Natural Beekeeping International Forum

[jetam]

I am a bit worried, because bees in Slovakia started to fly. Winter should be until 21.3. Next weekend weather forecast says 15°C.

[Barbara]

Hi

I'm tempted to say "lucky you!", but the worry will be that it will only be a temporary blip and cold weather will come back in. If you are concerned and you have the opportunity, it might be worth checking their stores situation if the weather is that mild and top up if necessary. I'm not a fan of opening hives in winter but those temperatures are Springtime levels, so might be a useful chance to check how they are doing.

It has been a relatively mild winter here so far with only a couple of very light frosts but lots of rain and wind... thankfully so far we have not had any where near as much rain and flooding as the south of England and I have to keep reminding myself how lucky we have been, whilst I am trudging through the mud at my stable yard each day.

Best wishes

Barbara

[zaunreiter]

Bees never really stopped to fly here in the Northwest of Germany. The bees use a lot of food and this makes me worrying since the have a lot of brood, and there is not much forage outside. Just pollen here and there.

I reckon a many hives will starve. From what the longterm forecast says, there will be not much of a winter. So other than last year where we had a late cold spell, this year the autumn continues until Spring.

We'll see what the bees make of it and how they cope with such a situation. Watch the food reserves of your hives, if your local climate is as warm as is here right now.