It takes a certain type of lunatic person to be a beekeeper. That type of person is prepared to turn up and talk bees, drink tea and eat cake in all weathers, and that includes snow!
From left to right: David, Don, Albert, Stan, John and Cliff.
A great selection of hats going on there.
A small amount of beekeeping was also done. This consisted of hefting hives, checking fondant levels were still ok, and looking at a woodpecker hole that had appeared in the bottom of John’s hive. Worrying, as once a woodpecker has learned the habit of drilling into beehives they are likely to try it again. To a hungry woodpecker, our apiary must be like a piñata waiting to happen. John covered over the hole with parcel tape.
Are these the claw prints of the culprit? Or perhaps they belong to a seagull or wood pigeon?
And could these smaller paw prints be those of a squirrel?
Naturalist David Craven posted a great idea on his ‘Why watch wildlife‘ blog – taking photos of the prints we find in the snow, and then tweeting them with the #snowtracks hash tag. It’s not often we get to see what creatures have been visiting! Have you come across any snow tracks for David to identify?
Tried this couple of years back to comparative success, but I reckon we can really get it going this year: wp.me/p2PdP1-4j #snowtracks
— David Craven (@davidjcraven) January 19, 2013
Emma photographing the bees
We peeked inside our hive and the bees were still busy eating through their fondant. Emma took a close-up photo of them – you can see the result on her latest blog post, ‘Snowmageddon‘.
What’s the weather like in your area, are your bees under snow or enjoying sunshine?
Adventuresinbeeland's Blog 
I recognise one face in the line-up.
LikeLike
John Chapple, I imagine?
LikeLike
I love the mystery of the footprints in the snow, I’m sure someone will recognise the culprit.
LikeLike
Hope so! I left a pile of seeds and stale cake for the local birds, that should attract a few more footprints.
LikeLike
Love the hats – I want one of each. Not that I’d get much chance to wear them in Sydney, but I want them anyway.
I don’t understand the photo Emma took. Maybe because I don’t use fondant. So, you took the lid off your hive and there’s some plastic sheeting covering the fondant and you can see the bees through that? Is it normal to takt the lid off hives in cold weather. Here I don’t like to take the lid off if it’s under 20 outside (that’s Celsius which is 68 F for those using that quant old measuring system).
The weather here is blissful today – should be 25C (77F) as a high and the bees are busy collecting nectar and pollen. 2 days ago it was 45.8 C (155 F) – a new record. I hate that we’re breaking heat records. And so did my bees. Lots of bearding even though we put a mister on them and a sprinkler on the grass in front of them. The plan is to check our hives today to make sure everything’s okay in there, especially after that heat wave.
LikeLike
Hi Laura, yes the fondant comes covered in plastic and we just make a hole in the bottom for the bees and put it over the crownboard. We only took the lid off for a minute to check how much fondant they have left, so it shouldn’t get them too cold. If we could only inspect them when temps were over 20 C that would limit us to a handful of days a year!
I’ve been seeing your heat records in the news. I find it hard to comprehend what 45.8 C might feel like, the hottest I’ve ever been in is 30’s when visiting the US. Glad things have cooled down a bit for you!
LikeLike
No bees here, although the weather is unseasonably warm (50F).
Snow, eh? In the words of a famous (mythical) Australian . . . you call that snow!?!?
The tracks are nice . . . at first I thought you guys were wearing fancy shoes, but no . . .
LikeLike
Ha, fair point about the snow…. though it has already stopped buses running one evening! One of the beekeeping blogs I follow, Mud Songs in Newfoundland, has some real snow – his hives got completely buried under it – http://mudsongs.org/newfoundland-blizzard-buries-honey-bees-news-at-11/.
LikeLike
OK . . . that’s snow.
LikeLike
The foraging bees in Colchester I saw a few weeks ago probably unhappy about this snow.
LikeLike
Were they bumbles or honey bees?
LikeLike
Honey bees.
LikeLike
He he! I may tweet a link to that photo of me spying on bees! They did look nice and snug in the hive this weekend. I was proper jel! 😉
LikeLike
They may have been tucked up warm but you have the nice furry white coat, they will probably be jealous too when they see it!
LikeLike
No snow here, but we’ve had a lot of nights with freezing temps here. One of our hives is out right now foraging and bringing in pollen.
LikeLike
That’s a good sign if they’re bringing back pollen 🙂
LikeLike
I was just sent a petition which I signed and thought you might be interested – it’s trying to get the EU to ban bee-harmful pesticides. Take a look and see what you think: http://www.avaaz.org/en/hours_to_save_the_bees/?fpla
LikeLike
Thanks Laura, I’ve just signed it. Hope someone somewhere listens.
LikeLike
Two recent developments on pesticides: The European Commission is proposing a two year ban on some neonicotinoids: see http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2013/jan/31/eu-proposes-ban-insecticides-bee
In the UK, B & Q and Wickes, two big garden/DIY shops have said they will stop selling products containing neonicotinoids: see http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2013/jan/29/retailers-withdraw-products-bees
LikeLike
Great news, thanks Philip.
LikeLike
It’s mild today here in Devon (and dry) and I saw a bumble bee on mahonia flowers
LikeLike
Ah lovely that the first bumblebees of the year are starting to emerge! Thanks for letting me know. Wonder if she was a queen.
LikeLike