# Is Spring Here?



## Caz (Jun 29, 2002)

5th of Feb.in South Central Kentucky and the henbit is blooming, the red maple is budded out, and the first leaves are out on a rose next to the house. The frogs are chirping. All 4 of my hives are doing good so far but if they start expanding and then we get a long stretch of cold weather it could spell trouble for the bees and the fruit trees.Time will tell. John


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## kycountry (Jan 26, 2012)

Well, march lilies has bloomed along with some other stuff, but I have a feeling it isn't spring just yet.

I was going to pick up 2 hives of bees this week to get me started and the older gentleman I was getting them from told me to hold off a day or two. He said his bees was building up and he was feeding them because this could be a bad thing this time of year!

btw, what part of south central Ky. are you from?? I'm from Dunnville, Ky


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## Michael W. Smith (Jun 2, 2002)

We haven't really had much of a winter here in PA either. Hardly any snow, warmer than usual temperatures, etc.

It's great for the people who don't like cold snowy weather. It's great that the bees aren't clustered together for weeks on end with no let up that they can't move in their hive to more honey or make cleansing flights.

However, with less clustering and more activity - the bees are eating more honey. For a colony without enough stores, they will be dead if the beekeeper doesn't feed them.

Also, this warmer weather tends to make the plants bud early. If the weather stays warm, that's not a problem. But if you get a cold snap right when something is blooming - it not only kills the buds and blossoms, but makes for less forage for the bees.


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## Caz (Jun 29, 2002)

kycountry, I'm from 12 mi. south of Columbia. John


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## Ronney (Nov 26, 2004)

Interesting you should ask that John because somebody asked me the same question in reverse just yesterday - is autumn here? They had noticed what I had and that the leaves were starting to yellow and fall on the willow trees. Last winter was incredibly mild, only a couple of light frosts, not overly rainy and for the first time in my farming life, there was good grass growth right through winter. Come Christmas it did nothing but rain for nearly four solid weeks. With the accompanying warmth we had grass for Africa. Then the rain stopped, the sun came out for a couple of weeks and since then we've had nothing but cloudy skies and easterly winds which have baked everything hard, and virtually no growth. I'm not surprised nothing knows when it should be doing what

I think you need to hope that you don't really have an early spring because while it's pleasant at the time, it often doesn't bode well for later in the season.

Cheers,
Ronnie


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## kycountry (Jan 26, 2012)

i think mother nature has answered your question with the snow.. don't think it's here yet!


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