Due to the extreme weather conditions, we are postponing the delivery of these new bees for a week. Therefore the bees will arrive on the 23rd, 8 AM, same place. Hopefully the weather will be much better. Currently the weather situation is much the same for our supplier and he can’t safely transfer the bees from wooden boxes to the cardboard NUC boxes anyway. This is better for him as well. The safety of the bees is far more important than a little inconvenience to us.
I have the same concerns as Mark. I think we should contact Joe Hansen, the seller, and ask.
Also, they deliver bees early in the morning so they won't overheat but with almost freezing temperatures I wonder about moving them at that time.
A few years ago I bought a nuc from Shonnards in Corvallis. They were bringing the bees over the mountains from California to arrive in the morning. A portion of the shipment died as it went over the mountain.
…aand here we are, a month later (April 11) Woke up with a little blanket of snow this morning. Overnight lows are forecast to be in the 30’s all week, with the highs in the upper 40’s / low 50’s.
Saturday we are all picking up our nukes. With the low temps, and 40% chance of rain, I’m thinking about the weather and how it will affect our new nuc colonies. This is much different than what we experienced last year, which was notably much warmer. The process of moving the bees into their new hive boxes is going to expose them to some cold, possibly wet conditions. Typically they don’t leave the safety of the hive (nuc) unless the temperature is at least 51° or so.
Is there anything we can do to help them keep warm? Would it be prudent to place the nuc in the garage until Sunday? The temperature is supposed to be slightly warmer on Sunday and Monday.
Or.. if a person was to simply (carefully) move the nuc frames (with the bees attached) directly into the new hive (watching out for the safety of the queen) then let the stragglers find their way into the hive box, (or shake them into the hive with the rest of the bees) the time of exposure would be substantially limited.
What about simply letting them live in the nuc boxes, and having them able to come and go until the weather cooperates? Seems like it would probably be easier to keep them warmer in their nucs.
Or am I unduly concerned about this? I’m looking for some feedback here, from anyone who’s ’been there, done that’.
Tillamook, Oregon, Wednesday, March 10th, 2:00 PM, the outside temperature is 57 degrees. The sky is blue without a cloud in view, and my bees are loving life. My apiary is in the back yard with several hundred bees buzzing about each hive. I have two Italian plum trees in my front yard that we call Guido and Gina Lola Plumida. I also have 8 other fruit trees in the front yard and a few more in the back yard as well, but this tale is about Guido and Gina. Gina was supposed to have been a semi-dwarf tree, as was Guido. Gina must have non-semi-dwarf DNA as she is about 15 feet tall. Guido, on the other hand, stands about 5 feet 9 inches tall on his tiptoes. Gina is in full bloom. She is covered in thousands of blossoms as never before seen. Guido is clueless that his bride is luring these bees on with her charms and hoping to be cross-pollinated with him, and yet he hasn’t a bloomin’ bloom on him. Silly boy.
Currently there are 3 honey bees, yes (3) on Gina, and I can even see pollen gathered on their legs. I’m playing Italian music on my i-phone, hoping that the music will inspire these three girls to go back to their hives and waggle the rest of their sisters to join in the fun.
Everything is perfectly aligned for nature to happen. Italian bees, Italian plum trees, good warm weather, and music to motivate the ritualistic affair. I’m trying to be patient and let nature take its course, but I am struggling to do so.
My gut instinct as well as the Farmer’s Almanac suggest that this is too early for any of this to happen. We could still experience freezing night time temperatures, and for sure, Spring is not really here yet.
But alas it feels like spring, the bees feel it, Gina clearly feels it. I feel it.