Bees and exceptional heat...

[AE-NMidlands]

Just had an email from BIBBA with good advice:

Honey Bees in the Heatwave
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Water - Ventilation - Shade
The experts are predicting an unprecedented heatwave next week; how will our bees cope?

In the wild, the colony inside a hollow tree will be protected from the direct sun by the canopy of leaves. As water evaporates from the leaves it cools the tree, so the bees have an air-conditioned home.

If we place our bees in a thin-walled, dark coloured box and place it in direct sun at midday, then they will have a problem.
In parts of the USA they are used to these conditions, and suggestions on the internet are:

WATER - make sure your bees have easy access to a water source; they will collect the water to evaporate inside the hive

VENTILATION - remove any varroa insert and open the entrance. Some suggest putting a match or coin under the crown board to increase air flow whilst keeping the hive safe from robbers

SHADE - if the hive is in sun at midday, try to create shade. Placing a large sheet of plywood on the roof works well (even cardboard in dry weather). Or can you utilise the white sheet you normally use for collecting swarms to create some shade?

Given our current discussions on another thread I'm ashamed to say I hadn't thought of shading hives. I've aleady got my (spring) drinkers back out and have now put boards on the hive roofs.
Opening up the boxes by a matchstick at each level is something I did in my very first year (also a very hot one.)
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[Stinsy]

If you use a matchstick or coin to create gaps for ventilation, won't the bees fill the gaps with propolis?

[AE-NMidlands]

If you use a matchstick or coin to create gaps for ventilation, won't the bees fill the gaps with propolis?

yes, if you leave them there long enough...
but for a 2- or 3-day emergency it is worth doing. I think they recognise the value of the air space and don't fill it immediately, I guess they would just guard it if it was that size. Back then I was concerned because the hive (my first) was absolutely howling as they tried to move cooling air around it. It certainly seemed happier after I had done it.
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[Oldgreybeard]

On the topic of bees, SWMBO and I had been discussing the near-total absence of bumble bees this year. We have a large lavender bed and usually that is alive with dozens of them on a warm day, but the numbers had been right down. That seems to have changed overnight. In the bright sun yesterday there were maybe three or four bees on the lavender at any time, today there are far more than we could possibly count. There are at least five species, but the most common are white tailed bees.

It's as if they've all moved into the garden at once, but it's a mystery as to where they've come from or why they've suddenly appeared en masse. Other bee species seem to have been as abundant as usual, we have a few dozen red mason bees that always nest in one of the gables and there have been as many of them this year as usual. If anyone knows what may have caused the low numbers of bumble bees until today we'd both be interested, as we've been scouring the web and the books we have and can't seem to find an answer.

[Bugtownboy]

Some of the chatter I’ve seen, OGB, indicates this is a widespread issue - butterflies also seem to be ‘reduced’ although, at the moment we have loads - Meadow Brown, Large White, Comma and small Tortoiseshell.

Also appears Bats are being affected - but this may be a subjective view.

We’re in Somerset, friends in Scotland and Dorset are also reporting the same.

[Oldgreybeard]

Now you mention it, we've not seen as many butterflies about as usual, either, although there have been loads of moths around. Our bats seem to be doing OK, we have a stream nearby and there's been a colony of Daubenton's living somewhere close to us for years, brilliant when they fly low level race track patterns around the garden in the evenings. We're in Dorset, so maybe part of the same pattern you've heard about.

[AE-NMidlands]

No emergency here (yet) 27 deg in the shade- we'll see what tomorrow brings. Bees apparently unconcerned, completely ignoring the drinkers I put out, hardly any visible fanning at the entrances either.

Working marjoram, borage, purple loosestrife in the garden - don't know what elsewhere, maybe clover hasn't dried out in some places. There is a big sweet chestnut about a mile away which looked as though it might be in flower.
I should have remembered, Fireweed/Rosebay willowherb is in full flower, of course.
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