Beemaster's International Beekeeping Forum

BEEKEEPING LEARNING CENTER => GENERAL BEEKEEPING - MAIN POSTING FORUM. => Topic started by: shan on May 27, 2008, 11:06:47 AM

Title: Flying in the rain????
Post by: shan on May 27, 2008, 11:06:47 AM
it was pouring down rain yesterday afternoon and i drove by my hives and there was bees flying in and out like they would do on a sunny day..... i didnt think they liked rain... were they looking for food or were they flying out to get wet/drinking water and fly back in? yall have a good 1
Title: Re: Flying in the rain????
Post by: Keith13 on May 27, 2008, 03:09:37 PM
not sure what  they are doing, but mine will fly in all but the most torrential of downpours as long as the temp is >80f
Title: Re: Flying in the rain????
Post by: MustbeeNuts on May 27, 2008, 06:40:39 PM
Not mine, if it even gets cloudy they go back into the hive, I didn't think they liked rain either?
Title: Re: Flying in the rain????
Post by: Ross on May 27, 2008, 07:40:29 PM
Mine will at times.
Title: Re: Flying in the rain????
Post by: Jessaboo on May 27, 2008, 07:47:36 PM
Hi Shan -

I have noticed mine flying in the rain too - which really surprised me. I can't say they are out in force, but they are def there and getting between the raindrops.

Did you notice any around the hive that didn't make it back in time? I have found a few "wet" bees but they seem to recover.
Title: Re: Flying in the rain????
Post by: Moonshae on May 27, 2008, 08:01:33 PM
Mine don't generally fly in all out downpours, but if it's a light shower, there will be a few coming and going. More when the weather is warmer than when it's cool, though, for sure.
Title: Re: Flying in the rain????
Post by: Michael Bush on May 27, 2008, 08:40:13 PM
I've seen them fly in light drizzles and not fly when it's not raining, but shortly afterwards there was a downpour.  The bees seem to know the difference.
Title: Re: Flying in the rain????
Post by: the kid on May 28, 2008, 01:04:55 AM
I wondered the same ...  went to bee sure the covers stayed on in the wind ,,,, still raining ( not drizzle ) rain ,, and there coming and going ,,,,
worse then kids playing in rain
the kid
Title: Re: Flying in the rain????
Post by: CBEE on May 28, 2008, 11:37:28 AM
Mine will fly in some pretty heavy rain unless it is really windy. Sometimes I see them coming and going like nothing is happening at all but some times all I see is the ones that got caught outside coming back in and nothing going out
Title: Re: Flying in the rain????
Post by: poka-bee on May 28, 2008, 01:23:36 PM
Here the bees have to go out in light rain/drizzle or they would never be able to go!! Jody
Title: Re: Flying in the rain????
Post by: Shizzell on May 29, 2008, 02:36:15 AM
Ugh. I think mine got scared by the dihydrogen monoxide scare back in the 80's. <-- Heh.

Michael defintely is on to something, whenever I go outside and there are no bees flying on a bright day, it usually ends up either really cold later in the day or raining.

Crazy how they work...I wonder what percentage of the bee anatomy and knowledge we know about them is...80%? 40%? 20%?

Jake
Title: Re: Flying in the rain????
Post by: Michael Bush on May 31, 2008, 02:30:31 PM
>I wonder what percentage of the bee anatomy and knowledge we know about them is...80%? 40%? 20%?


1%?
Title: Re: Flying in the rain????
Post by: Brian D. Bray on May 31, 2008, 09:55:11 PM
Quote from: Michael Bush on May 31, 2008, 02:30:31 PM
>I wonder what percentage of the bee anatomy and knowledge we know about them is...80%? 40%? 20%?


1%?


When trying to figure out how much man has come to know about things it is always best to use a low figure.  I mean, according to some scientists, that we apparently know more about space than we do about earth's oceans.  And lets not mention the Weather, please!
Title: Re: Flying in the rain????
Post by: jimmy_in_texas on June 01, 2008, 01:54:53 PM
We always tend to think in absolute terms, there may be no full set of knowledge for the honeybee.

Jimmy
Title: Re: Flying in the rain????
Post by: MrILoveTheAnts on June 01, 2008, 03:53:58 PM
Was the hive feral?
Title: Re: Flying in the rain????
Post by: shan on June 01, 2008, 05:03:10 PM
Quote from: MrILoveTheAnts on June 01, 2008, 03:53:58 PM
Was the hive feral?

nope bought as a raised nuc...:)