# Notice to Ian



## snl (Nov 20, 2009)

Hey Ian,
It was 76 here today in sunny, SC!


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## Allen Martens (Jan 13, 2007)

14 C in sioux falls this morning and better in Florida tonight. Feels lambish to me. Ian I felt a little guilty not heading to cooks and Beal for a pick up instead of heading for Florida.


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## Ian (Jan 16, 2003)

ha ha ah ha, who made up that lamb lion thing anyway! dgl1948, hows the bees look?

this week end, better get back here Allen! Im optimistic !

Better check on your delivery Allen, it did not arrive with the rest today! Duly noted with the trucker( who did not seem to care!!) , and I sent the word back to Carol.


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## Allen Martens (Jan 13, 2007)

Hey thanks Ian. Saw your email after my post. Sent you an email reply. Will check into it tomorrow. Thanks again. 

Yep back on Friday just in time to move out. Snow disappeared quickly as soon as we drove South. They were suppose to get 12+ inches in this last storm.


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## Ian (Jan 16, 2003)

Ya, we missed this last storm, just on the edge but Im thinking your yards will be full full full of snow when you get back!


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## Allen Martens (Jan 13, 2007)

We got a good shot of snow apparently and we still had lots.


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## dgl1948 (Oct 5, 2005)

Ian said:


> ha ha ah ha, who made up that lamb lion thing anyway! dgl1948, hows the bees look?
> 
> this week end, better get back here Allen! Im optimistic !
> 
> Better check on your delivery Allen, it did not arrive with the rest today! Duly noted with the trucker( who did not seem to care!!) , and I sent the word back to Carol.


I have not been able to give them a good check as of yet. One day when the temp was not to bad I went to a yard. There seemed to be bees at a lot of the top entrances so fingers are crossed. One good thing is we have not had any warm spell that would have got the queens going. I think this is when you get some losses. The bees want to stay on the brood and when the temps drops for an extended period of time we lose them.


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## Ian (Jan 16, 2003)

I am growing to Hate the month of March...Today we had an 80 km/hr wind blowing -15degreesC air... took all those happy spring thoughts away


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## JodieToadie (Dec 26, 2013)

Ian said:


> I am growing to Hate the month of March...Today we had an 80 km/hr wind blowing -15degreesC air... took all those happy spring thoughts away


-25 here this morning. She's getting awful long in the tooth!


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## Fusion_power (Jan 14, 2005)

80 degrees (26C) forecast tomorrow, drones flying daily, queens started. North Alabama


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## Ian (Jan 16, 2003)

dgl1948,,, can you feel that warm weather coming?? Its a coming!!


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## grozzie2 (Jun 3, 2011)

Our kids in Dawson Creek are still a bit shellshocked over the first real northern winter they have experienced, but it's a good growing experience for them 

Here on the coast, little bit different story. We had a degree of frost last nite, but it's 19C right now on a beautiful sunny day. Bees are bringing in a LOT of pollen. Got a text message from my wife a little while ago, she has spotted the first blooming dandelion in front of her office today. The warm weather may be on it's way for you folks yet, it's arrived here, and only needs to push past the mountains now.


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## dgl1948 (Oct 5, 2005)

Ian said:


> dgl1948,,, can you feel that warm weather coming?? Its a coming!!


 I think the weatherman is just like a politician, they tell you what you want to here even though it is not the truth.


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## Ian (Jan 16, 2003)

those are the worst kind, political weathermen...


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## Ian (Jan 16, 2003)

Terribly slow spring again this year... the country side sits under a blanket of snow again. By the looks of the forecast we will be getting a good week of February weather.... spring conditions like these sure take the fun out of this business... talk about testing a mans patience!!


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## Joseph Clemens (Feb 12, 2005)

How curious; down here, we've had a record mild winter. Only about one week in December with frosty nights, and temperatures at or near freezing. Other than that week, the nights have been at or near 50F (10C), almost all winter, with the daytime temperatures even warmer, of course. Now we're having daytime temps over 90F (32C), and nights around 60F (15.5C).

I already produced a batch of nucs and queens and am working on more.

We had a spring like wildflower flow, that started in mid-January, begun by winter rain that happened in November. And for the first time since I've been here (more than twenty years now), the mesquite flow has begun before 15 April - which is the date it began every year prior to this one.

Here's to sharing the warmth; I hope it spreads to more northern latitudes, soon.

-------------------
I once participated in joint forces exercises at *CFB Cold Lake*. I know that's in Alberta, but it's not too far from Manitoba, at least they share similar latitudes. I was only there in the heart of summer, but will always remember how gorgeous it was there.


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## ABruce (Dec 27, 2013)

Hi Ian, 
Hang in there, our weather is behind too. While not like yours we are three weeks behind where we should be. minus 2 this morning, keeps up like this the fruit trees will suffer. When all your snow melts will that cause you a challenge too? my sister in law in Winnipeg is saying they are concerned.
Have a good weekend!


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## Ian (Jan 16, 2003)

Hi ABruce, na, the snow melt has been slow, the flood forecast is low at this point in time as far as I know.


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## dgl1948 (Oct 5, 2005)

Sat 12 Apr -2°C Sun 13 Apr-2°C -12°C Mon 14 Apr -4°C -16°C Tue 15 Apr -6°C -15°C Wed 16 Apr -5°C -17°C Thu 17 Apr 1°C -12°C Fri 18 Apr 5°C -7°C 


Here is our 7 day forcast.


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## Haraga (Sep 12, 2011)

Beautiful wind out of the north here and it is snowing sideways.


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## jkola404 (Jan 8, 2008)

More cold weather? That means more time to hang out with the neighbors. --> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sq-w7lgtwsU


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## Ian (Jan 16, 2003)

Well... that April was not what I had ordered...

Needing some kind of heat to get spring started here. The trees have yet to begin the bloom around the Miami area. I have fed 18-20 bags of soy flour in the open feeders and the hives have gone through two rounds of patties to date. Trickling the syrup to them through the open syrup feeders. The hives are brooding quite nicely considering the cool weather and lack of natural forage. All my attention towards brood stimulation has paid off so far. Needing warmth to actually get any hive growth...

We are a week from any land work yet and at least three weeks til pasture


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## dgl1948 (Oct 5, 2005)

Same in our part of the worlds as well Ian. The odd poplar is starting to bud but we need more heat. Looking at the forecast, that is not an option just yet. We have had feed out for about 3 weeks. So far our losses are at 6%. Started doing splits yesterday. Hives are full of brood and they are the best I have ever seen in the spring. After the brutal winter we were expecting the worst. Biggest problem we have is it is very wet. Yards are soft and care must be taken.


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## VanIslander (Aug 19, 2013)

Ian, you and our other Canuck neighbours in the far north will not appreciate hearing this, but we've likely set records this past week on the southern island. This is my first year keeping bees, and it was great to see the hives explode with activity as temps reached the low to mid-20's (70 to 77ish F). It's looks like I'll have honey supers on before the end of May...









I am looking forward to hearing about moving your hives from the storage shed to the field. Hope you can get started soon....


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## Ian (Jan 16, 2003)

They have been out since the 8th of April, moved into the spring yards. I have just started moving them into the summer yards.


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## Ian (Jan 16, 2003)

dgl1948 said:


> So far our losses are at 6%. Started doing splits yesterday. Hives are full of brood and they are the best I have ever seen in the spring.


Wow, thats an awesome loss number! Mine are running higher, after culling out the smaller hives I'm sitting at 20% to date. Winter starvation took at least 10-12% out of the shed.


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## Vance G (Jan 6, 2011)

Hats off to you! You obviously know what you are doing. What queens do you use and out of curiosity, how many pounds per colony of patties do you plan on? Are your splits with caged queens or are you letting the bees raise their own? Thanks in advance.



dgl1948 said:


> Same in our part of the worlds as well Ian. The odd poplar is starting to bud but we need more heat. Looking at the forecast, that is not an option just yet. We have had feed out for about 3 weeks. So far our losses are at 6%. Started doing splits yesterday. Hives are full of brood and they are the best I have ever seen in the spring. After the brutal winter we were expecting the worst. Biggest problem we have is it is very wet. Yards are soft and care must be taken.


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## dgl1948 (Oct 5, 2005)

Vance G said:


> Hats off to you! You obviously know what you are doing. What queens do you use and out of curiosity, how many pounds per colony of patties do you plan on? Are your splits with caged queens or are you letting the bees raise their own? Thanks in advance.


Not all our yards will make that 6%. Anything under 20 is good. Our early splits are done with queens from Chile. Once thing get flowering we will raise a lot of our own queens. We do not feed a lot of patties, just enough to see if there is a laying queen. We bulk feed a pollen supplement in the yards.


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