Connecting the Dots…
A.V. Walters–
As I washed the dishes this morning, I glanced out and was taken aback at the sudden increase in bunny scat, dotting the landscape. Was there some kind of a bunny event? Then it dawned on me. We’re experiencing a winter heat wave. Everything is melting. This is not an overnight accumulation; this is a mid-winter exposé. By observing the accumulated droppings, we can actually map the bunnies’ trails and activities. Funny how a turn in the weather can reveal what’s been going on, all along.
Like yesterday, today will reach 50 degrees Fahrenheit, before a wave of unseasonable rain and fog heralds in the next cold front, dropping us back into the low double digits tonight. Then, Winter, having taken a breather, will return in full force. Tomorrow will be an icy, slippery mess.
We took the opportunity to check on the bees. The snowy caps on their hives, so pronounced just three days ago, are gone. When winter temperatures reach the high forties, bees will fly. I doesn’t matter that there’s nothing to eat or gather. Supposedly, bees are loathe to soil their hives, so the warm weather gives them the opportunity to take a “cleansing flight.” Often it doesn’t go so well…it really isn’t warm enough for them. The snow around our hives is dotted with dead bees. It’s a good news/bad news conundrum—proof that our hives are still alive, but learning that came at a cost. I wish those intrepid bees would stay put in their clusters. This erratic weather, glimpses of climate change, is really hard on the bees.
Tomorrow it will snow again, covering the bunny scat and the unlucky bees. We’ll descend back into winter, a little wiser for having connected the dots.
tworockchronicles 
I’m currently in New Hampshire helping my mother, and the weather is just as messed up here. It was bitter cold after the blizzard, and now tomorrow it’s going to be near 50 degrees. Then cold again. Sigh.
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Yeah, here, too.
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I am in between (but north of) the two of you and it’s the same here. Such BIG weather systems ):
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It must be tough not seeing the bees in winter. They are doing what they have always done but it could be a long wait for you. I will be very interested to hear what you think about your long/Kenyan hive in the spring. Amelia
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I’m considering buying a stethoscope to listen to the hives in winter. The top bar hive was lent to us by a friend, because we wanted to try it. Unfortunately, the bees this year were VERY swarmy. That hive swarmed three times last summer–the final swarm/abscond in September! (Never a good sign; much to close to winter.) So we won’t know how they overwintered, because they took off early. In my bee group, three of us had hives that absconded in September. We’ll never know, but we speculate that the very long, wet and mild summer tricked them into thinking that it was spring.
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Oh wait, I missed that “on loan from a friend” bit the first time… So, here’s the Question: how far are away is the hive now compared to where your friend had them before?
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She was about fifteen miles away, but the hive arrived here empty, filled with Georgia package bees. Productive as all get out, but swarmy, swarmy, swarmy. She (the lender of the hive) had one hive swarm four times between early May and July.
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Wow, that’s so bizarre! Something weird must be going on, hey?
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We figure that the bees (mass raised in the south during the winter and likely all related) were genetically inclined to swarm. Nothing else would explain why, all of a sudden, so many of us had multiple early swarms.
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Guessing you’re right. I know many Beekeepers who’d never bother trying to “reclaim” a swarm even from their own gives for that exact reason. And, y’know, that may also be part of the problem too… These bees are coming from The South and just won’t like the weather farther North, no matter what, right? So, aren’t there any bees available for you guys to purchase from closer to home? One thing’s for certain, this can’t just be a coincidence, right? You should definitely be spreading the word about this so other people don’t have the same thing happen to them as well…
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We’re experimenting now. In late summer we re-queened two of the hives (one had gone quenelles) with Michigan bred queens. We’re watching to see if it has an impact on survival rates. We’re also watching for results from another Michigan beekeeper who has imported Ontario “monkfast” queens. They are purported both winter-hardy AND hygienic. (For our non-beekeeping friends, hygienic bees are bred for grooming behaviors and for “cleaning” out larvae that are varroa infested.)
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SO excited to hear you’ve heard of (did you mean Buckfast queens, by any chance? (I recall that someone my dad knew, back in the day bred Buckfast bees up on Manitoulin Island…)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buckfast_bee
Thought you might also find this piece (from the OBA/Ontario Beekeepers Ass’n) on purchasing Nucs interesting? http://www.ontariobee.com/sites/ontariobee.com/files/document/Nuc%20Buyers%20Guide%202013_0.pdf
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Yes, that’s it, Buckfast.
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Oh, and we caught three of the four swarms, put them in Langstroth hives and (except that last one) all of them stayed put. I don’t think it was the top bar specifically, but that particular queen had issues.)
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Mmm, I’ve also heard of hives absconding from top bar hives, so maybe… ?
Great that you recovered three of the four though!
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The only thing that is certain about bees is that they keep us guessing! I think your idea about the stethoscope is good but I would imagine that when it is really cold there would not be a lot of noise coming from the cluster. Kourosh bought a Potensic endoscope when we were worried about one of our hives in 2016. We attached it to our computer as we don’t have a smart phone. It enabled us to ascertain the hive had been cleaned out by hornets. I like your idea of the stethoscope as it is less invasive.
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During the winter, we cannot open the hives–they’ll lose too much heat. It leaves us guessing…
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Not only that, but just by cracking open a hive in winter takes the chance that they won’t be able to break cluster for long enough to be able to repair the seal you just broke…
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A small rap on the hive body will make them “growl” if they’re in there.. (So, the louder the complaint, the stronger the hive; )
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My sister (the one in Marion IN) said the weather got warm enough there for the bees to–as you say–fly out to relieve themselves. Well, none came out of one of her hives. Very sad.
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It’s heartbreaking. We spend so much mental energy trying to solve the mystery of how to save the bees. Most of the people in beekeeping that I know are in it for the bees. Sure, there’s honey, but most of us are feeding it right back to our bees (with just a little kept back for tea.)
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While it should be too early for a hive to have depleted its honey storesWinter this is the time of year that hives going into Winter with a pre-existing problem – ie suffering from a heavy mite infestation or toxic overload from chemical agricultural practices –
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People ask me, “What’s really the problem with the bees?” I don’t know what to say. Is it pesticides? (certainly they are involved) Is it varroa? (Absolutely, but please stop blaming the hobbyists–if Georgia package bees arrive each spring, laden with mites, you’ve got to cut some slack for backyard beekeepers) Is it the weather? (Sure seems like it) Is it the lowered protein content of pollen in plants bred for other attributes–and because a warmer climate and higher CO2 levels create lower protein production) Because there doesn’t seem to be one cause, finger-pointing in all directions is slowing any rational response to what is a real and growing crisis, both for the bees and for our food systems.
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NeoNics. Are a neuro-toxic insecticide being applied to plants as foliar spray is the fields and greenhouses and as tick/pest control on our pets as well as seed coatings (on corn, soy, cotton… ) which, as a systemic application, go on to include ALL parts of each plant as it develops…
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Yes. Part of the mission of my bee group is to spread the word on neonics, so that well-meaning gardeners don’t inadvertently poison our pollinators. Outside of the gardener angle, we need, as a society, to decide what’s more important–food or Agri-chemical profits. Oooh, don’t get me started.
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LOL! “Preaching to the choir”, as the saying goes; )
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And not just gardeners, but millions of pet owners as well… Advantage and… Shoot, can’t recall the other one we have on this side of the border; but there are at LEAST two kinds for flea and tick control. Turns your whole animal (systemically) toxic. Wow, the repercussions just totally boggle the mind… ):):
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I use a little comb for flea control. I only keep as much “pet” as I can comb.
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And, as a preventative, I feed diatomaceous earth & garlic to both dogs and cats; plus brewer’s yeast to the dogs.
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Isn’t the diatomaceous earth sharp (that being its mechanism.) I can’t see feeding it to animals. Am I missing something?
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Sharp? Yes, but bones are too, right? (Sorry, couldn’t resist; ).
Yes, DE kills (cuts > dessicates) soft-bodied parasites. It’s a “size thing”, lol
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On the label, they warn to wear a mask and avoid inhalation. That’s what made me forego it in the garden.
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Yes, for sure our lungs would be highly susceptible (but that would also be the same for inhalation of any fine particulate matter: applying Oxytet & icing sugar for the bees, smoke & ash, silica in pottery clay, sawdust, concrete, mortar, grout…)
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Yes, but I’m not so sure that the soft tissues of the alimentary canal would be so different. I’ve certainly had more than my fair share of exposures (my mum was a potter and silica and asbestos were everyday occurrences, and lots of construction.) But when I used DE against garden pests, it made me think about it in other situations. I had a friend who swore by it for flea control in her house, only to have wrought an early demise on her collection of pricey antique oriental rugs. There are ways I’d consider it, but feeding it to pets seems like a problematic exposure.
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Wow, doing this on my phone and it’s pretty scruffy composition ): So, what I was trying to say was that “… hives going into Winter with a pre-existing problem – ie suffering from a heavy mite infestation or toxic overload from chemical agricultural practices – may start to die off… (Makes a little more sense, I hope?)
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Makes sense as a hypothetical, but the absconding hive had very low mite numbers. We have only one ag field near us (yes, treated corn) but the bees don’t generally head that way. They seem to prefer the swamp and the forest (and of course, the dreaded spotted knapweed.) It’s a classic case of TDMV. (Too Damn Many Variables.)
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Mmm, I’ve never heard of Spotted Knapweed. What’s the issue with it?
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Did a blog on it last summer. (https://wordpress.com/post/two-rock-chronicles.com/1881)
I think in Canada you call it knotweed.
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I did look up your Spotted Knapweed yesterday and recognised it right away as being what I’ve always thought of as “Wild Batchelor’s Buttons” and grows by the roadside here so it must like salt. Botanical name is Centaurea maculosa (judging by which, you can tell that it’s been used as medicine for the eyes (Macula – like Macular Degeneration)
But no, lol, Japanese Knotweed is something different altogether but is both highly edible and medicinal…
Here’s an article on Knapweed’s uses and one for Knotweed as well:
http://theherbhound.blogspot.ca/2013/12/knapweed.html?m=1. (Address is a Mobile link, so you may need to take out the m=1.)
http://www.pfaf.org/user/plant.aspx?LatinName=Polygonum+japonicum
NB, PFAF is not responding (for me at least) right this second, so you might need to wait a bit…):
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Sadly, once these neurotoxins are in the hive – apparently(supposedly): they’re degradable in sunlight(?) – but, as bees live in darkness; when they bring in affected an plants’ pollen or nectar, it’s accumulating in the hive. As you say, these poisons are retained in fat, so it would easily become bound up in hive wax as well… ):):
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Unfortunately (as they do sometimes get caught out in a sudden temperature swing): your girls don’t have a choice about going out for a winter cleansing flight, as often as they can; as it truly is “do, or die” and they will not soil the hive.
Something else that just occurred to me – knowing how devoted bees are to the entire hive’s health – it may be that they do a form of hari kiri if they’re ill or over-burdened by mites, in order to protect their hive mates… (This is just a thought, I’ve certainly no proof of it)
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Since there was little action, given the temperature, we wondered if they were sending out scouts, to see if they came back before others made the leap. (Also, just a thought, with no proof.)
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(Also may have been scouts from another hive COMING to have a look for plunder?)
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Ack!
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Totally agree with your supposition about this (past!?) year’s idiotic weather of late-arriving and then never-ending Summer/Fall…
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Ah, there we go! I was looking for this I the wrong day’s post, lol!
(Duplicate; ). If the bees swarmed out of the top bar hive (three times, you say?!) it is a sure sign that they’re not happy with it. Perhaps new digs are in order? (If indeed any were left to have survived the winter… ):
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I still remember my first walks out in the woods after a snowstorm as a child, AV, and the wonderful world of wildlife activity outlined in the snow. It was like entering another, more secret world. –Curt
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And strangely quiet…
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Wonderfully so, and I still love the silence, AV.
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First time on the blogs in more than a year and I find out you also are navigating change and finding new rhythms. Amazing how life does that. I see I’m going to be learning a bit about bees – looking forward to it.
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Welcome back!
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You mentioned “lower-protein pollen” being a potential problem? To which I say again, when NeoNicotinoid (translated literally as “a new type of nicotine”) insecticides are applied as a coating on crop seed BEFORE it’s planted, it literally grows within the plant – not just as a seedling, but every part that grows out of it: the root, the stem, the leaves, the flower and all of its parts (pollen & nectar, seed or fruit) and will subsequently kill any insect (be they pest or POLLINATOR) that eats any of these plant’s parts. Same applies for flea & tick control products: it turns the entire animal toxic to blood-sucking parasites.
Initial studies of NeoNics determined “safe” nontoxic exposure levels and how much it would take to kill target insects and yet still be “safe” for non-target species like Honey Bees. Subsequent studies involving non-lethal doses – smaller exposures accumulated over time – show that neonics are having widespread, disastrous neurological effects on non-target insect populations.
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And, like many insecticides, they concentrate in fats. That’s bad news for honeybees. Their comb is all fats (wax) and that’s where the larvae live. And honeybees make it through the winter by packing on fat in the abdomen, meaning their winters can be a slow release poison. We are, however, preaching to the choir.
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Lol, just saw your response here (right after ending you virtually the exact same thing!; ). TOO funny.
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Deb, where are you located? We’re in Cedar, just outside of Traverse City, MI.
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I am 8 1/2 hours east (and slightly south) of you. About an hour past Toronto and just a little north of the shores of Lake Ontario : )
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South, eh? Canadians are often surprised at how far north we are.
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LOL! And Americans are often surprised that Point Pelee (the most southerly place in the province of Ontario) is actually farther south than some parts of California; )
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Having grown up in Southwestern Ontario, I know Point Pelee well. It used to be the site of our cross country running events.
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You did? How delightful! (And, in that case, I am instantly envious of your exposure to all the Carolinian species that I have only heard about; )
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So, I’m guessing you must get whacked fairly often with Lake Effect snow storms where you are, hey?
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Oh yes. Lake effect is a way of life here. We think of it as trickle down irrigation in the spring.
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Lol, and the best kind; )
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In fact, that was the beginning of the huge drought we had two summers ago… Next to zero snow cover – or it kept coming in waves – the forecast would be for 4-10cm and we’d get 4″+.
By the time “Spring” rolled around it had all gone and we hadn’t gotten the usual life-giving soil-soaking and on it went for the whole summer, right through until Fall which was suddenly incredible for growing… Bah, STUPID weather. I hate the way everything feels out of synch!
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Yeah eh, can’t even get some people to actually see the weather right outside their own door, never mind wrap their heads around all of this kinda stuff… TOO sad! Frustrating as hell
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Totally agree! DE is horrible stuff for external application on “inside” animals… But, when used as an addition to where poultry like to take their leisure in a dust bath? Awesome; )
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