more tales To my utter amazement there were a few bees flying today (>5,<10) I didn't stay long, my fingertips were starting to hurt (-12C/10F, windy) Later at end of day there were enough to count in front of 2 hives (approx 100) The others all less 5-20 Some managed to make 30 yds out This was all today 20 jan Yesterday as I was passing the S yard and as the snow has receded some, I thought I would visit There were only few bodies in snow, no bird sign When I rapped on all hives I heard .... silence After a moment of panic I realized that looking in the top hole moving bees were visible in 7 of 8 hives By comparison the N yard made noise, but quieter than I remember from past (if you didn't listen closely it was not audible) FWIW my average brood-free time is 130-135 days (p2e) It would be rather foolish for the bees to start brooding when the first pollen is 3 months on, let alone the delta T issue For those who forget, we had this discusion 16 months ago, check archives dave ****************************************************** * Full guidelines for BEE-L posting are at: * * http://www.honeybeeworld.com/bee-l/guidelines.htm * ******************************************************