# Front Range roller coaster - 2017



## shinbone (Jul 5, 2011)

Us folks along the Front Range having been riding our usual Springtime roller coaster of weather, with perhaps bigger hills than usual. First, we had an extended early warm-up, which induced the bees to start brooding 2 - 3 weeks early. Then we had an extended streak of normal weather, which meant night time lows in the 20's in the Denver area. Any small clusters that were tricked into laying a relatively large patch of brood by the warm weather had a good chance of being "caught-out," meaning freezing to death while trying to protect the beginning of their new crop of baby bees. I know l lost a hive this way.

But, we may have finally "turned the corner" with sunny days for the foreseeable future. The two videos, below, show the bees are packing in the pollen, which looks to be light beige (light brown?) in color.











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## JConnolly (Feb 21, 2015)

If its any consolation, we're riding the same roller coaster on the other side of the range. Two mornings ago I swept 6" of snow from my car. Today it is sunny and beautiful and almost 60. Expecting snow on Monday.

Do you have summer time heat problems from that black surface under your hives?


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## shinbone (Jul 5, 2011)

JConnolly said:


> Do you have summer time heat problems from that black surface under your hives?


It gets cranking hot up there in July/August due to our high altitude sun. I put corrugated roofing panels on the hives to shield the sun, which seems to solve any heat problems the hives may have.


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## minz (Jan 15, 2011)

We have been cold and snowy. Looks like we got more snow than Chicago or Green Bay WI. 
I got complacent with our mild winters and this one handed it to my bees (bad, beekeeper)
http://komonews.com/weather/scotts-...e-has-out-snowed-minneapolis-this-year-so-far


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## msl (Sep 6, 2016)

Yep it was massive swings...warm to the point the snakes were coming out, ran in to one in the yard picking up dead fall....a day later the night low was 15 f...
I was worried about the nucs, just got back from the yard... good new is they are all flying, bad news is the county just declared were I have them has infestation of invasive plants (pepper weed) and I have to move them to the other end of the property so the landowner can spray....should be fun..not
thinking I got lucky. Mine started brooding a few weeks after shinbones. likely being in a shady depression slowed them up compared to a black rooftop


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## Nhaupt2 (May 31, 2016)

I'm seeing massive orientation flights today. Bees are bringing In the same beige pollen that your are seeing shinbone, my neighborhood is full of Silver maples in full bloom and they seem to be working them pretty hard. I'm not sure how good of a nectar source they are, or if they are just good for pollen. I'm worried populations are going to build up too fast and the bees are going to eat themselves out of house and home when the heavy snow storms of March and April hit. You know we have to pay for all this warmth somehow.


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## shinbone (Jul 5, 2011)

Nhaupt2 said:


> You know we have to pay for all this warmth somehow.


Indeed, we always seems to get a "weather spank" after a nice stretch.


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## msl (Sep 6, 2016)

yep, I am at zero losses so far.....an't no way old man winter is going to let that stand


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## Colobee (May 15, 2014)

In my years here there has been snow along the front range in every month except July, and 70's in _every_ month of the year.

The bees have managed anyway.


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## jonsl (Jul 16, 2016)

Here in NJ we have the same thing. Last Saturday was 75 and today high of 30. Hoping for the hives not to get overextended.


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## Vance G (Jan 6, 2011)

Today in the fifties and bees flying up a storm. They were sitting on the edge of puddles in melting snow. They are crazy for water to liquify honey and sugar to feed to brood. There were so many flying they were menacing to some I am sure. This location is within a stones throw of a hunting dog trial. No casulties I know of.


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## Nhaupt2 (May 31, 2016)

Any of the more experienced front range beekeepers think that with all this unseasonably warm weather we are getting that swarm season is going to come early for us? A last minute work obligation is sending me to Amsterdam for 10 days right in the middle of April.(not the worst thing to ever happen to me) i am worried that early april is too early for the queen manipulations that i had planned to do with chopping two of the three hives up into as many queen castle compartments as i can and using grafted queen cells. i do not want them to swarm while im away. my understanding is that our typical swarm season is may -June. i have 6 frames of drawn out deep foundation to work with and tons of undrawn frames, maybe before i leave i should use the opening the sides of the brood nest method to get some extra frames drawn out and then commence with my plans when i return, with the added benefits of more wax to work with when it does come time. when is too soon to try to add a deep of mostly undrawn frames to each hive? i dont want to chill the brood, and if my bottom boards are any indication the bees are up into my mountain camp sugar pretty good at this point. advice?


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## Arnie (Jan 30, 2014)

I've seen swarms in April. 
I think this year might be one of those early years. The bees are really gearing up for spring now.

So, with that in mind, check them for rapid build-up and look for drone brood and/or drones.
As soon as you see drones and if your bees are getting crowded you may want to think about doing vertical splits. Last year I did my Snelgrove-style splits on April 10th and 14th. Worked well, even though we had snowstorms the day after each split.

Otherwise use checkerboarding and reverse brood boxes, expand the brood nest and hope they don't swarm before you get back. 

I'm thinking the bees may want to swarm in late April(maybe) to first week of May this year. 
But in Colorado.......you never know. A few weeks of cold weather may slow them down a little.


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## shinbone (Jul 5, 2011)

I am no expert, but, judging by the volume of orientation flights I am seeing already, the bees are about 2-weeks ahead of normal schedule for brood build-up in my area.


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## Arnie (Jan 30, 2014)

I think you're right shinbone.


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## gww (Feb 14, 2015)

After three weeks of what seems like extra flying wether I am wondering if the winter that is coming back in two days is about to put thier brood warming talents to the test.
Cheers
gww


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## shinbone (Jul 5, 2011)

gww said:


> After three weeks of what seems like extra flying wether I am wondering if the winter that is coming back in two days is about to put thier brood warming talents to the test.
> Cheers
> gww


Good question and that is why it is called "The Front Range Roller Coaster."


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## beez72 (Feb 10, 2016)

This is my first winter and we have been in the upper 60's to low 70's and bees were bringing in pollen. Last weekend we went down to 9 deg Sat and Sun. Now the last 2 days have been in the low 60's and upper 50's. Next couple of days down to 8-11 at night 30 during the day. Now thats a roller coaster. Hope the bees can handle all of this.


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## rv10flyer (Feb 25, 2015)

They have been doing it for thousands of years. If they are from good genetics, mites have not taken over, adequate ventilation provided, and the beekeeper didn't take all of their Fall honey...they will usually be just fine.


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## gww (Feb 14, 2015)

rv.....


> They have been doing it for thousands of years. If they are from good genetics, mites have not taken over, adequate ventilation provided, and the beekeeper didn't take all of their Fall honey...they will usually be just fine.


I guess this is what I am counting on since there is really nothing to be done about it anyway. It is in the back of my mind the dangers that some promote from early feeding, which happened naturaly this year, as being a thing that has the potential to set bees back.

But like the old serenity prayer goes, learn to accept the things that you can't change.

I will be looking for larva hauled out but admit that I am not really expecting any.
Cheers
gww


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## Nhaupt2 (May 31, 2016)

Just got the first swarm call in Broomfield! They were gone by the time i got there however. Check your hives, it seems swarm season is here early!


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## shinbone (Jul 5, 2011)

Nhaupt2 said:


> Just got the first swarm call in Broomfield! They were gone by the time i got there however. Check your hives, it seems swarm season is here early!


Thanks for the warning!

Here's one of my stronger hives on Sunday.

https://randallcherry.smugmug.com/2017/Bees-2017/i-R7966GP/A


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## msl (Sep 6, 2016)

wow thanks for the heads up
there was a "come get the bees out of my tree" post with a picture of a swarm on CL....but being april 1st I ignored it, lol maby it was't a joke
guess its time to put up the swarm traps


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## Wosiewose (Oct 31, 2015)

I'd been wondering if it was too early to set up a bait hive! Maybe not! Soon as we get this coming snowstorm out of the way, I just might try for my first catch...


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## Arnie (Jan 30, 2014)

I thought I was jumping the gun splitting a hive in late March. Looks like I was not so stupid after all.
Thursday before work I will split two more. Then I have to check the farm bees. 

Thanks for the heads-up.


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## Bear Creek Steve (Feb 18, 2009)

You guys must be nuts! It can't possibly be swarm season yet!

Yes, "I can change some things", by not removing the insulation too early and thus avoiding Spring snow temperature shock.









Steve


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## Arnie (Jan 30, 2014)

I dunno Steve. In Louisville dandelions and ornamental fruit trees are in their full glory. The bees are going great, storing nectar and raising drones. 
I haven't found any queen cells yet, but after this storm they may start to appear. It's time to use the double screens and get a few queens started.
We also had three hives go queenless this winter. First time in a long time. So the early season may give us a head start on replacing those deadouts with splits.


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## Colobee (May 15, 2014)

What a difference a couple miles make. A few weeks ago we were in Highlands Ranch and many of the fruit trees were in nearly full blossom. Down here the Dandies are just starting to show.

The Ornamental Crab now has it's first few full blossoms. Hopefully they didn't get frost bit. Another 3" of snow fell last night, to add to a very wet couple weeks (finally!). The snow is quickly melting in.

It's comforting to have low swarming bees. Did you guys see the link to Thorah Island Bees in the "Gentle Bees" thread? 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NUpApdL49Rc&feature=youtu.be&t=9m43s


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## shinbone (Jul 5, 2011)

"weather spank" in progress:

It was 27F at 5:00am at my house this morning. Got about 2" of snow overnight. This is addition to the 4" we received the night before. Supposed to be in the low 60's tomorrow, and the mid-70's on Saturday. Roller coaster, indeed.

My Carbapple trees were just about to enter into their full-bloom stage. I hope the snow and cold weather of the last two days hasn't ruined too much of the bloom. I definitely appreciate the moisture, but I hate to see the first major blossoms of the Spring take such a beating.



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## rdeeming (May 23, 2016)

This roller coaster happened last year. by the 22nd I was throwing swarms. Just trying to make the call to split tomorrow or wait after this next rain cold shot and do it on the 13th.


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## Wosiewose (Oct 31, 2015)

It's been a week now... how are things looking where you are? I've seen some bees flying and working blossoms, even hanging around our garden hose just a dozen feet or so from my bait hive, but haven't seen any scouts checking out the hive itself. Anybody having any better luck?


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## shinbone (Jul 5, 2011)

I've got two swarm traps in my apiary, and I have not seen any scout bees checking them out, yet.


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## msl (Sep 6, 2016)

Bees are working my apple trees, but paying the bait hive in them no mind


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## Arnie (Jan 30, 2014)

This is a crazy year.
On the 8th I split a couple of my backyard hives. vertical splits using a double screen board. Both hives were strong but not crowded, and I saw a few queen cups with no eggs or larvae. I took open brood and nurse bees and put them on top, left the queen, capped brood and most honey below. Gave the lower half a super. Thought I had caught them in time before swarm fever set in.

Yesterday, 5 days later, one of the hives threw a swarm. I was getting ready to go to work in the afternoon and I heard the roar of bees. 
They settled in my neighbor's spruce tree. 

Then they all went back home. So, tomorrow I work in the afternoon again, so I will put the queen-right half on top and let the lower box raise a queen. 

To add to the craziness, my friend in Lafayette has a nuc with a queen cell. That small hive threw a swarm yesterday. Pathetic little swarm without a queen. He tossed the bees back into the nuc. 

The 'problem' if you can call it that, is the hives are still packed with last fall's honey, and nectar coming in. The bees are flush so why not swarm early and often?


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## MonkeyMcBean (Mar 1, 2017)

shinbone said:


> Thanks for the warning!
> 
> Here's one of my stronger hives on Sunday.
> 
> https://randallcherry.smugmug.com/2017/Bees-2017/i-R7966GP/A


do you have those on a slanted rooftop?


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## Nhaupt2 (May 31, 2016)

Looks like I timed my grafting perfectly. I have 6 queens out on mating flights the next few days. Can't beat mid 70s and calm! I was out playing a round of golf yesterday and a swarm came overhead about 6 feet off the ground, it was quite the spectacle. You would have thought a mountain lion was attacking the way the 4 some ahead of us took off running!


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## shinbone (Jul 5, 2011)

MonkeyMcBean said:


> do you have those on a slanted rooftop?


Yes. On platforms cut at an angle so the hives sit level.


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## MonkeyMcBean (Mar 1, 2017)

Does the black roofing material help with snowmelt? What made you choose to put them up there?


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## shinbone (Jul 5, 2011)

MonkeyMcBean said:


> Does the black roofing material help with snowmelt? What made you choose to put them up there?


Snow melts off that roof pretty quick, but I am not sure how much the black helps with that.

On the roof, the hives get full sun from sunrise to sunset. Plus, with the hives up in the air, the bees never bother anyone, no matter how close to the hives a person may be.


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## msl (Sep 6, 2016)

Cells are to emerge in the nucs today, no weather for mating flights projected till may 4th.....grumble grumble


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## Colobee (May 15, 2014)

4/22: It's 34*, & snowing this morning.


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## MonkeyMcBean (Mar 1, 2017)

I remember a day in colorado when I was younger. It had every type of weather. It was calm then windy, dry then rainy then sleeting then hailing then snowing. There was fog too. Makes me homesick just thinking about it.


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## shinbone (Jul 5, 2011)

Lot'sa orientation flight activity on a few of my bigger hives, today:

https://randallcherry.smugmug.com/2017/Bees-2017/i-cPwVPfS/A


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## Nhaupt2 (May 31, 2016)

Interesting article in the Daily Camera today. http://tiny.cc/DailyCameraBees

I managed to bring some pretty marginal colonies through with zero losses this winter. are you all seeing the levels of failed colonies that these keepers seem to be talking about? I lol'd at the chem trail theory that they threw in there. im surprised that some of the larger more experianced keepers are claiming that they have no idea whats happening, we had an exceptionally warm winter and it seems logical that many more colonies than usual would starve to death with the increased metabolism that warm weather creates. we are also the epicenter in the states for bee havers vs bee keepers so im willing to wager a fair number of mite bombs were going off in the fall and hurt some of the keepers also.


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## shinbone (Jul 5, 2011)

My losses for the 2016/17 Winter were 20% (I lost 2 out of 10 hives), which is the least losses I have experienced since re-starting beekeeping in 2010. 

The two lost hives starved and froze in late January/early February. Even though the losses were directly due to lack of food, the actual cause was varroa mites weakening the hive and impairing nectar collection in the Fall.

My winter survival rate is trending up from year-to-year as I get better at treating for mites.


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## Arnie (Jan 30, 2014)

Interesting.
We have bees in Louisville, Lafayette and Longmont and they are going great. We did lose three hives out of 18 but have increased to 22 at last count. But it is fair warning for us to watch and be vigilant.

I thought everyone's bees were going gangbusters. Ya never know.

As far as the warm winter goes; I have found that even with the warm winter our bees came through almost as heavy as they went in to fall. They never used much honey in spring because it warmed up so quickly and they have nectar to gather. The bees are still sitting on lots of honey from last year.


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## Bear Creek Steve (Feb 18, 2009)

Here's how my winter went. 

Went into winter with eleven 10F Langs and came out with 10, or 9% loss. Also went into winter with five 5/5 & 5/5/5 NUC's and came out with two, or 60% loss. Most of the NUC's were late starts and likely ill prepared for the winter. The 10F Langs all had open SBB, open lower and upper entries, well ventilated quilt box on top, and two inch rigid foam on all four sides plus top. The bees were force fed 2:1 sugar syrup in the fall with an internally contained "chicken waterers" and had sugar cubes (Laurie's recipe) available as emergency food throughout the winter. I think my Lang loss was probably like Shinbone's, -- starved and froze.

Last year in June I participated in the USDA/APHIS National Honey Bee Survey and just last week I received the analysis and report (done in Beltsville, MD). The highlight of the report was that they found 0.7 Varroa mites per 100 bees. I didn't know that that was possible, but I do OAV in the fall. I am now considering Randy Oliver's glycerin and oxalic acid saturated shop towel approach. It sounds to be a much less labor intensive approach.

Steve


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## Colobee (May 15, 2014)

We had 8" of snow accumulated, and perhaps that much more melted as it fell, from last Saturday's storm (4/29). 99% of it had melted in by yesterday afternoon. 

Today's rain shifted to rather heavy snow for a while this morning (5/3).


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## Nhaupt2 (May 31, 2016)

Hey all, I'm looking to do a cutdown split on a booming hive ahead of the sweet clover bloom. I'm still fairly new to the game, but my impression is that this is our main flow In the area. Does anybody have their finger on when this usually kicks off on the front range and or have any experience doing a cut down ahead of It? Thanks as always!

Nick


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## Wosiewose (Oct 31, 2015)

I'd like to know about what to expect re the flows too in this area... looking forward to hearing from you lovely long-time Front Range beeks 

Also wondering if any flow we might have had going might have been set back by yesterday's hail pounding? Our street was covered in shredded tree leaves by the time it ended. There are deep hailstone dents in my hive telescoping covers... must have been a horrible experience for the poor little bees!


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## shinbone (Jul 5, 2011)

Yesterday afternoon in Denver - woe to any queens who had ventured out to spend time with the boys:

https://randallcherry.smugmug.com/2017/Bees-2017/i-pbzHXKz/A

And, yes, this hail storm is a major setback to any plants that had started their bloom cycle - those hailstones quickly stripped off many leaves, buds, and blooms. This is part of the reason why there are few-to-no fruit orchards along the Front Range.




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## msl (Sep 6, 2016)

I dodged the hail on this one... missed me, but not by much


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## shinbone (Jul 5, 2011)

About 10 days after the destructive hail storm, we get . . . snow today.


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## MonkeyMcBean (Mar 1, 2017)

God, I miss colorado!


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## Colobee (May 15, 2014)

We had about triple that - ~8" accumulating on the hive tops. Heavy rain changed to snow overnight - 5/18. More snow today, & freeze warning for tonight - 5/19. Lots of great moisture!


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## rwurster (Oct 30, 2010)

I haven't been on beesource for over a year and its good to see some familiar names  When we had the hurricane force winds I lost 15 hives to high winds, all were blown over and every colony was dead on the ground. The way the hives fell over left the frames parallel to the winds so the colonies clusted on the damp ground and died. I'm working back from 6 remaining colonies two of which seem to have a heavy mite load. It sure has been one heck of a spring and that late, wet snow we got was crazy. Crazy, crazy weather lol. Colobee, Steve, Lazarus (forgot his screen name here) Barb, I think of you all whenever I graft lol. Also I would like to pay some Pikes Peak Beekeeper dues for 2017 if someone could shoot me a private mail on who to contact about dues.


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## Nhaupt2 (May 31, 2016)

Hey fellow frontrangers, how is the season going for you all? I've got my main production colony with 4 full medium supers. I'm up to 9 nucs now, do you all think there is enough flow remaining to get some of these into full size hives? I have been periodically pulling brood frames and adding them to one of them, and it now fills a double deep, but I'm having problems getting them started drawing wax in their medium honey super. I'm hoping to let a few of the nucs run and see how big they can get, but I'm worried about them refusing to draw frames. the yellow clover seems to be blooming pretty strong still, what are your feelings on how we stand going forward with the flow? can we expect anything of any significance after the sweet clover shuts down. thanks and I hope your hives are heavy!


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## shinbone (Jul 5, 2011)

Nhaupt2 said:


> . . . do you all think there is enough flow remaining to get some of these into full size hives?


I know in the Denver area we are heading into our Summer dearth. Where are you located?


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## Nhaupt2 (May 31, 2016)

I'm up in Broomfield. I'm surprised to hear you say were headed into the dearth already. I feel like the clover bloom has really just started in the last 2 weeks in the open space around my house. maybe it's just not as strong this year. do you usually get much for a fall flow? sounds like I'll need to start feeding pretty heavily if I want to get more comb drawn. I know the Russian sage and some of the more suburban irrigated plants are about to go in earnest, that might give a small bump.


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## rdeeming (May 23, 2016)

Here in Lafayette, the last two weeks the ladies have just started the typical full of nectar reckless crash landings. Looking forward to seeing what they have done but know they have plenty of space to work with.

The DQ hive is having front porch battles on a daily basis to one side. For some reason the other side is not participating in the same activity.

Purple pollen coming in. Anyone have a guess what the source might be?


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## VickyLynn (Jun 20, 2011)

purple pollen = poppies


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## msl (Sep 6, 2016)

Shinbone did the dearth lift for you?
I went out to feed some weak nucs that had there stores dwindling and found they needed 2nd levels, not feeders lol. My fulsized KTBHs are about ready for harvest.
1st clue should have been the swarm I had just caught, 2nd should have been no bees checking things out when I was mixing syrup


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## shinbone (Jul 5, 2011)

msl said:


> Shinbone did the dearth lift for you?


Yes, it appears it did. I just finished a thorough inspection of all my 15 hives. Most are back to raising large amounts of brood. Not packing away the nectar as earlier in the season, but still being productive. 

One hive has just gone crazy, though, with brood and nectar. I just added the top box in this photo (taken on July 1), so it is empty, but the rest of the hive is jam packed with bees, brood and honey. The brood nest extends up to the 5th box. I wish I had a good way to remove and store honey supers until I can spin them because I certainly don't like a hive this tall. At 40lbs of honey per 10-frame Medium, I estimate this hive to have over 200lbs of honey. Colorado state average harvest is about 40 lbs per hive.


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## msl (Sep 6, 2016)

That is an epic hive!
Any reason you cant blow out a few full supers and put them on other hives till your ready ?


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## shinbone (Jul 5, 2011)

msl said:


> Any reason you cant blow out a few full supers and put them on other hives till your ready ?


Hmmm . . . essentially have other hives "baby sit" the honey supers until harvest? That sounds like a good idea. Seems like it would work as long as I don't give a baby sitting hive too much to baby sit and maybe open the hive up to robbing.


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## BDT123 (Dec 31, 2016)

Hope all went well this season. I'm sure lots has happened with everybody since July.
We woke up to -20C (-4F) this morning, about 4 to 5 inches of snow in the past 3 days. It's Winter up here.
Bees are put away; did all I could for them the last few weeks. Building insulation boxes today to slide over them. Then done and dusted til Feb.OAV and sugar board check.
Best regards,
Brian
53N, 115W, El.850M


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## shinbone (Jul 5, 2011)

It was 75F, here in Denver On Saturday (yesterday). Snow and a high of 33F is predicted for Tuesday.

Honey harvest for 2017 was 25% of normal for me. Very poor year due to our very dry Summer. That big hive shown in Post #63 had 4 medium supers of honey, and the rest was all bees. Lot's and lot's of bees, despite a very dry Summer. I am sure they consumed a lot of honey sustaining all those bees. I am seriously thinking of switching over to all Carniolans.

One last feeding, which will be their 3rd gallon of 2:1, and a final OAV for each hive, and they will be ready for Winter.


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## Nhaupt2 (May 31, 2016)

we must have had a bit more moisture up north in Broomfield county, although it did seem dry. my sweet clover flow was strong, with all 5 hives making 5 supers of honey and drawing out all the wax as well. I have a good mixture of open space, irrigated alfalfa and pumpkin, and mature suburban neighborhoods with endless maple trees for early pollen and nectar to draw on. our local municipalities have been planting thousands of spirea, russian sage and golden rain trees in all the medians as well for the last few years, so I think my nectar flow lasts pretty late into the season, with each hive maintaining a full super of supplies after I pulled 4 from each one on August 1st. 

shinbone if you are looking for some carniolan bees to give a try you might want to see about getting some queens from nimbus apiaries up in boulder. I re queened one of my hives this year with one of their carniolans and it has done well. she came out fast and then slowed it down when the dearth hit in September. 
you do have to watch the carniolan hives for robbing however with their smaller populations and all the Italian thugs hanging around.
https://nimbusfarm.weebly.com


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## Nhaupt2 (May 31, 2016)

any body else getting nervous about all the warm days we are stringing together? my hives are flying everyday and even bringing in tons of dandelion pollen. I left quite a bit of honey on the hives, but I'm worried about the long term implications of such a warm November. I'm guessing it's going to be sugar bricks in late February.


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## msl (Sep 6, 2016)

I haven't seen pollen coming in
The neighbor got 120# off 18 packages on drawn comb, ruff year to say the least
anyone heading to the statebeekeeping meeting on sat?


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## rangerpeterj (Dec 27, 2015)

To warm for me , due to dry winter last year I got very little honey and fed a lot of sugar this fall Pete


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## Nhaupt2 (May 31, 2016)

I'm thinking of heading up to Greeley for the meeting, seems like a few interesting speakers. I have never been to a meeting, are they generally worth the time? I generally try to avoid Greeley but may have to make an exception this time.


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## msl (Sep 6, 2016)

I have never been, but figgered it was time to get out and see what everyone elce is doing.


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## Bear Creek Steve (Feb 18, 2009)

Unfortunately I will not make it this year due to surgery yesterday, but I strongly recommend that you attend the CSBA meeting. You always meet other interesting beekeepers, and you will always pick up[ a pointer or two that you can use back in your home apiary.

Definitely go to it!

Steve


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## Colobee (May 15, 2014)

My production hives averaged 120 lbs per. Due to other concerns, I didn't get it all harvested, leaving many of them heavier than usual. With all this late warmer than average fall weather, I'm not at all concerned about their winter stores - they should come through the winter in great shape. I'll still be monitoring weights - the best way to "keep an eye on them" if you ask me.

Winter is coming... Monday, it appears. Much like last year - we "fell off the cliff" just after Thanksgiving.

Here's to a speedy recovery, Steve!


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## Wosiewose (Oct 31, 2015)

Hi everybody, sorry I've been away from the forums for quite a while (health concerns, but that's another thread). I've been concerned too about all the warm days we've had. Checked my colony today and they hardly had anything, after having had 10 full deep frames in the top box earlier! Gave them an OAV treatment, then quickly mixed up some thick syrup and put it on (entrance feeder is the only kind I have at this point, but I reduced the rest of the entrance way down in hopes of deterring any robbers). It's supposed to get down into the 20s this week, so I swapped out the inner cover for an insulated candy board. Hoping that will help carry them through. I suspect I'll need to lay in a good supply of sugar this winter......

Wosiewose


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## Bear Creek Steve (Feb 18, 2009)

Colobee,

Thanks for the good wishes. Wosie, take care of your health too, its important.

Steve


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## Wosiewose (Oct 31, 2015)

Thank you, Steve! Hope you're feeling much better!!


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## BDT123 (Dec 31, 2016)

So, Dec.10th and +11 C (50F) today. Bees flying and dying in droves as they hit the snow. Took the opportunity to remove dead bees from bottom boards, check the trays under the screens, and check the sugar boards up top. All is well. So far. Still a lot of Winter to go up here.
Brian
53N, 115W, El.850M


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## Wosiewose (Oct 31, 2015)

Dec. 12 and it's 67 degrees!! Hubby came in (he's retired and I'm home sick from work today) and said "the union is agitating out there... their feeder is empty", so I mixed up some 2:1 and struggled into my bee jacket. He was right, they were VERY active, and I was glad I'd suited up even though they weren't actually being aggressive. There's a little bit of snow in the forecast and then it's supposed to go back into the 50's, so we'll keep feeding them as much as they'll take while the sun shines...

Wosiewose


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## Wosiewose (Oct 31, 2015)

sorry, duplicate post...


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## rwurster (Oct 30, 2010)

I got head butted quite a few times feeding two nucs and then hitting them all with OA. The bees were definitely active today


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## rwurster (Oct 30, 2010)

We need to get some precipitation soon. The snowpack in the Arkansas River basin is pretty low. January snowpack We haven't been able to burn in the county for going on two months now, which is frightening considering what may be to come. I keep my apiary and outyard mowed low but there is so much dry fuel in the creek adjacent to it, if that creek goes up its over. We've gotten a few dustings of snow but precip for December was close to 0 Precipitation We are dry dry dry. I hope this year isn't another bad fire year.


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## Nhaupt2 (May 31, 2016)

Yeah not great.... It's been so warm lots of the silver maple and early flowering shrubs around were pushing buds right before that last cold snap. Hopefully they have enough juice in the tank to set another bloom in March when they are supposed to. I went out today to do a round of OAV, but Its been so warm I doubt we have even had a broodless period this winter. So far 10 for 10 hives still alive but clusters were definitely higher in the box then I would have prefered.


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## Greenride (Jul 7, 2013)

There's been some cold but we always get another few days to week of sub zero weather in January. I haven't noticed any early budding in my neck of the woods, I've still got snow in the shade. 
The past two and next two days are warm enough for flying. I'm surprised about my dink nuc. I thought for sure it was a lost cause. It got apiguard in late summer because it refused to build. I worried about a mite count sample because it was so small! I kept 2:1 on it thru the fall. This nuc refused to take it, where the other (a late season split w/queen) and the main colony (raised their own queen) took 3-4 gallons each.
The dink was a early 2017 split whose queen failed to mate/come back. It has a purchased queen from a local supplier. I've been mumbling to myself about this queen/supplier, but I'm hoping to have to eat my words.
Here's a picture. I've got them wrapped in 2 inch rigid foam. It's the one on the right w the unpainted 2x floor. 









Fabian


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## rwurster (Oct 30, 2010)

It has been very warm several days this past week. Today I had windows open since it was in the 60s. As long as this weather doesn't make the elms bloom early, that's a huge pollen flow in late winter/early spring. All my nucs have taken a gallon each of invert sugar. Every hive has been flying, no signs of any dead outs.

I've never wrapped any hives and the 7 nucs are 19/32" ply. Never really had any problems with the cold and they're out in the open. I always have a feeder on the nucs even though they have 2 boxes.


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## shinbone (Jul 5, 2011)

It has been crazy warm and dry in my area, too. Out snowpack is really hurting. I am thinking all this warm weather means more bee activity which will consume more honey than usual. I don't normally put fondant on my hives, but this winter will be an exception.


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## shinbone (Jul 5, 2011)

BTW, here is the "Front Range roller coaster - 2018" thread:

http://www.beesource.com/forums/showthread.php?341963-Front-Range-roller-coaster-2018


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