Anyone bringing shade to their bees for the forecast heat wave?

[pargyle]

Two days of heat and people are panicking, here in Cyprus it is 30+ and often 40+ from May till the end of October. Roofs painted white and water source nearby to avoid problems.

Ahh ... but we are panicking because we have the wrong railway lines for temperatures above average, actually they are the wrong railway lines in Autumn as well because they can't cope with fallen leaves ... come to think about it ... they are the wrong railway lines for snow as well .... the way the climate is going we might as well tear them all up.... turn them all into cycleways and electric scooter tracks and be done with it. Save the planet ... live locally.

 

[Erichalfbee]

My rooftop bees were much happier when I added a super with "matchsticks" under neath it at the corners

 

[pargyle]

My rooftop bees were much happier when I added a super with "matchsticks" under neath it at the corners

Bees on a hot tin roof .... how do you know they were happier ? Might just be adding some space ?

 

[jeff33]

Bees have survived for 1000s of years without human intervention and through all types of weather....why do people suddenly think there is an urgency to do something because 3 days of hot weather are predicted?

 

[jeff33]

Ahh ... but we are panicking because we have the wrong railway lines for temperatures above average, actually they are the wrong railway lines in Autumn as well because they can't cope with fallen leaves ... come to think about it ... they are the wrong railway lines for snow as well .... the way the climate is going we might as well tear them all up.... turn them all into cycleways and electric scooter tracks and be done with it. Save the planet ... live locally.

Must be chinese steel....

 

[JamezF]

Bees have survived for 1000s of years without human intervention and through all types of weather....why do people suddenly think there is an urgency to do something because 3 days of hot weather are predicted?

Because over those thousands of years, they didn't evolve to live in 18" square boxes of ½" thick cedar?

James

 

[jeff33]

Because over those thousands of years, they didn't evolve to live in 18" square boxes of ½" thick cedar?

James

But yet probably lived in more confined spaces with no ventilation like the ones provided by omf. They're also able to regulate temperature themselves...

 

[Nannysbees]

I keep 75mm kingspan under the roof of my WBC beehives all year round, so think that & the hive type will help. Thinking of widening entrances to increase airflow too. I have heard that drones start to die above 40C. It is 2 days only, then back to 'normal' temperatures. Bit concerned as I'm taking my General Husbandry assessment for 3 hours on Tuesday, so think I'll be stuffing ice packs down my bee suit! I won't be wearing wellies

Take a neck fan they are brilliant, good luck

 

[elainemary]

Take a neck fan they are brilliant, good luck

Thankyou, fortunately it’s at my home apiary and we’re a couple of degrees cooler than the valley. Hopefully the assessors will choose hives with the best shade or even better, spend more time indoors talking honey, wax and interrogating me in the cool

 

[JimBee463]

All i've done is take out the varroa board (i'm on an open mesh UFE) and have draped some white PVC sheet (like a tarp) off the roof and down the side that gets the most sun during the day. This should help to keep the temps down a bit for them (I did put my hand on the side of the hive yesterday afternoon, under the PVC, and it was quite cool).

 

[silentscyther]

Most of my hives are in direct sun most of the day. I’m planning on giving them a cardboard (or ply) hat for the next week or so. They already have a good source of water about 20m away.
Anyone else taking some preventative measures for the upcoming heat wave?

Have you seen this guide in particular for unwired comb melting : Comb Collapse | How to Prevent | Free Guide
My National and Warre hives are already insulated with 75mm Celotex but I have added Celotex sunshades to the two top bars. The short ends are insulated from within and I’ll make external slabs for the long sides today. Being a retired architect I can’t ignore the temperature stability provided by insulation. If the bees have to work less to normalise the temperature, surely that’s less stress.

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

Bees have survived for 1000s of years without human intervention and through all types of weather....why do people suddenly think there is an urgency to do something because 3 days of hot weather are predicted?

Because over those thousands of years, they didn't evolve to live in 18" square boxes of ½" thick cedar?

James

But yet probably lived in more confined spaces with no ventilation like the ones provided by omf. They're also able to regulate temperature themselves...

When I did a bit of scoping work for Sentebale (Prince Harry's charity) in Lesotho I went to a village called Ha Lazaro where, next to a school there was a 40 foot shipping container where a colony of bees had lived happily for years, it was getting on for winter when I visited so only a cool 34°C at the time.
As for KTB hives needing insulation, they make top bar hives in Tanzania with galvanised steel (not wooden) roofs and many beekeepers build bee shelters to keep their hives in - with corrugated iron roofs

 

[Erichalfbee]

Bees on a hot tin roof .... how do you know they were happier ? Might just be adding some space ?

They are on a wooden raised platform. Happier? They said so.

 

[pargyle]

They are on a wooden raised platform. Happier? They said so.

It's bad enough when we start talking to our bees .... it's a worry when we start hearing their answers ....

 

[Murox]

Bees have survived for 1000s of years without human intervention and through all types of weather....why do people suddenly think there is an urgency to do something because 3 days of hot weather are predicted?

"Anthropomorphism is the attribution of human traits, emotions, or intentions to non-human entities."

 

[Murox]

It's bad enough when we start talking to our bees .... it's a worry when we start hearing their answers ....

Glad to hear that they feel empowered to speak out .
By the way some of mine told me to "P" off in no uncertain terms last week - so I did, their argument was really quite forceful.

 

[pargyle]

When I did a bit of scoping work for Sentebale (Prince Harry's charity) in Lesotho I went to a village called Ha Lazaro where, next to a school there was a 40 foot shipping container where a colony of bees had lived happily for years, it was getting on for winter when I visited so only a cool 34°C at the time.
As for KTB hives needing insulation, they make top bar hives in Tanzania with galvanised steel (not wooden) roofs and many beekeepers build bee shelters to keep their hives in - with corrugated iron roofs

My apiary only gets full sun for about an hour or so either side of noon ..the majority of the boxes get a burst of early morning sun which gets them flying.... they were really busy by 7.00am yesterday and by noon when the sun was at it's peak it was like swarm central there were so many flying bees.

I have poly hives with poly roofs and super full of celotex on top of the crownboard ... I'm not convinced that the present heat wave has any detrimental effect on a colony .. when I was measuring temperature and humidity in my Long Deep Hive I regularly saw 34 degrees inside the hive in summer and they always maintained the internal temp well above the ambient temperature outside.

Like you, I've seen beehives in Africa with corrugated iron roofs that you could not put your hand on they were so hot ...the bees there were fine, I suspect that some of our bees might have some difficulty adjusting to that sort of climate overnight if they were dumped in that environment but much of our beestock are derived from bees from warmer climates and with the changing climate they will adapt - this heat wave is just a hiccup in the onset of climate change. Bees have survived for millennnia through massive global climate changes ... I have more fears for the human race than our bees as we seem to be less adaptable.

 

[JamezF]

But yet probably lived in more confined spaces with no ventilation like the ones provided by omf. They're also able to regulate temperature themselves...

Quite possibly those spaces don't warm up so quickly when the weather becomes very hot, either. The walls are likely to be much thicker, providing more insulation from the heat, and there will quite possibly be a canopy of leaves to provide some shelter from direct sunlight.

I don't personally think there's any need to panic, but I think it's sensible to be aware that the way we keep bees may mean that the methods they've evolved to cope with high temperatures may not be sufficient in an environment that they didn't evolve to live in.

James

 

[Micklemus81]

I'm a new beekeeper of just a year now and I do enjoy having a laugh at some of the comments-------
What might kill an orange tree ( but bees are not orange trees are they) is a few minutes at freezing for a certain number of minutes yet our orange tree's been outside in the UK 30 years now & stood minus 15C ..... One chap USA Fred Dunn says don't think bees think and need what we do & 'like'......
These bees here in midlands are pampered as much as I can but they may well not like just a bit of ventilation through the top board as that may reduce the condensation that Fred says is essential for the brood to even survive...... If bees sweat they will be doing a bit of that but as the sensibly guy says
the 'panic' will be for only two days...... British summer..... might be gone in a flash, flowers as well?
How do I put a smiley on here?

 

[Erichalfbee]

How do I put a smiley on here?

Tap the middle three dots icon (at the top of your reply. I think there may be only two on a laptop so try both) and you get a drop down menu. Or use a phone.