I am just wondering what he chances are of the spotted wing drosophillia surviving this wonderful heat wave we experiencing . What bugs are bugging you to the inth degree that you are hopping this eliminates or reduces significantly? I am also worried about the bees making it through this horrid cold snap...
Carolyn, we hope that cold weather kills the grasshopper eggs--last winter we had record lows, and this summer record numbers of 'hoppers. So much for that theory! Don't worry about bees--hives have developed great ways to keep warm (balling up in the center of the hive and the interior bees moving to the exterior so everyone stays comfortable) and beekeepers in frigid zones wrap their hives with tar paper, also known as roofing felt, to help the bees. You of course know all of this, but I thought it might be of interest to our non-beekeeping members.
I am afraid though that at these temps, nothing will help... the bees, that is. I have hopes for control of the SWD.
Stay warm and hopefully there will be some insulating snow. Heard that the wind chill is very extreme.
Thanks Jewell. Jane, the grass hoppers survive well up here even with our cold weather, but -15 is very extreme. I just wonder if it will be more of a blessing than we think. Right now looking at the fore cast? uggg.
Carolyn, there is a MOSQUITO loose in the house. It comes and makes passes by my head and in front of the telly screen in the evenings. Gurrrrrrr. I have not wrapped my hives with tar-paper, but I have sheets of that white stuff that coolers are made out of....how is it called again? Anyway, that and some newspaper for insulation.I have not seen any bees flying on the sunny days this year. I wonder how they are doing. The crocuses and snow bells are up and in some cases already blooming. Tch! They are supposed to be for the bees later in the lente.
sheets of that white stuff that coolers are made out of....how is it called again? Styrofoam? insulation? I have to confessthough, I have never wrapped my hived. I haven't seen that it really helps while visiting with other bee keepers. Some seem to have as much loss with as without the paper. Your bees will find other forage. Don't fret too much over the bulbs coming up.
I'm hoping this cold weather helps with the horrible infestations we have been having here for years now. We haven't seen a winter like this in many years and each year the bugs get worse. Last year the cucumber beetles, squash bugs, aphids and earwigs were completely out of control!
Styrofoam!!! Yes C--that's it. Thanks. I have that stuff built-into the top and the "sluitblok's". Those are the closed frames that one uses to close-up open space. I have never wrapped my bees for the winter and I do not know anyone that does over here. It is something that I keep back in the back of my mind should the winters here become more severe. Generally the idea here is to not pamper one's bees, that a tougher bee will survive better.
I have only installed swarms from my bee tree fro the last several years. I keep thinking they will do better without my help than with it...survival of the fittest.
We're at 0 degrees with 20 mph winds this morning, so I'm hoping that cold will kill off the mosquitoes here. I got a job and bought my house in Colorado just in time for the great September floods. Thankfully I survived those with no more inconvenience of losing sewer service for a week. But afterwards the mosquitoes were atrocious with all the standing water. I can't imagine all the eggs they left to over-winter and what next Spring will be like if the -20 below nights last month and the frigid cold of this morning doesn't kill them off. Beekeeping would leave me with a whole different worry, however. My fingers are crossed for those of you who keep them. How long do you have to wait before you know how bad it is?
I hope you're right about the SWD Miss Carolyn. I'm going to try one more year on the Raspberries. If the SWD get them, they are coming out. I haven't the time or money to spend on controls that intense.
FBG, I am hoping that this weather is just too cold for them. They came from an island...maybe Japan? in a much warmer climate, but have survived to get this far, but -15? wow I hope they can't survive that. In all reality, I would willingly lose my bees in order to lose the swd.
I hope the baddies perish in your cold weather, but I have to tell you our earwigs have survived colder temps than that. Good luck to your bees.
Thanks, Droopy... I did go out last night while it was still fairly warm and popped off two of the hives the supers that I haven't gotten off, (but I wasn't worried about it because last year I left them on and they made it through the winter better than any other year so far) and put huge card board boxes over two of them... we will see how that helps. but it issssss COLD here tonight. The door latches on the outside doors have frost built up on them and the windows have frost around the edges. The garage looks like frosted glass. By the way, tonight is the cold one, now they have changed the fore cast to -19f. :'( Jan. 05 2014 ( photo / image / picture from carolyn keiper's Garden )
