We are supposed to get to 119F(48.3C) on Sunday and Monday coming up. My hive location usually registers about 10 degrees higher then the reported high for any day in question, as it gets no shade and sits on a concrete pad. Which means my hives could hit 130 F(54.4C). I am planning to set up some shade for them that should keep them in the shade from morning until mid to late afternoon.
Is there anything else I can, or should do for them?
Hi Adam, I think that will be an excellent improvement. The other thing is to make sure they have access to water & your entrance is full width. The odd damping down with a hose wouldnât hurt either.
We have a hundred mills of rain coming on Sunday as well as quite cool I imagine. I think my fire will be going all day.
Yeah
I agree with Jeff, good to keep the concrete pad wet as well. As it evaporates, it could have a cooling affect above on the hive. Keep yourself cool too with a cold one.
I keep the house cool by watering all the garden and lawn front and back of the house.
If you were to hose all the area (really drench it) around and under the hives the bees will have a water source and then any wind will evaporate and cool the rising air
I would put some beers in the freezer and take them out for consumption just before they freeze.
The bees will take care of themselves but you should do whatever makes you think you are helping them.
Donât sweat it lol!
Maybe attach misters to you shade?
A beach umbrella over the hive during the hottest part of it day will help too.
What I do for my chooks (chickens) on super hot days is to get a hessian (burlap) sack and get it soaking wet. Then I hang them around their coopâŚI imagine the same could be done over or near the hive box? As it evaporates it cools the air. I automate this by using drip irrigation on a timer to keep the burlap wet. Got the idea from the old fashioned coolers, âCoolgardie Safeâ.
We sometimes get 10 days in a row over 40 C degrees in Adelaide, Australia, almost as hot as Arizona. 
[quote=âadagna, post:1, topic:7511â]
We are supposed to get to 119F(48.3C) on Sunday and Monday coming upâŚ[/quote]
@adagna now thatâs just stoopid temperatures⌠Whatâs the humidity?.
Minus 10% 
Seriously though, it will be very low - Adam lives in a true desert.
Humidity is forecasted to be 5-6% on those two days.
Now that is a brilliant idea, if you had chooks, you could place the hive near the chooks so you could extend the burlap a bit further for the bees & cool the chooks & bees in the one operation.
Also if you need to remove any drone comb, Iâm sure the chooks would be happy to relieve you of it. Then you get it back in eggs:)
So far I have not seen any drone comb or drones in the hive. But unfortunately the hives are across the yard from thei chickens
Hi Adam, the drone comb will follow, once the colony has the amount of workers it requires. I guess it all depends on the time of the season, whether the bees think there will be any virgin queens around that need to be mated.
Coming out of winter, theyâll make lots of drones if given the chance. I try to limit the amount they can make so I can get a good workforce & reduce the risk of SHB infestation.
Honeyed eggs donât appeal to a chef??? Surely it is worth moving the hives for that experiment? 
@adagna Adam there is reason to believe putting Bees in with Chooks has other benefits. There is a new Beek in Darwin (Australia) who now has less chalk brood since putting the bees in with the chooks.
Iâm of the conclusion -Chalk brood is spread by a fungus and if the chooks eat the mummified Bees there are less spores to go around and reinfect the hive.
I also came to the conclusion, if you have Small Hive Beetles the chooks will love to feast on the SHB larvae and beetles so less chance for the SHB to multiply and become a pest.
If SHB come to this country I may well consider chooks as a method of IPM - Integrated Pest Management
Food For Thought - Food for Chooks really, and both will beneifit
Hi Adam, thatâs an interesting theory about SHB, however the chooks wont eat the ones that exit the hive at night & I think thatâs when most of them do exit. You really donât want your hive to get infested in the first place, in that case you wonât have any beetle larvae exiting the hive. Actually if your hive gets to the point where beetle larvae start exiting the hive, itâs kind of too late. Your hive has been slymed & in need of some urgent attention.
We just make sure that the roof above the hive stands is big enough to provide shade, make sure that the roof is slanted (ventilation), make sure there is enough water and make sure there is ventilation possibilities in the hive (bottom board closed, top vent opening and bottom slot big enough for bees to keep venting. It seems to work without problems. Your low humidity should enable the bees to use effective evaporation as cooling, your 1" thick hives should provide enough insulation. As long as the sun does not strike the hives directlyâŚ
unfortunately all of that was not enough, and they succumbed. I am on the hunt for a new batch of bees now and praying for cooler weatherâŚ
Wow ! Sorry to hear about your loss. Iâm just dealing with swarming. Itâs a learning curve ⌠Really didnât worry about much of this in the 1950âs n 60âs. Iâd loss some n catch some. Only gotten one swarm this season so far. Love to just get one more good swarm !
Hope you find some more bees !
Gerald.