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Offline cdray

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Re: i know you guys up north will laugh but
« Reply #20 on: January 05, 2014, 12:38:24 pm »
Weather is predicting 13 degrees for us Monday night. Should I be doing any extra steps to insulate my hives? I only have three, so they wouldn't be hard to wrap. Is that something you guys think I should do?  David

Offline charlie b

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Re: i know you guys up north will laugh but
« Reply #21 on: January 05, 2014, 12:44:32 pm »
We should be warmer later this week. For Monday and Tues. we're going -55F windchill's. Lake Superior Region on Wis.

Offline 10framer

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Re: i know you guys up north will laugh but
« Reply #22 on: January 05, 2014, 02:00:19 pm »
Weather is predicting 13 degrees for us Monday night. Should I be doing any extra steps to insulate my hives? I only have three, so they wouldn't be hard to wrap. Is that something you guys think I should do?  David

i'm not doing anything but i can't imagine it hurting. 

Offline T Beek

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Re: i know you guys up north will laugh but
« Reply #23 on: January 05, 2014, 02:26:06 pm »
We keep a snowshoe path to our bee yard.   Just returned from a visual check, finding all 5 colonies with some frost at their top entrances, the bottom entrances have been covered with snow for over a month.  I scraped the frost away w/ a screw driver, allowing the condensation to be visibly seen as it drifted from the hive. 

Its minus 7 right now, calm with bright sunshine.  33 below is tonights forecast w/ increasing winds. 

'Heater Bees' will be working overtime tonight.  Bless their little hearts.

10framer;  IMO providing some form of wind break will be your best bet during the next few days and nights.  They already know how to keep their clusters warm  ;).  I believe its best not to disturb them too much as they prepare for what's coming, by wrapping tar paper or anything else involving messing with the hive under these conditions.

Good luck to everyones bees.
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Offline Carol

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Re: i know you guys up north will laugh but
« Reply #24 on: January 05, 2014, 04:07:38 pm »
I have a wood stove too.  Love it!!!  of course it is out right now...I need to get the ashes out before cranking it up for the next few days. It's on my back porch..(patio doors that close) and a ceiling fan and a thru wall fan keep us warm...although...if the temps go that low the heat pump may kick in.

When it gets cold I worry about my bees...glad I don't have to walk through snow drifts to check them. I can watch them from the back porch and with binoculars I can see the color of the pollen.

Spent many years in NY, VT, NH, MA and during that time I was training race horses (harness) so every day was spent outside. Miss the horses..but not the weather. Sure do love my bees.

Offline 10framer

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Re: i know you guys up north will laugh but
« Reply #25 on: January 05, 2014, 08:46:57 pm »
tbeek, it was actually almost 60 this afternoon.  i agree that the wind break is probably a more sensible solution down here. 
my bees were flying this afternoon so i fed.  i went through and fed a few weeks ago and today one hive actually still had about half of it's syrup.
it's going to be up in the 60's again by this time next week.  i'm betting we have an early spring down here this year.  the clover in my lawn at home is starting to come up and i have dandelions blooming.  we may have an occasional frost and even a cold snap or two after this but i'm betting we have highs around 70 by the middle of february and i'll be planting tomatoes before the end of march.   

Offline cdray

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Re: i know you guys up north will laugh but
« Reply #26 on: January 05, 2014, 09:33:45 pm »
It did make it into the 60's here today and I fed a little too. It's supposed to be 10 degrees here tomorrow night, with 10-15 mph gusts so, I guess I will wrap the hives with some tar paper. I've read both pros and cons. I do have the hives ventilated so hopefully, condensation won't be an issue. I guess we'll find out....hopefully we'll be warming back up in a day or two......David

Offline GSF

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Re: i know you guys up north will laugh but
« Reply #27 on: January 05, 2014, 10:06:31 pm »
I think we got up to 55. Took a break from my "cold preparations and watched my bees. They were doing a lot of house cleaning and some were bringing in pollen. I saw at least 3 drones. Two days ago right before daylight I shined my flashlight in the hive entrance and saw icicles on the walls inside. No ice in the middle.
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Offline T Beek

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Re: i know you guys up north will laugh but
« Reply #28 on: January 06, 2014, 07:46:33 am »
We only got to 26 below zero last night,  a temp difference of EIGHTY ONE DEGREES from GSF's high of 55 yesterday.  It actually hurts when I think about it.

Man, that sure puts things into perspective…..             COLD……is relative  :laugh:
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Offline BlueBee

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Re: i know you guys up north will laugh but
« Reply #29 on: January 06, 2014, 09:14:48 am »
I gotta go blow 16” of new snow today before we head below 0F.  At least we’re not going to get down to -26F.  That’s just ridiculous!

It’s going to be a tough winter on the bees I’m afraid. :(

Offline 10framer

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Re: i know you guys up north will laugh but
« Reply #30 on: January 06, 2014, 10:18:20 am »
i don't know how you guys do it.  the long cold winters would drive me crazy.
i'm sure the endless summer down here with 99 degrees and 80 percent relative humidity might seem bad to you, though.  oh yeah, we don't even like it now that i think about it. 
it's 28 out now and i think the high is supposed to be 29.  wind is supposed to be at 20 mph through tonight. 
they were predicting wind chills around 0 and possibly into the negatives tonight. 
my two big dogs are outside dogs and they both have a dog house on my covered back porch and i have a fire pot between them but i've never seen them lay down next to the fire and i rarely see my shepherd mix get in a dog house. it's amazing what they can stand.
stay warm northies this time next week this will just be a memory for all of us down here but you guys will probably have to put up with it for a while.  hope everyone comes out ok.

Offline T Beek

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Re: i know you guys up north will laugh but
« Reply #31 on: January 06, 2014, 10:59:51 am »
i don't know how you guys do it.  the long cold winters would drive me crazy.
i'm sure the endless summer down here with 99 degrees and 80 percent relative humidity might seem bad to you, though.  oh yeah, we don't even like it now that i think about it. 
it's 28 out now and i think the high is supposed to be 29.  wind is supposed to be at 20 mph through tonight. 
they were predicting wind chills around 0 and possibly into the negatives tonight. 
my two big dogs are outside dogs and they both have a dog house on my covered back porch and i have a fire pot between them but i've never seen them lay down next to the fire and i rarely see my shepherd mix get in a dog house. it's amazing what they can stand.
stay warm northies this time next week this will just be a memory for all of us down here but you guys will probably have to put up with it for a while.  hope everyone comes out ok.

Nope, seems we're getting a little break.  Going to be near 30 starting wed or thursday and through the weekend.  That said its already been a 'real' winter for us after several mild ones, getting and staying cold in early December with few breaks.  We're all ready for the annual January thaw to begin.  January is usually our coldest month.  Sure hope its not going to be this year because December kicked our butts.
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Offline GSF

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Re: i know you guys up north will laugh but
« Reply #32 on: January 06, 2014, 11:54:49 am »
My hat's off to you northern folks as well.

To further expound what 10framer is saying, our trade off is the summer. During the summer most of us keep a "sweat rag". We sweat so much you have to have something like that. It don't take long to sweat through a pair of jeans.

I was in Desert Storm/Shield. The temps over there were around 120/130. When I came home to the 80's and 90's it didn't even compare. The humidity here made the 120's over there seem mild. Dehydration was a concern over there because your sweat dried up as it was produced. That was something we weren't used to.
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Offline 10framer

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Re: i know you guys up north will laugh but
« Reply #33 on: January 06, 2014, 01:04:39 pm »
i carry an extra tee shirt, jeans and towel in the summer when i'm doing farm work.  last summer was pretty mild overall thanks to all the rain and low temperatures but when you got out in between showers even if it was only 85 and cloudy you were still soaked in a matter of minutes.  i was a skinny kid but still sweated a lot and now i'm a fat old man so it's really hard on me these days.  what's crazy is that we are only a few months away from it down here.  spring is a very short season down here.

tbeek weren't there some big snow storms as early as september up that way this year?  maybe it was october but i know a lot of cattle got killed out west because they got caught in some valleys and froze. 

Offline T Beek

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Re: i know you guys up north will laugh but
« Reply #34 on: January 06, 2014, 02:17:10 pm »
That was a 'freak' storm and occurred way west of us in the Dakotas and Montana I think.  Massive amounts of mountain snow stranded thousands of cattle.  I think there's someone on this forum from the region, perhaps they will chime in with better details.

I spent a little time in desert conditions, usually just a few weeks at a time though and had limited access to some AC once in a while, but most of my experiences with 'heat' were tropical, to include Southern States, S/E Asia, South and Central America.  Depending on time of year with humidity added to the equation, simply breathing caused excessive sweating, much less humping yourself and gear around for hours at a time, fun times, good friends, many memories :laugh:.
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Offline 10framer

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Re: i know you guys up north will laugh but
« Reply #35 on: January 06, 2014, 02:30:40 pm »
i was thinking it may have been montana but i'm not sure. 

Offline johng

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Re: i know you guys up north will laugh but
« Reply #36 on: January 06, 2014, 03:08:51 pm »
The weather is crazy!! We had the windows open yesterday nice and warm I was sweating while doing some yard work then tonight it is going down to 20. I know that is nothing like you guys up north are going through but, that is a big temperature swing.

Offline splitrock

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Re: i know you guys up north will laugh but
« Reply #37 on: January 06, 2014, 04:13:53 pm »
I don't know about any losses in Montana, but we sure had them in South Dakota. Big cattle losses here. Heavy early snow drifted them in. Cows/cattle turn their rears to the wind, their heads drift in and they can suffocate. Buffalo face the wind and their rears drift in.

One friend up in that area said she figured they lost 100 head. Usually the critters are brought nearer to home before winter, shelter, food, water, and care is easier to provide, this storm hit early.

Offline MsCarol

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Re: i know you guys up north will laugh but
« Reply #38 on: January 06, 2014, 04:34:53 pm »
As a cattle woman, my heart goes out to the losses in the west this last year. I am struggling to keep my herd fed, between broken promises on hay delivery, cranky equipment, and now gelled up diesel in the tractor....thankfully with the herd half fed before it quit, it make one wonder why I chose this life.

I am also worried about the bees. I wish I could have set a roll of hay on the windward side as a wind break, but the cattle would have torn down the cattle panels to reach it. So just keeping fingers crossed. They were flying yesterday with the temps at about 50°. It was last night that the arctic vortex barreled in here with squalling winds dropping the temps to 10° at dawn. They have pretty well stayed there all day. Hanging onto prayers as the lows tonight will be around 3° and I won't discuss wind chills.

Possibly a balmy day for many of you all, but it has 20 years since we have seen these lows. I moved to the south from New England for a reason!! 

Then talking near 60° by the weekend....with rain of course.

The weather has gone crazy!!!

Offline 10framer

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Re: i know you guys up north will laugh but
« Reply #39 on: January 06, 2014, 09:35:21 pm »
carol, it has rained every weekend for at least a month now.  you're right, when it's not cold it's raining and it's 2 to 3 inches at a time.

 

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