That’s a normal summer here in the South where it can get up to 104F at times with no wind. I leave salted water out for them and they beard day and night. The bees fan out the hive by sticking their rumps out the door and fanning. I also have a mist system on my pergola. At night the temperatures drop but down into the low 90’sF. I’m sure the California beekeepers get even higher temperatures inland. Ventilation is key. I"ve considered putting on my vivaldi covers to gain cross ventilation for the bees but it leaves them wide open for hive beetles to get into the hive.
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Hi Stefan, your bees will cope. Anything you can do to further insulate the hive can only be good.
cheers
The two biggest failings I find with the Flow Hive is the crap and cheap plastic QX and far too big an entrance. At least that is my finding for my climate in regards to the entrance size. All of what @JeffH has said in his post above is correct and would apply for your climate as it is so similar apart that you have a much lower humidity.
Cheers
I was reading and came across advice to use an upper entrance, instead of bottom one in hot weather. Will help the hive act like a chimney and let the hot air out.
Anyone have any experience with using a top entrance in hot climates?
I know that probably Jeff disagrees, but his climate is much milder than here from what he says. Here it’s about 10 degrees more.
I don’t see any difference between a top entrance & a bottom entrance as far as hot weather is concerned. As long as we use one or the other, not both. It’s the bees themselves that extract the hot air. The best thing we can do is provide the best possible insulation, then let them regulate the temp inside the hive.
Salted water? Why’s that Martha? I’m assuming this has to do with providing minerals
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Here I get a few hot days over Summer to 38c, much like Jeff has. That is temp in the shade. I have added air vents at the front and rear of my roofs that allows for the excessive hot air to escape and also reduces moisture in the hive.
If you are getting days of 48c then you might benefit by placing a pencil on top of the top super as an experiment to give more air flow rather than permanently changing the hive with a top entrance.
Cheers
I was measuring temps (laser gun) of different surfaces on the hive today at our peak temp of 41 and I was astonished at how high some parts of the box got.
My hives are sitting on concrete pavers and they were in the 50s deg C - enough to melt wax. I’m going to get rid of the pavers soon. Maybe they are only good in winter to retain heat.
Some parts of the box were in the high 40s. The roof was 50s. Entrance which is shaded varied from high low to mid 40s.
I measured some of the bees and they registered 40…
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Interesting Fred - I had a wireless thermometer but I gave it away. It would have been handy to measure the inside as I guess that’s what matters.
41 degrees we had today, is in the shade. In the sun is much higher. Concrete will retain a lot of heat and make it worse. Probably some lawn would be better, but you have to water constantly.
I felt the roof with my hand, and even painted white, they felt hot. I’m now putting a piece of insulation foam I got from skeggley, which should help.
I Wonder how hives get on where it is hot, Places like Marble Bar on in central Australia. Anyone in that sort of climates feel free to come in with your experiences.
Cheers
@Numbatino & @fffffred, relax gentlemen, you need to factor the bees more into your thinking. Take another look at the video “City of Bees”. You’ll see what the bees do during the winter. Then you’ll see what the bees do during the summer. It’s what they’ve been doing for millions of years & they’re good at it.
The best we can do is provide good insulation & an adequate entrance. The bees will do the rest.
The bees don’t want their hive to be like a refrigerator inside. They still like the brood temp to be around 34-35C. That’s something to bare in mind.
It took a few years for me to figure this out, it was prompted by a phone call. I found the best way to locate a bees nest inside a wall cavity is to run your hand over the inside wall. You can feel the heat of a hive through the wall, compared to the rest of the wall. Then you know where to start cutting.
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You can always paint the pavers white to retain a level and stable surface for the hives. But the bees will be happy if you leave them alone and will cool the inside of the hive if it is needed.
Cheers Fred
I have a path through the citrus trees made with old 50mm thick pavers. I put them there as stepping stones for the kids. I didn’t get 1 mandarin this year and 2 of them nearly died. I’m in the process of removing them as I’m thinking that they not only heat up more than the surrounding ground but that they also wick water out of the ground. Trying to take them out is a kicker! I can’t get a pitch fork 20mm into the ground to get under them!
It was my planned job for today…
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Digging out a tree stump is a better job left for Winter Greg, too much hard yakka in the heat.
What have you thought of the reason the trees have turned their toes up?
Cheers
Hot dry summers Pete. Having lived in the hills most of my life I’m used to the heat and water restrictions so when planting, usually tube stock, I’ll water sparingly for the first 2 years then they’re on their own, so established plants like the 40+ year old citrus trees in the orchard don’t get watered summertime and usually I get bucket loads of the best fruit to give away to friends. This year nothing. Come autumn the trees usually are stressed and dry but come good after a bit of rain. The dry period makes for sweet fruit. I’m thinking the pavers are a, wicking water from the dirt, b, heating the ground, and c, not allowing rain to penetrate the ground. Citrus have shallow roots.
I maybe wrong, I frequently am, and maybe I just need to water them…
Us Aussies appreciate the fact water is a valuable resource and generally use it wisely. These manicured, exotic thirsty gardens make me roll my eyes in dismay. Yeah they look good but give me a dishevelled bush block any day.
Oh crikey, am I ranting…
Provided water is available and the lids are painted the bees will be fine. Insulation helps, as shown by my colonys, however they have coped fine the previous uninsulated years.
I have no entrance reducers summertime anymore, nor winter, I can’t see it being constructive with a strong healthy colony in these summer conditions. I’ve found using reducers in weaker colony’s always brings wax moth issues, always. Small weak colony’s should be in smaller nuc boxes until they build up.
Robbing issues are the only reason I see to use reducers here in this environment.
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‘The World Meteorological Organization is specific in its definition by stating that a heat wave is when the daily maximum temperature for more than five consecutive days exceeds the average maximum temperature by 9 degrees Fahrenheit.’ Quote from The Weather Guys.
9°F is 12.8°C
Perth average December temp is 28°C
Heatwave?
You threw me out a bit. I think I got there: So it looks like you’d need 5 consecutive days of 33 to call it a heat wave.
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Not last time I checked… 
9°F of temperature difference is actually 5°C, so @JeffH is correct.
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In Australia, the most recent official definition of heatwave is defined by three or more days of unusually high maximum and minimum temperatures. It used to vary by state. It is not tied to a single specific temperature.
Different countries have different ways to define it.
Well, whatever the definition, you better get used to them.
Should be outright illegal regardless whether you can afford the water or not. Only way to deal with the ignorance.
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We have had some pretty high temps on the gold coast lately too. yesterday the bees were bearding a lot and today is meant to be a lot hotter apparently so ive done a couple of things this morning to see if there is less bearding even with a hotter day.
First ive chucked a wet towel over the the roof and North side of the hive.
i also checked the roof vents and remember reading something from Jeff saying he doesnt bother with them or they counter what the bees want in there hive? well turns out the have plugged all the roof vents so i will leave it that way for them. they obviously dont want them.
And then as i have the hive doctor bottom board with the 3 disc entrance i have closed the middle disc to see if that helps them with the fanning airflow in one side and out the other.
it’s meant to be 36-38deg so i will report further as the day goes on.
Yesterday afternoon i did take the pest trays out to see if that would help airflow or make any difference to the bearding and all it did was make them beard underneath the hive. so i decided to put the trays back in today. last night the was still a fair few out last night also.
Cheers
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