Hi Paul - thanks for the tips.
I have been in a dilemma because the 2 casts in Warre hives are both with
restricted entrances as there are wasps sniffing around.
The older colony - hive 1- is quite strong and blocked the entrance when a
wasp tried to get in.
The other hive (2) is quite strong and I'm expecting an increase in numbers
any day now as they were hived July 1st and I assume with a virgin queen. I
have not seen the wasps attempting to breach that hive yet.
The hives are in shade from noon. There is a bit of a traffic jam at the
entrance.
I could put mesh over the entrance to give more air but it feels a lot
cooler at night.
They're not bearding or fanning, but do cluster on the landing board.
Looking forward to discussing the out apiary - I have an offer to put hives
on some land if I want, about 3 miles from me - and although 2 hives in the
garden seems ok at the moment I think any more would be too many.
So I also want to think and plan for a couple of hives for next year.
Regards,
Liz Robinson.
On Fri, Jul 16, 2021, 08:07 Oxnatbees <oxnatbees@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
We're in for some highish temperatures over the weekend, 27C or so.
Although we've seen higher, usually in August, watch out for signs of the
bees having difficulty, like:
- bearding
- Ranks of fanners at the entrance
- Honey / nectar leaking from bottom of hive (comb collapse)
If you see this, give the hives some extra shade. If the entrance is
reduced, or you have just 1 hole open in a TBH, remove the blocks.
I'm no longer sure if opening mesh floors helps or not. The more I learn
about how air is moved round hives by bees, the less I understand. Hives
are not thick walled hollow trees... it will probably help in thin walled
hives (Nationals, TBHs) but shade is a more reliable thing.
Last year on one big hive full of bees (ie heat), I saw extreme fanning
activity, lines of bees fanning air, even up the side of the hive and even
using their bodies to shield it from the sun. I leaned a couple of planks
against it to shade it from the sun, and 90% of the bees went back in
within 5 minutes. Shade works.
Paul
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