At Buderim, we’re experiencing record low temps for February & it has been raining & drizzling for the past 3 days. I think I’m coming down with cabin fever. If I go quiet on this forum for a while, you’ll know that I’m busy robbing the hives that I was planning on robbing yesterday or today.
3 Likes
Must be painful with the temp getting down to 20 Deg C.
Never fear Jeff I see you back to the mid 20’s for a week or so 
1 Like
Thanks Busso, you’re not wrong, it was 19 degrees out the back a short time ago. I just this minute sat down from making a batch of mulberry & pineapple jam. I grew the mulberries but bought a sweet pine from Woolies. They don’t come with tops so that we can’t grow them.
I didn’t get many mulberries, so I froze & saved every one for a day like today.
Mid 20’s, I can cope with while extracting honey.
1 Like
they sell 'em to us with the tops. We can’t grow them for other obvious reasons.
1 Like
I was in Ireland over Christmas, bloody horrible. No sunshine, continual rain, grey clouds, and sky. I don’t know how I lived there for a year and a half.
But a lot of people I know in Ireland don’t like the heat like I like it here in Sicily and Australia. They prefer their “temperate” climate.
When they (Ireland) have a “heat wave” of 21 degrees they are all at the beach. Here, they think you’re crazy to go to the beach when it’s that cold.
2 Likes
Faroe,
20 dgs C (70 dgs F) is plain old T-shirt Wx here in Puget Sound near Seattle … our bees go nuts foraging at the mild temps. Toss in a little rain or drizzle it’s just right pleasant ! Cheers … Jerry
1 Like
Returning home with 10 boxes of honey to extract this morning was just what the Doctor ordered. It looks like a lot of jelly bush honey left behind in the frames will be a nice bonus. Well worth the effort of scraping it out.
we’ve had the opposite- endless hot weather- days and days around 35c or over for weeks now. Hardly any rain at all in months. I am getting quite sick of it- I’d kill for some of that drizzle you have up there jeff! Send it down here! All of my garden is starting to look stressed- and the bees don’t seem to enjoy the heat that much either. I don’t like the idea of doing inspections in this heat- and at my hills apiaries we’ve had total fire bans for months now so no smoking the bees.
@Faroe you are lucky indeed to be in Sicily- similar climate to Australia- but the food! Man o man. Did you hear about this village with houses for 1 Euro in Sardinia? I am sorely tempted- but can I bring my cats- and what about me bees?
2 Likes
Jack, we’re heading for those high temps this week ourselves. If I need to work my bees during hot weather, I do it before breakfast or late in the afternoon, once I’m in the shade.
Would you get away with using a smoker if you wet the area down first? Maybe if your neighbors know you are using your smoker responsibly, they wont dob you in.
the thing is- when it 38C here - its really unpleasant and all the grass is bone dry like tinder. Where my hives are they are very isolated and no-one would no what I was up to- but I really don’t even want to- it’s just too hot to be in a bee suit and playing with a smoker. Finally - there isn’t that much need for inspections- the bees are just ticking along - I don’t think they are bringing much in. Hopefully we’ll have a cool change soon- this can’t last forever.
yesterday I had a bit of a fright: I thought I saw one of those Killer Japanese hornets- I saw the biggest wasp I’ve ever seen- but it had more orange striped than the Japanese ones. I think it might have been one of these:
http://www.padil.gov.au/pests-and-diseases/pest/main/136371/6046
Hi Jack, you could be right about that wasp. They ARE big & scary looking. That’s the sort of thing that will cart my orb weaver spider away, I’m guessing.
Your cool change might come when our heatwave starts at the end of this week.
Interesting, I have heard of the $1/euro house before in Italy, but not in Sardinia, apparently it’s beautiful there, haven’t got there yet. Maybe I can save up the 25 grand in a few years 
I understand why, a lot of villages become abandoned and desolate when people don’t have enough money to renovate, a house just sits there. A lot of younger ones start moving to the city when public transport fails, etc.
Similar thing to the village I lived in Montalto, Liguria. One of the locals said if I wanted to move there, he would find a house for me, and it would have to be done up (that’s what he had done).
Nice place, short distance drive to San Remo and the coast for swimming, and the Valley Argentina, big river runs past it from the Italian Alps
If you go, tell them I sent you
3 Likes
We had record low temps early this month, now records for high temps are broken.
Hi Jeff- minus 15 apparent temp on the top of Mt Wellington at the moment with the wind chill (coldest place in Australia). We have the heaters going in the suburbs. The bees have certainly retreated inside.
2 Likes
Hi Dan. Amazing how different your place is.
Did you get any heat records broken this year?
G’day Dan, I could use a bit of that today. I’ll be baking bread, enough for about 3 weeks. We’ll be down to 30 from 34 for the last few days.
1 Like
Hi Webclan…yes, heat records broken for January in many places. Most were 2.5 to 3 degrees up on average, although one place had their coldest January day on record too. Very dry generally.
1 Like