Heatwave!!!

[Saucy]

We are having a bit of a heatwave (30 degrees C) over here in London in the UK. My hive is rather exposed to the sun as it doesn't usually get too hot over here. I am a bit concerned that there seems to be plenty of bees "sunbathing" on the  landing board. Will the heat affect them? Will they cope? Thanks.

[Bee Boy]

Make sure that they have close access to water. They need lots of it to cool their hive, if its near the hive you don't have to worry about them using the neighbors swimming pool :lol:  When its really hot many bees are deployed for water instead of nectar. SO if you don't want to loose any of the precious nectar flow give them water 8)

[Finman]

We are having a bit of a heatwave (30 degrees C) over here in London in the UK. .

Keep  "doors"  wide, so they get a  lot of fress air. They ventilate with wings the hot air, and they use also that water.

[Robo]

I would suggest giving them more space as well as lifting the top cover.

By providing them additional supers, the bees can spread out and control the temperature better.

I also like to elevate to top cover when it is hot.  I usually place 2 1x1 sticks that are longer than the top cover is wide on top of the inner cover.  Then put the top cover on top of them, so that the telescoping edges rest on top of the 1x1.  The bees like to congregate up there and draw the heat out of the hive.

[beemaster]

Mid to Late Summer, it's NOT unusual to have 40C days here for a week to two weeks in length, often without rain. I too vent the hives as best as possible, but good hive management helps to keep the BEARDING to a minimal - but when it gets THAT HOT for THAT LONG it can be hard to keep the bees in the hive.

Bearding (small to large number of bees clinging to the landing-board and clustering outside the hive) is fairly normal into the evenings when temps are high - But bees aren't really good at hanging outside in direct strong sunlight and if you have bearding heavily in the daytime hours and around the clock, chances are you need to get an additional super on that hive to give them some elbow room - they are just too crowded and can't maintain around 35C temps in the hive.

My hives get strong sun to the front of the hive in the morning, shade by 11am and most of the afternoon - and filtered sun throughout the late afternoon.

[Saucy]

Thanks to all of you for your invaluable information. I am a beginner but nobody has ever brought up the subject about heat because it doesn't normally get too hot over here !! Thanks again.

[Lupus]

I am outside Atlanta, GA and it gets quite hot in the summer.

Mesh bottom boards are starting to become popular here. See my post on the topic "Adding a top entrance". There seems to be some current research supporting the use of mesh bottom hives even during winter. I am doing some experimenting here as swarming during our fast spring honey flow can be a big problem. Mesh bottoms are also suppose to reduce mite problems.