Metro Atlanta Beekeepers Association

 

Bees spend more time trying to keep cool

By Kathy Keatley Garvey, a communications specialist with the Department of Entomology at the University of California, Davis

Summer of 2008 

The record-breaking triple-digit temperatures in the Central Valley of California are wreaking havoc not only on humans, but also on honey bees. 

On days when temperatures exceed 100oF, bees collect more water to cool the hive to protect immature bees and ward against a meltdown, says University of California, Davis honey bee specialist Susan Cobey.  “Bees reduce their flight activity for nectar and pollen, but collect more water. They spread droplets of water and then fan their wings to ventilate and cool the hive.”   

 

“When the heat is really intense, the worker bees rev up the fanning and water circulation to prevent comb meltdown and death of the brood (immature bees),” says Ms. Cobey, a bee breeder and geneticist at the Harry H. Laidlaw Honey Bee Research Facility, part of the UC Davis Department of Entomology.  “Older bees will sometimes go outside the hive and sit in front of the hive and form bee beards until the heat relents,” she says.

 

Beekeepers know to locate their hives in shade and near ample water, such as a drippy faucet, Ms. Cobey says. “Beekeepers will often crack a hive to provide more air flow and if the bees don’t like this opening, they’ll plug it with propolis, the plant resins collected by bees that serve as a cement or bee glue.”

 

Entomologist Lynn Kimsey, head of the Department of Entomology and director of the Bohart Museum of Entomology, says that in intense heat, honey bees desperately need more water to cool down the hive.

 

“They have to keep the interior temperature of the hive around 92oF to 94oF. That’s a real problem when the temperature outside reaches 100oF. to 105oF. or more,” says Ms. Kimsey.  “You’ll see honey bees collecting water everywhere, from around leaky faucets, in puddles, bird baths, fish ponds and swimming pools--any where there’s water.”

 

Worker bees do all the work to maintain the hive. In addition to gathering nectar, pollen, propolis, and water, they serve as air conditioners, architects, construction workers, nurses, dancers, guards, and undertakers, Ms. Cobey says.  However, honey bees don’t work in foul weather such as rain, heavy fog, or in wind of more than fifteen miles per hour.  And they don’t like heat.

 

Edited by Martha Kiefer.

 

This message brought to you by Bee Culture, The Magazine of American Beekeeping    www.BeeCulture.com.