While my friends and fellow beeks are dealing with snow and cold in the Northeast, we are enjoying a bit of spring-like weather here in the West. As we meteorologists say: “Trough (cold) in the East, Ridge (warm) in the West” (and vice-versa). Here in the Colorado Front Range, a westerly wind flow gives us extra warming as the air compresses as it goes from 14,000′ to 5000′ feet (commonly referred to as a Chinook wind). We should see a high around 60ºF (15º Celsius) today, but expect some snow tomorrow night.
Last week, we had record temperatures in the mid-70’s and some beekeepers reported that their bees were bringing in pollen – presumably from maple trees. My bees weren’t bringing any in, but today they are definitely finding pollen somewhere:
If you watch the video (particularly at the :18 second mark), you’ll see some of the bees coming in with pollen in the baskets on their back legs.
Walking around the yard, I also found that my parsley is starting to come back, another sign that Spring can’t be too far off.
Parsley starting to green up in early February.
Of course, this will all be covered in snow on Thursday, but in the West we cherish the moisture that the snow provides. And we’ll be back in the 60’s on some Chinook winds by the weekend.
So hang in there you Easteners, spring isn’t that far off. I hope they get the snow cleared in Boston so the Patriots’ can get a wonderful celebration parade!
2 Comments
Julie · February 3, 2015 at 10:03 pm
love, love, LOVE seeing your bees bringing pollen in. And the parsley — Those little signs of spring are so thrilling!
So jealous of your weather — especially since I spent a good 1 1/2 to 2 hours this morning clearing cars, snowblowing, and raking the roof. Even temps in the 60’s sound practically tropical.
The entrance on your hives is really cool. Do you simply flip the board one way for summer, the other way for winter? That’s frightfully clever! Where do you find the latches? Or do you cobble those together yourself?
Anyway, enjoy your lovely weather. If you don’t mind, I’ll bask vicariously in your spring sunshine.
Don · February 3, 2015 at 10:56 pm
My sister said she got about 9″ and there was some freezing rain in there. My wife said, “I don’t miss freezing rain”. You all have gotten pummeled over the last week, so please live vicariously through my post. It was meant to give hope to those buried in snow. Just remember, in Colorado it’s a dry heat, so not really tropical. At least that’s what we tell ourselves in the summer when it’s close to 100 degrees. 😉
I use the wider entrance just after installing a package and maybe for a little time in the fall as the weather gets colder. The latches are for screen windows I think – I just use a long screw to make them come out far enough to hold the reducer in place. In the warm weather I remove the reducer completely so there is a 9″ x 3/4″ entrance. I use the same kind of latch to keep the window closed on this hive. You can pick them up at any hardware store.
I hope spring comes to your bee yard soon!