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ocba - Re: [ocba] Big chill to invade eastern U.S. this weekend, and it may get stuck

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Subject: Orange County, NC Beekeepers

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Chronological Thread  
  • From: Randall Austin <ra41717 AT gmail.com>
  • To: Bynum Hoekstra <bynumhoekstra AT gmail.com>, ocba AT lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: Re: [ocba] Big chill to invade eastern U.S. this weekend, and it may get stuck
  • Date: Tue, 2 May 2017 18:07:58 -0400

Bynum,

It all depends on how strong your colonies are. If you've been making lots of splits and have a relatively small number of bees caring for lots of brood or have been aggressively checker-boarding the brood nest to give the queen plenty of space to lay then you may get some chilled brood around the edges of the nest. What you'll see after the 40-degree nights is dead brood on the front porch. Don't freak out, this is just a minor set-back, not a threat to the colony's existence. The cluster wasn't large enough to cover all of the brood to keep it warm, but it should have been able to cover most of it. The outer rim will be lost but the rest should be fine.

A lot will depend on how long the low temps last at a single stretch. Keep in mind that the ambient temperature is NOT the same as the temperature inside the hive. A large healthy colony generates a whole lot of heat.

If they start using the "F" word (frost) then that'll be bad news for the tulip poplar bloom but think happy thoughts to ward that off.

Randall


On 5/2/2017 5:31 PM, Bynum Hoekstra wrote:
Anyone want to venture a guess as to how this cold extended forecast might
affect our bees?

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/capital-weather-gang/wp/2017/05/02/big-chill-to-invade-eastern-u-s-this-weekend-and-may-get-stuck/?utm_term=.cdfa0704bd48


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