For those of us on/in the New England area

[sgcsalsero]

Echoing Stoveguy, my sister came in from Ft.Collins CO for holidays, it was a huge mess there, had pics to everyone to see. As for this area, flood watches yesterday, today I took a detour due to road being washed out . . .and thought I was in the Everglades for a few mins

 

[Michael6268]

Played 36 holes of golf today. Came home put out the swing and some chairs and fired up the "fire pit" out back. Family and friend's having a good ol time! Still around 60 here at 7:20 pm. Wont need any stoves going tonight either. Who would ever think I would be sitting comfortably in my backyard in January! I love winter, but this year really sucked. I hope it just stays this way and spring comes soon cause im sick of this crap! Unfortunately I think this is going to happen more and more often. Some researchers are saying the East coast is going to be like California very soon.

 

[Gooserider]

Hey Goose I didn't know you tended bees. That's too cool. I used to also. How many hives have you been keeping? How are you dealing with the mites?

The last big el Nino that hit this area had our bees out on cleansing flights most of the winter. And by late February, we had our first swarm. Boy was I surprised by that one. That year we had several swarms, so you might get ready. When it's really warm the queen starts laying early and furiously.

I have two hives, both with two deep supers for the brood chambers and I've gone up to 4 medium supers for honey production. This is in the backyard, suburban area, fairly well wooded, but also lots of swamps within a relatively short distance. One of my hives I've had for about 5 years now, the other I just started last year. I've wintered over successfully once or twice, but have also lost the hive about 3 times. Some of it has been wierd weather, the rest has been learning curve.

So far I haven't had much of a mite problem. I keep checking for them and haven't found any, but this year it might be a problem since we haven't had the cold weather that some of the IPM folks say is helpful. I use a screened bottom board and a slatted rack setup, supposedly this causes most of the mites to fall off, go through the screen and then be unable to get back up to the comb to breed. Also it's supposed to help them winter over better once you get the insulation down right. I think I have that figured out at last, and I wnn't make the mistake I made a couple years back of taking the insulation off just before a major storm and two week cold snap....

I mostly do it because I'm into home brewing, and have gotten into making mead in a big way - currently I have about 60 gallons of stuff in different stages of fermentation! It takes alot of honey to brew mead, a typical batch will take between 12 and 15 lbs for 5 gallons, so it gets reall expensive to purchase honey. However it is next to impossible to buy good commercial mead, and it isn't something I want to give up. Beer is a beverage, Mead and Whiskey are the waters of life....

Gooserider

 

[begreen]

Yep, it's amazing the amount of honey a couple hives will make. My max was 3 hives and we had enough honey to give away a lot and store several gallons for a couple years.

I had a friend that was into mead production. His was exceptionally dry and light, not sweet at all. More like a very fine floral, honey wine. I really enjoyed it and have never found it sold like that in this country. If I still had bees I would also get into mead making too. Instead, I think I'll start with blackberry wine considering we have them coming out of our ears.

 

[Xena]

Some researchers are saying
the East coast is going to be like California very soon.

Sweet! Bring it on!

 

[Gooserider]

Yep, it's amazing the amount of honey a couple hives will make. My max was 3 hives and we had enough honey to give away a lot and store several gallons for a couple years.

I had a friend that was into mead production. His was exceptionally dry and light, not sweet at all. More like a very fine floral, honey wine. I really enjoyed it and have never found it sold like that in this country. If I still had bees I would also get into mead making too. Instead, I think I'll start with blackberry wine considering we have them coming out of our ears.

I try to hit the mid-range towards dry side on my meads, 16-18% alcohol (I use a champagne yeast) and a finish gravity around 1.010. I do a great many different varieties ranging from capsicumel (Habenero peppers and ginger) to cyser (apple cider) and other things in between. I'm just about to rack a raspberry / blackberry melomel that I made with a bunch of berries picked out of the neighbor's yard. I've also got one that I made with a can of blackberry puree to compare it with.

One that I've been kind of dissappointed in has been a batch that I made with some honey my bee supply lady sold me. It came from her hives that are right near some conservation wetlands and is the darkest honey I've ever seen - it looks like blackstrap molasses. I've had it in secondary for about 3 years now, and it still tastes like medicine.... It has been getting slowly better though, so I still have hope.

The big problem I've been finding is that I get more batches started than I bottle, which means I keep having to go buy more carboys...

Gooserider

 

[iceman]

THIS WINTER SUCKS! I CAN'T TAKE IT ANYMORE........
I WAIT ALL YEAR FOR TIS AND NOW ITS GONNA BE 50 AGAIN THIS WEEK!
GLOBAL WARMING PLEASE STOP EL NINO GO AWAY NAO GO BACK TO POSITIVE
Now that i have vented, the long term forecast does not look good for us
temps will be be above average but we will have a couple of quick cold spells but nothing like what New Engalnd is used to
Expect not to see any real snow with on the ground for another 3 weeks if not more(unless you are in northern ne)
boston should be getting snow today but will be gone just as fast
freaking global warming go away
el nino get outta here
i want a very "bad" winter bring on the wind chillls and blizzards please i am so jealous of denver right now

trust me, there is nothing to be jelous about. Snow is nice, but i have over 7 feet of standing snow at my house right now, i love winter, but this is a little much for this time of year. It normally doesnt start cranking snow untill spring.

I sympathize with you MSG, we get 4-8 inches and you get 1-2-feet. But we have been cold, plus Red Burn Days. We get pressure inversions. Temperature at the ski resorts can be in the 40's and the valley is in the teens. Trapped air so foul, they warn people to stay indoors. Today's high looks to be 24 degrees. Hasn't been in the forties at my place for weeks. Even the very nice days have been 5-10 degrees below average.

For you East Coasters looks like the Jet Stream is going to shift soon. Get ready for the Calgary Express.

my long term is showing the same for us on the east coast and same for you guys out west for another 3-4 weeks before you get a break maybe 1-2 more strong storms but more precip for you guys that would fall into a slightly above normal but when you get your break we will cool down to normal temps here in the east but it wont last long as we will be knocking on springs door
what wouls i give for 7 feet of snow i would take my honda a blow it to the edge of my yard and build a big wall around my house

 

[begreen]

I try to hit the mid-range towards dry side on my meads, 16-18% alcohol (I use a champagne yeast) and a finish gravity around 1.010. I do a great many different varieties ranging from capsicumel (Habenero peppers and ginger) to cyser (apple cider) and other things in between. I'm just about to rack a raspberry / blackberry melomel that I made with a bunch of berries picked out of the neighbor's yard. I've also got one that I made with a can of blackberry puree to compare it with.

One that I've been kind of dissappointed in has been a batch that I made with some honey my bee supply lady sold me. It came from her hives that are right near some conservation wetlands and is the darkest honey I've ever seen - it looks like blackstrap molasses. I've had it in secondary for about 3 years now, and it still tastes like medicine.... It has been getting slowly better though, so I still have hope.

Next time I visit the relatives in MA I have to look you up. It sounds like you have a great production going there. Honey gets flavored by the flowers the bees harvest from. I would do a late spring and a summer collection and they tasted and looked completely different. Our spring honey was light and very floral. Our summer honey was mostly from blackberries and later blooming plants. It was much darker, stronger flavored and tasted a lot like Yucatan honey. We saved that for baking.

 

[Gooserider]

I try to hit the mid-range towards dry side on my meads, 16-18% alcohol (I use a champagne yeast) and a finish gravity around 1.010. I do a great many different varieties ranging from capsicumel (Habenero peppers and ginger) to cyser (apple cider) and other things in between. I'm just about to rack a raspberry / blackberry melomel that I made with a bunch of berries picked out of the neighbor's yard. I've also got one that I made with a can of blackberry puree to compare it with.

One that I've been kind of dissappointed in has been a batch that I made with some honey my bee supply lady sold me. It came from her hives that are right near some conservation wetlands and is the darkest honey I've ever seen - it looks like blackstrap molasses. I've had it in secondary for about 3 years now, and it still tastes like medicine.... It has been getting slowly better though, so I still have hope.

Next time I visit the relatives in MA I have to look you up. It sounds like you have a great production going there. Honey gets flavored by the flowers the bees harvest from. I would do a late spring and a summer collection and they tasted and looked completely different. Our spring honey was light and very floral. Our summer honey was mostly from blackberries and later blooming plants. It was much darker, stronger flavored and tasted a lot like Yucatan honey. We saved that for baking.

I've found that even harvesting about the same time, from a hive in the exact same place I get completely different honey colors and flavours each year. Some tend to be lighter and milder while others are darker and more strongly flavored. The 2004 crop was really fantastic, my bee supplier said it was probably alot of "pepper berry" nectar, but I'm not sure what plant that is. It was a very bright yellow with a fantastic flavor. We have a great deal of purple loosestrife in the area, which is an "invader speices" that blossoms in the fall, It gives a second major nectar flow, but it tends to make a very dark honey that is rather an aquired taste. If I can I try to pull the first crop off before the major loosestife bloom starts, but the bees don't always cooperate by capping off the supers in a timely way.

Next year I may try to experiment with selectively pulling frames depending on how things look.

Gooserider

 

[Harley]

Well, Ice... we may get a little bit of a storm starting tomorrow night.... Franklin/Berkshire counties maybe up to a foot (I'm hoping for at least that) Hamden/Hampshire may be on the line of snow/sleet and ice, so anybody's guess as to the amount. They're probably over-dramatizing it again, and we'll wind up with nothing.

 

[biggins08]

Probably Harley. I hope we get hammered!

 

[GVA]

I'll be getting snow for the morning commute, then rain for the afternoon commute, then snow later that night. That sucks......... Gimme one or the other...... the slushy snow is murder on my back when shoveling...

 

[iceman]

Well, Ice... we may get a little bit of a storm starting tomorrow night.... Franklin/Berkshire counties maybe up to a foot (I'm hoping for at least that) Hamden/Hampshire may be on the line of snow/sleet and ice, so anybody's guess as to the amount. They're probably over-dramatizing it again, and we'll wind up with nothing.

lucky you i am here in the springfield area crying......

 

[restorer]

Drove up from our house to visit some friends up in Manchester, NH yesterday afternoon. Trip usually takes 45-50 minutes, this time took closer to 1.5 hours. I've seldom seen so many people doing ditch dives and sheet metal work - seemed like there must have been dozens of them, one every 2-3 miles, at least. Lots seemed to be involving multiple vehicles as well. Didn't see any sign of people getting seriously hurt, but definitely some major vehicle reconfigurations.

It didn't even seem that slick to me, but I guess theres lots of folks forget how to drive on it.

Gooserider

How many were families in BIG SUV's? Remember they start good with all that HP, and FWD, but they stop Not So Good. We have a colloquialism here that I can not repeat that ends...."assault vehicle."

 

[dtabor]

Well, we're next in line here.....they say starting tonite at Midnight, we're in for 12-24"!! Got the plow truck all primed and ready by the house for the AM!! My truck with go thru the 24" but my wife's van would be plowing with the air dam and hood!

 

[Harley]

Yeah - they upped the estimate, so things are looking good for a decent storm (no record-setter unfortunately)