Washington State Bee Keepers

Dee’s profile says UK, and the honey labels imply Wales - likely similar weather to yours, maybe a little wetter in summer and slightly warmer in winter.

Ha Ha, this year/last year has been the strangest ever. Today I reckon we are into the third month of practically constant rain. We’ve had more than our fair share of gales too.

Dawn n Dee,

Our last summer was nearly our hottest n driest on Pacific West Coast. Usually we have cool n damp weather too except July thru September. This autumn n winter thus our region has caught up in the rain department. Record deep snow covers our Cascade Mtn range so the coming summer will have plenty of water supplies as the snow melts.

The last couple days our chilly, frosty n damp winter has been interrupted with mild but partly sunny weather n temps in the mid 50’s ( 10 to 12 dgs C). The bees are finally able to make cleansing flights n check out our winter blooming camellias n yellow witch hazel bushes starting to bloom.

Cheers ladies,

Gerald Nickel.

Same for us this summer in San Diego, Gerald. Very hot and dry. However, El Nino is making up for it right now. :hushed:

Hopefully this year will be good for the bees - our nectar flow in 2015 was horribly lacking.

Dawn

Dawn, most said the same up here. The unusually hot n drought weather made for a bad nectar wind fall in Puget Sound n Eastern foothill. I keep seeing the line of wet systems rushing into Cali lately. Hope you n your bees will be high n dry.

Gerald

Low pressure deverting storms to our south from Washington into Cali.

Yesterday 1/6/2016 was unusually warm (mid 50’s n sunny). This pleasant surprise woke up the bees that were out in numbers on purging flights as well as looking for flowers. Today is cooler n cloudy again this morning in the mid 30’s.

Active bee day in Puget Sound early January 2016 !

I think El Niño is giving us all a run for our money at present. Bring back La Niña!

El Niño occurs every seven to eight years and is caused by unusually warm water in the Pacific Ocean. It is now peaking and is one of the strongest ever, leading to record temperatures, rainfall and weather extremes. So it is not abnormal. What it is doing is making the effects of man made climate change worse.
Meteorologists expect 2016 to be a hot year…
Beekeeping makes weather watchers of all of us, especially here in the UK where we often see all seasons in one day.

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Trouble is Dee I don’t think there was very long for the La Niña, and since the last El Niño I’m sure was only about 5 or 6 years this time. Or so it seems,

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We need to stop burning fossil fuel

We both drive electric cars. :blush:

I would too but they are soooooooo expensive here.

Dee, about the same over here on West Coast near Seattle. We also say. If you don’t like the weather just wait ten minutes. Last summer started two month early in 2915. Near record HEAT … But now near record rain in low lands n deep snow where none was last winter. Guess we’ll see what happen. Meteorology is another of my pet hobbies. Looking forward to seeing how my first honey n bee year are after 55 years away. Let the weather roll !

In the PNW 2015 we ended our year with 44.83" of rain at Seatac. That’s wet since last winter, spring n summer we were in a drought. What little snow we had last winter was completely gone by mid Spring. We saw weeks on end with little or no moisture or rain. But by New Year’s Day we have a record snowpack n reservoir are full. Sure changes around here.

Wx really changes in the PNW n Seattle region. Guess we will have wait n see how 2016 treats our hives n bees.

Cheers,

Coalfield Beelover.

Valli, you are close to right about the El Niño cycles. Real records of these have been studied since about 1950. The cycles are variable and general last between 3 to 6 years. This last August to October 2015 was the second highest ocean surface temps with only 1997 being warmer. It’s interesting to watch what pops up around the globe weather n climate wise due to these ocean surface temp changes. We are still having extremely late season tornado, blizzard in the west n record snow here in the Pacific Northwest. We were having record late season high temps on the East Coast of US …

Been interesting 2015 Wx season … Now on deeper into 2016. Hoping it gives our local bees n keepers a great honey season … Off to bed now. Ta ta

Now that a cool weather station :slight_smile:

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Did you see the huge out of control methane burn off in California? It is the worst disaster since the BP leak.

Nose bleeds, sickness, migraines and evacuations form the area.

Hi fellow bee keeper. I’m Marcia from Lake Stevens Wa. just a couple of miles east from you. Awaiting my flow hive to be shipped in April. Also, a new bee keeper that’s starting two hives this spring. Don’t know if the Flow Hive will be here in time but going ahead with two Langstroths. Sounds like you have a Flow Hive up and ready. Would love to take a look at it sometime and get you input on how it’s working for you. Please give me shout sometime.