Beemaster's International Beekeeping Forum
BEEKEEPING LEARNING CENTER => DOWN UNDER BEEKEEPING => Topic started by: OzBuzz on December 30, 2010, 10:14:10 pm
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Hi everybody,
I've got 22 hives (picked up one yesterday hahah) sitting in full sun facing north. They do have water available and the lids are vented. I'm wondering though at what point would you say "time to give them a bit of help" and chock the lids. It's forecast to be 40oC here in Melbourne today so i put some spacers under the lids to give them a bit of a helping hand.
Any thoughts?
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At 104 F. I would also be sure the bottom entrance was large enough to let plenty of air in, unless you have screen bottom boards. If so, they should be fine.
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Heaps hot up here in Naps and Maryborough. Water is all you need for now. The winds are doing lots to stop the heat from seriously effecting them probably.
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We get heat here in the summer up to 105-107 for many days at a time. As long as the top is vented, you don't need to do much else. I would never remove the top as they would have trouble keeping the hive cool.
I do have SBB that are open all year long.
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Thanks guys for all of your thoughts... my wife actually came up with a great idea - put a 40 gallon drum with a tap in the base off to the side of my yard full of water and then run some dripper line a metre or so in front of my hives. On hot days turn it on and the bees can easily fly down to the hose to get their water rather than having to fly long distances for it
(http://img337.imageshack.us/img337/7374/pc240575.th.jpg) (http://img337.imageshack.us/i/pc240575.jpg/)
This is my yard at the moment although one of those nucs has been moved to a full sized box, one of the doubles have been made in to a triple, i reduced one of the doubles down to a single due to it having swarmed, and added two more nucs (one an artificial swarm and the other a cutout). It needs a good mow! i also want to make some sort of stand to get all of those hives a little further off the ground
Uploaded with ImageShack.us (http://imageshack.us)
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hate to post this without being able to give you the reference. maybe someone remembers it.
there was a report that higher temps inside the hive were actually good for disease control. i was interested in chalkbrood at the time and that's why i remember the report. the bees are able to regulate the temp in the hive and will ventilate and cool on their own.
that's not to say that cracking the top is a bad thing. i do it especially during heavy flow, which usually is the same time as our hotter weather. just that if you don't remember to do it, there is no harm done. the bees will take care of things.
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Randy Oliver of America maybe be able give some advice about high temperatures and hive health. He has a site randyoliver.com
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G'day Oz,
I know a little about oppressive heat, living in North Queensland. I don't have such a big operation as yourself, but we put our hives under shelter so that they get the early morning sun. We either put a sheet of iron up, or put the hive under a tree. We can have decent rain here, so I reckon a bit of shelter also protects them from the often continuous rain. I thought maybe you can prune the lower branches of your trees so you can slip the hives under? Knowing Victoria, though, it's probably gone back to sub-zero temperatures. I did have a sheet of plain foundation melt a little against the side of a hive. Maybe you can try to keep plain foundation off the edges a little.
We also use the taller migratory lids rather than the telescopic lids, mainly for the extra ventilation, and they have ventilation holes in them too.
Lone
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The bees will handle active ventilation and can cool the hive as long as they have water. If you open the hive too much, the bees can lose control of the ventilation because wind can heat the hive hotter than it would be under the control of the bees.
Here in North Carolina we get short runs of temperatures above 40. We try to place our hives so they get afternoon shade from 2-5 pm in summer but still have full sun in winter.
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This link may be interesting to beekeepers in warm climates. Melbourne has plenty of 40 degrees c + days in the summer
http://www.beekeepers.org.au/climate-controlled_hives.html (http://www.beekeepers.org.au/climate-controlled_hives.html)
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hi
my hives out direct sun,i have plenty water close.i was thinking the same thing with lids as it been 43 degree her.just worry about hive beetle .