a couple time to get it just right, heres a post by someone that tryed them out one year,  i wish i could find a picture for you , see they even sale a spacer for the baggies to go on your hive  (but very, very easy to make yourself)

http://www.brushymountainbeefarm.com/products.asp?pcode=645


Quote
I have been using Baggie for a full season now and I will never go back to
anything else.  There are no drowned bees and so far no robbing.

The Baggie feeder is simply a small super,(2" to 3") placed on top of
 the
hive.  I have found that an empty shallow super works just as well.  Into
this are placed  Zip lock bags filled with syrup. Care must be taken to
insure that the bags are not overfilled and that they are completely sealed.
I use only heavy duty freezer bags.  Quart bags will hold approximately 1
pints, gallon bags hold 2 to 3 quarts of syrup. The bags can be placed
directly on top of the frames or on top of a queen excluder.  Small 2 to 3
inch slits are cut in the bag to give the bees access to the syrup.  These
are cut crosswise of the hive if the hive is leaning forward.  A small
amount of the syrup is squeezed out and allowed to run down onto the bees so
that the bees know it is up there.

The bees readily accept this feeder and in fact when bags are being
replaced, I have bees climbing on the bags before I get them set down
properly and start removing the syrup as soon as the slits are cut.  I
recently removed a swarm of bees from a dead tree in a ladys yard and ended
up with about 2 gallons of honey that was contaminated with sawdust and
other debris.  I decided to feed it back to this colony and used a baggie
feeder placed on top of drawn combs.  They immediately removed this honey
from the feeder, put it in the super and sealed it.  They were getting
enough nectar to draw combs and did not need the honey.

The baggie feeder is a little tricky to use the first time but it is well
worth the persistence it may take to get used to it.  It is by far the best
method I have ever used to feed bees.  

« Last Edit: January 25, 2007, 11:45:56 am by TwT »
THAT's ME TO THE LEFT JUST 5 MONTHS FROM NOW!!!!!!!!

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Offline Utah

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Re: Need Help, Very cold, snow, bees dying...
« Reply #5 on: January 24, 2007, 10:43:50 pm »
I guess I am wondering how the dead bees are getting as far from the hive as they are. There are some about 30 feet away, much more very close. Do the worker bees carry the dead ones away and drop them? Or are these live bees looking for food and dying becuse of the cold and starvation??

There are seviously hundreds of bees dead all over and it only started today. I think it did get up to about 32 degrees today out by my bees. Do they fly at that temperature?

I do have an inner cover, so I think I will do the sugar and spray it damp and watch it often - thanks!!
Utah

Offline Brian D. Bray

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Re: Need Help, Very cold, snow, bees dying...
« Reply #6 on: January 24, 2007, 10:59:15 pm »
>Do the worker bees carry the dead ones away and drop them?

Yes.  The bees take advantage of the warmer weather and use the time to clear the hive of debre and themselves.  During warmer winter days the bees will fly to deficate and carry dead bees from the hive.  "The warmer days of Winter" can be relative.  Normally the bee don't fly below 40F but if very low temps for longer periods ( a week or 2) they will get out for their "cleasing flights" at lower temps.
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Offline Finsky

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Re: Need Help, Very cold, snow, bees dying...
« Reply #8 on: January 25, 2007, 12:54:50 pm »
.

Last spring I noticed that one of my big hive has hundreds of bees in front of hive. I quessed that they food was finish. That has happened to me ealier. They come out but they have not power to return

I opened the hive and bees were in choma. I poures 50% sugar syrup on them. After two hours hive was alive again and I noticed the queen. Nex day I looked that about a half of bees had starved. The rest of bees started their living.

I filled 10 frames with stong syrup 10 pounds sugar and I put the box under bees. Bees lifted syrup upstairs and everything was OK.

Next morning I cleaned bees from bottom.


Offline TwT

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Re: Need Help, Very cold, snow, bees dying...
« Reply #9 on: February 01, 2007, 10:37:36 pm »
here's a pic's and some info on Baggie feeders, they work real well.....

http://www.beesource.com/eob/baggie.htm


and as you can see the bee's dont have to go for from the cluster to feed, it works in cold weather also, the hive temp from the cluster will keep the temp of the feed at a decent temp...... if you dont have a top feeder and want to feed with out causing robbing try a baggie feeder, they work any time of year, it is best to have the 2 inch spacers just incase you have to feed in the cold, but a shallow super will work also but it does leave extra room above the baggie feeder.....
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Offline gottabee

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Re: Need Help, Very cold, snow, bees dying...
« Reply #10 on: February 01, 2007, 11:26:13 pm »
If you have light stores in the hive dead bees are probably a good thing as long as you have a sufficient remaining cluster to get you to spring. The more bees the more stores they will consume. I wouldnt worry so much about the number of dead ones as much as the cluster. The feeding tips mentioned may be just enough to sustain the cluster but we most likely have much cold weather left.
Make sure there is ventelation adequate to remove moisture.
Several bee professionals in my area have used the inner cover rescue method mentioned. Baggies work very well for me but I do not like adding a full empty super because it creates more air space. I use a spacer.
Hope things work out for you.

Offline Kirk-o

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Re: Need Help, Very cold, snow, bees dying...
« Reply #11 on: February 02, 2007, 09:13:06 am »
I Had Bees in Fruit Heights Utah and Murray Utah back in the 70's.Snow two feet high and colder than a step mothers kiss.This what I would do Do what michael bush says
with sugar on newspaper syrup will just freeze in the mean time get om McMurray hatchery web page and order a quail watering bottle 1 gallon size so when the wether worms up you can fill it with a gallon of syrup  put on top of frames cover with a empty deep they will get it then .If I remember right you should be getting some warmer days soon get ready to feed syrup when it gets warmer
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Offline thegolfpsycho

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Re: Need Help, Very cold, snow, bees dying...
« Reply #12 on: February 02, 2007, 11:21:38 am »
I'm near the mouth of Parleys Canyon in Salt Lake and I see what your describing a couple times each winter.  Finally get a warmer day and the ground around the hives is littered with dead bees.  When the snow melts, there are piles of dead bees in front of the pallets.   I was pretty nervous the first few times, but I popped the lids on serveral colonys and there are a lot of bees in there.  They go out for cleansing flights and don't make it back.  I think it's more pronounced with the Italians and the huge population they try to keep.  This has been an extremely cold winter this year, and some of the colonys are still on 7 frames.  Of course, they use a lot of stores when the colony is that large and they start to crank things up.  I have added granulated sugar over the inner cover when they get too light, and they have taken it.  Keep an eye on things, dandylions and flying weather are still 5 to 6 weeks away.  Maybe longer this year, since we haven't had our usual January thaw.

Offline Kirk-o

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Re: Need Help, Very cold, snow, bees dying...
« Reply #13 on: February 02, 2007, 08:54:22 pm »
Bees are smart I gets cold up there with the wind comming down that canyon but it sounds like you got some bees in there keep an eye out but I'm sure they will pull through
kirk-o
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Offline Utah

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Re: Need Help, Very cold, snow, bees dying...
« Reply #14 on: February 25, 2007, 11:12:59 pm »
Thanks for all of the information and help. I did have a day to get a feeder back on top and added sugar water. I think it helped but they do not seem to be taking it very quickly.

I think my problem to begin with was that I had three supers to over winter in. We had a bumber crop  in Utah last year and I decided to leave what I thought was enough frames for the hive. Nope, I think the colony was too big, even for it's first year.

When I looked into the lower levels this last week, I found that there are bees in every inch of that three-super hive, at least in the top two boxes. I got some pollen patties and put them in for brood development. I am hoping to split this hive early this year. Did I do it too soon?
Utah

Offline Finsky

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Re: Need Help, Very cold, snow, bees dying...
« Reply #15 on: February 26, 2007, 12:43:41 am »
Nope, I think the colony was too big, even for it's first year.


Hives are never too big in winter. Nothing to do with first year.

Quote
I found that there are bees in every inch of that three-super hive, at least in the top two boxes.


If bees are everywhere, on point may be that they have not formed true winter cluster and they are running too hot over winter. Then they consume food a lot. I have just now a hot hive and it has cluster at all. It is just humming inside.

Pollen patties are very good. Those wintered bees will die before early summer and it is better to get new bees into the hive.

Hive is better split when it is time for swarming. You get better result with that.  You prevent swarming by splitting.