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[log in to unmask] (mailto:[log in to unmask])
writes:
Our A.m.m. bees will fly strongly at 8ºC (46ºF) - and we have seen a queen
mate with an air temperature of 5ºC (41ºF)!
But I would not open a hive if the temperature was below 16ºC (61ºF) - as
we
keep saying, all beekeeping is local.
Agree, at this time of year, we've bees flying at mid-40s F. We can even
get them to search for targets at that temp. Bees just back from CA may
not fly at that temp, but our over wintered bees in MT will.
Also, agree with Allen, we do quick inspections at that temp, but try to
keep disturbance, chilling to minimum until temperatures are higher.
Obviously, flight activity and foraging increase as the temperature
increases, usually reaching full potential by the 60s.
FYI, I once had a DARPA Program Officer claim that I was lying, saying we
could get bees to fly at temps as low as the 40s. He'd seen a trial in
which bees didn't fly at 60, so he knew we had to be wrong. Of course, the
trial he observed had bees just moved in from a different area, placed on a
desert in mid-winter, with little/no forage available.
Jerry
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