From my beekeeping diary ...
Tu 01 Nov Another very dull day with cold N. wind.
Clemens_1 hive (Carnie #2): Observed working furiously, whilst ALL
other hives have stopped due to dull day and cold wind.
Then, overnight :
(http://i68.tinypic.com/347h64p.jpg)
We 02 Heavy overnight frost, chilly day. Zero apiary activity, except ...
Clemens_1 hive (Carnie #2): again observed working furiously from
midday onwards (as soon as the day warmed-up enough to fly).
Th 03 Dry, but seriously cold - only one hive flying again (guess which).
There has to be a reason why this colony is flying when all the others are tucked-up warm and snug. The only obvious thing which sets this colony apart from the others is their hive format: a box stack made from two five-over-five-frame nuc boxes, with each frame being 14 inches by 12 - producing a very narrow chimney format with just five frames, each of which is effectively two feet deep. If it's not that, then there's something very odd going on ...
LJ
I've been reflecting on this hive overnight and have come to a partial answer.
I had been running one of the 5-over-5 Nuc Boxes (14x12 frames) as a 'Joseph Clemens' queenless starter-finisher, and when a virgin emerged early - and you know the rest of that story - I put it to one side and started a second identical setup.
At the end of the season, I left a Q/Cell in the second queenless starter-finisher, but for some reason the virgin never 'made it'. And so I simply combined the two boxes as an easy solution to the queenless problem.
Which means - that stack of boxes currently has at least twice the number of bees that it would normally have at this time of year.
But what remains a mystery is why an over-population of bees should - in itself - provoke such dynamic foraging behaviour. Suggesting perhaps, that all hives could benefit from a generous donation of additional bees going into winter ... ?
LJ
LJ,
My first thought was that that hive has more northern genetics than the other hive. Are all of your queens the same color?
Did she come from another area where there is a different drone population with different genetics?
I have seen the same thing in my apiary where one hive is always the first one out but usually it is the hive with the earliest sun. My bees are under the shade of several trees.
Jim
Hi Jim - good thoughts ... but, no - she's one of several daughters of a Carnie queen imported from Slovenia in late 2015. As an import, I decided to let her over-winter first, before getting involved in any breeding. She was a tad slow to start this year, but when she got going the results were really quite impressive. So I duly took a few daughters from her which were then open-mated, and the hive in question is headed by one of those.
What I'm finding very strange is the contrast: for today is another bitterly cold day, with a strong North wind coming in off the sea - and the apiary looks for all the world like the Marie Celeste - not a single bee to be seen outside of a hive ... until you come to this one hive, at the entrance of which - yet again - the bees are tripping over each other to get out, with others coming back with their pollen baskets full, scrambling over the emerging scrum to get back in again - it's like a full-blown flow is in progress - and yet every other hive is 'dead in the water', so to speak. And many of them house some very sizeable colonies.
As I see things, this is either due to the hive being significantly over-populated, or that the tall narrow chimney format is playing some kind of role - or perhaps it's a function of the two ? But I'm at a complete loss to understand why an over-populated hive (as opposed to just being a large colony) should result in this kind of 'foraging on steroids' type of behaviour.
Now, normally a hive wouldn't have so many bees (per unit volume) in it - so I have wondered whether it's excessively warm in there ? But then, there's no hint of any bearding ...
It's very strange. But - as this is a Carnie queen, I'm mindful that I'll need to be quick with a box change or expansion early next year, else they'll soon be up over the hedge and far away.
LJ
LJ,
Sounds like a great queen for your weather.
As for an over heated hive, I do not think that is the case. My observation hive is in the house and much warmer than my outside hives during the winter. They do not fly based on the hive temp. They follow what the other bees are doing.
The fact that they are returning with pollen means they are keeping up their body heat while in the field. Are they all just bringing in pollen?
Jim
Is this that hive's first winter?
Sounds like you should get some daughters from her and see if the trait is heritable!
Hi guys
Another severe frost overnight, and it was 11 a.m. before the ice melted from the car windscreen (US = windshield ?) ... and yes, as usual ... at around midday they were 'off to the coal-face' yet again ! Totally crazy - I've pretty-much given-up on trying to understand this obsession they've got with foraging in the cold.
Jim - the 'goodies' are typically 30% or so pollen (a dandelion-yellow colour), there were (past tense) about 10% returning with their backs covered in pollen - which I assume was Himalayan Balsam, which I expect the frost to have wiped out - the remainder of the gang must be carrying nectar. It's a little early for ivy - but who knows ? - they're getting something from somewhere. Bless 'em.
Phil - yes I will (!) - my money's on the unusual over-populated conditions they find themselves in right now - rather than genetics - but who knows ? I was reading-up on Brother Adam and his Buckfast Bees a few days ago, and it appears that the original two Buckfast Bees resulted from chance open-matings several years before he created the first isolated mating station - so yes, such things have been known to happen ... but I ain't planning that Caribbean holiday from the profits just yet. :smile:
LJ
LJ,
What is the lowest temperature that they are flying in?
Jim
Hi Jim - they're taking off when the air temperature is between 4 and 5 deg C - that's between 39 and 41 F. Which is not unheard of for clearance flights, I know - but the rest of the circus aren't being tempted to forage at those temperatures, especially with a cold N wind blowing.
LJ
LJ, I live in a zone that knows winter, and we usually experience a hard freeze about week 3 of October. This year we are still waiting on the hard freeze, but have had frost on the windshield for over 2 weeks now with morning lows ~34-36F. In my observations, my hives with the least pollen and honey stores are the ones that will fly the earliest in the morning and the last to come in at evening. I see them flying at about 43-45F.
This leads me to speculate that your Arctic flyers are doing their best to stock up on stores at every possible opportunity, extending fly time into the coldest tolerable daylight hours.
It will be interesting to see if in the spring this queen's spring bees are as willing to fly in the cold. It could be a desirable trait.
Quote from: little john on November 08, 2016, 01:35:49 PM
Hi Jim - they're taking off when the air temperature is between 4 and 5 deg C - that's between 39 and 41 F. Which is not unheard of for clearance flights, I know - but the rest of the circus aren't being tempted to forage at those temperatures, especially with a cold N wind blowing.
LJ
Wow. I have watched my bees fly at close to 40 degrees but it always looked like just the scouts were doing it and it was always on sunny days.
Jim
It does seem to be something of a characteristic, inasmuch as this cold-weather flying has been quite noticeable for a week or ten days now. About a month ago, I did make a note in my diary that this colony seemed much busier than the rest, but other than that I didn't pay too much attention to them.
Tomorrow promises to be a tad warmer, but at the expense of an inch of rain - so I can't see any bees flying tomorrow.
(http://i64.tinypic.com/xmjsqf.jpg)
I'm really hoping that the temperatures will moderate a little in the coming weeks, as it's far too early for us to be getting such a taste of winter - otherwise it'll be a 4 or 5 month winter period ... but then, many of you guys are well used to that length of confinement in some States of the US - so for you that would be nothing exceptional.
LJ
I've got a few colonies of Buckfast this winter that are flying very little until the day warms above 50 degrees. I have several colonies of my line that have significant A.M.M. genetic background and they regularly fly at 4 to 5 C. My experience is that genetics has a huge influence on when the bees fly. I've also seen a colony robbing that will fly in otherwise too cold conditions. So is there a possibility your bees have found a dead colony to take advantage of?
A.M.M.???
Apis Mellifera Mellifera - the British or German Black Bee. Hardy as hell, but can be nasty little buggers when mongrelised - which then sting without provocation, and follow you for hundreds of feet in order to do so. I've just cleared 'em out of my apiary, and hope to never see hide nor hair of them again.
LJ
Quote from: Fusion_power on November 12, 2016, 08:30:01 AM
I've also seen a colony robbing that will fly in otherwise too cold conditions. So is there a possibility your bees have found a dead colony to take advantage of?
First post ? Then a warm welcome to the lunatic asylum ...
Robbing is always possible, of course, but with pollen coming in I'm more inclined to suspect they'd found something tasty - perhaps amongst the houses of the nearest village, as that is the direction they've been flying towards.
It's still very wet and cold here, but there are a few warmer days forecast during next week - so it'll be interesting to see if this behaviour continues after so many severe overnight frosts which I'm sure must have taken out any soft plant life.
LJ