Cold weather

[BEEn Stung]

I been fogging every Wednesday. I can no longer do that as it is too cold. I think.
Today it was in the 70s so I fogged. When it is cold and the bees do not fly, can I fog? Of course, I can not open the hive and replace cords.
I leave my girls here, MN, and go south for 4 months. No FGMO at all during that time. Do verona build up in cold weather?
?any sugestions?

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Erwin

[Michael Bush]

If the bees are flying I would fog. I think some people fog even if they aren't flying, but I don't think the oil will get into the cluster so I don't think it will help.

[WineMan]

Ive fogged when the temps are down into the low 40's and they are clustered relatively tight. Im not really sure how effective it is as M.B. says. Ive figured that the 4-5 second treatment has trouble penetrating into the cluster as the air movement seems to be greatly reduced relative to warmer weather. Secondly, I figure that the lack of bee movement and grooming doesnt contribute to much of a mite kill. However, when I want to fog and its cold, I often pop the lid off and fog until it comes out thru the inner cover. Which takes only slightly more time but I havent seen where it hurts anything....yet.

Under normal circumstances I wouldnt be even worrying about trying to kill off any more mites by this time of year. But I promised a buddy I would keep fogging a few hundred of his colonies and randomly sampling for mites so I guess Im fogging for awhile longer.

[Michael Bush]

The bees are still flying here and I'm still fogging.

[Kurt Bower]

I only fog when the bees are flying as suggested by Dr. R.
It seems that if you fog when the bees are clustered, you would be replicating conditions that could be harmful to the bees. The fog, while very fine (15 microns) will act as a cooling agent. I believe this would be similar to moisture in a colony under cold conditions, possibly killing bees instead of helping them.

Kurt

[BjornBee]

Its sickening to see that warmth in the west, MB. Maybe you can help with passing that onto the east coast. Bees are trying to fly during the day 50-60 degrees, but the frost at night is killing everything. Which is a good observation, fogging during the warmth of the day and then cold at night, and having bees coated in oil...can't be good.

[Michael Bush]

It is gorgeous here. The bees have been eating more than 5 gallons of syrup a day. http://www.beesource.com/ubb/smile.gif

I have no idea how it affect them being clustered with a thin film of oil, but I fog my observation hive and the film is not thick enough to be noticable on the glass. I don't think there is as much as people imagine.

[Dr. Pedro Rodriguez]

Hello folks.
1. Fogging. Only when the bees are flying. Reason: if the cluster is disturbed the bees usuallly drop to the bottom board and remain there and die from humger. In a small cluster, those bees that fall to the bottom board may be necessary to keep the hive alive hence the hive may die from their lack of warmth.
2. FGMO film coating on bees. Not enough to be significant relative to the bees. It is significant relative to interfeering with the ability of the mites to "cling" to the bees hence dropping off.
3. Unusual warm temperature. Beware of this year's unusual higher than normal temperatures. The bees are required to "work" to remove excess temperature from the hive resulting in caloric comsumption thus requiring more food comsumption. Please check your hive honey stores because the bees may have depleted their stores too soon and may require supplement feeding before the temperature drops again.
Best regards.
Dr. Rodriguez