Importance of Weather Documentation

[Chef Isaac]

I wanted to post this here on in the queen rearing section as it does have to do with queen rearning but also to everything else we do as beekeepers.

I wanted to throw an idea out there...

For the last couple of years, I have been thinking about documenting the weather daily, on a calendar just the high and the low for the day and keeping it to look back on.

I think this would play a key roll (or could play a key roll) in developing timing issues for queen rearing, mating, hive manipulation, feeding, etc.

any ideas out there or thoughts? Would it be a waste of time doing this? I know the weather changes all the time year to year but maybe the documentation could be used as a tool.

But I do not want to create extra work for nothing.

Any thoughts or ideas?

[Michael Palmer]

I don't think it would help you much. Every year is different. Maybe it would be better to keep track of pollen and nectar flows.

[Swobee]

You should probably be able to find that information on-line. I think weatherbug and probably a number of other sites local to your area should record this data so you can call it up any time to review.

Also, I have a cheap indoor/outdoor thermometer that records high & low. I can check it and reset the saved temps daily so they reflect what has happened since last time I checked. Right now, I am experimenting with that thermometer on a batch of mead. The indoor temp sensor senses the brew closet temp and the "outdoor" sensor is taped to the fermenter under foam insulation. So far, the fermenter temp is always about 4°-5° above room temp. More on that later- I have no idea if there is any relevance to the mead outcome, but I will have some otherwise useless data to play with anyway! Just another of my silly experiments that may not result in any worthwhile information.

[WVbeekeeper]

Here you go chef,

http://www.almanac.com/weather/premium/

You can view one region for free.

>>>Sorry, I guess I should of registered first. After you jump
through all the hoops they want a credit card number.

[Michael Bush]

>Maybe it would be better to keep track of pollen and nectar flows.

Unless you want to document days too cold to fly or too wet, I think nectar and pollen availability would be more useful information.

[MountainCamp]

Chef, I think what you are talking about was part of the post your bloom dates at first. GDD or HDD are useful for many purposes.
Knowing the GDD to when your early pollen source will bloom will give you the edge with feeding and stimulating. I have the GDD(32F) for the Popular, Red Maple, Willows, Shad Bush, and other early pollen sources that my hives depend on.
I use HDD and weather averages such as http://www.weather.com/weather/wxclimatology/monthly/graph/12473?from=36hr_bottomnav_undeclared

To compare what I am doing and what others do. A suggestion from someone who winters in a significantly different area can be taken in that light.

[Jack Grimshaw]

Growing degree days(GDD) are often used in pest management and are also helpful for predicting bloom dates(plant phenology)

See:http://www.umassgreeninfo.org/fact_sheets/ipmtools/gdd_phrenology.html

Also http://extension.unh.edu/agric/GDDays/Docs/growch.pdf